Around 110 new jobs are being created in Lowestoft by marine service company James Fisher and Sons following the award of a £25million contract to support construction of the Galloper offshore wind farm.

The company says that all the jobs so far filled have gone to people living within 20 miles of Lowestoft.

And it is also inviting supply chain companies in the area to get in touch in relation to specialist services required as part of the contact.

Speaking at an East of England Energy Group (EEEGR) event focused on the Southern North Sea, James Fisher and Sons’ business development director, Martin Dronfield, said: “The skills locally have pleasantly surprised us.

“There is a lot of trust and belief being invested in the skills in the area. There is a great deal more than money going on in the emergence of the renewable sector down the east energy coast.”

The company’s Offshore Services Contract (OSC) for Galloper would create about 110 new jobs, mostly in the Lowestoft area, for a construction support base for the £1.5billion 336MW Galloper, wind farm which is being developed by RWE Innogy 27km off Suffolk, said Mr Dronfield.

James Fisher was currently preparing offices for 120 people in Lowestoft, which would be the “nerve base” for Galloper’s construction and where James Fisher’s pioneering Offshore Wind Management System (OWMS), developed at the OrbisEnergy centre in Lowestoft, will be used.

James Fisher will prepare all transit facilities for the offshore wind farm and will be creating welfare facilities, changing rooms and drying rooms at its base. It will prepare the crew transfer and supply and manage multi-support vessels to and from the offshore site.

Its multi-purpose wind farm support vessel, Dart Fisher, is currently being fitted out for diving and other specialist services.

“Lowestoft will be where the construction of Galloper is managed. It is not the construction base,” said Mr Dronfield.

Toby Edmonds, project director of Galloper, said: “The great thing about Lowestoft port is that it is ready to go as a base. “We don’t have to make huge investment at the port for it to be ready.

“We are making modest investment there. The more projects that get built off shore, the less infrastructure will be needed at the ports for each project.”