Tributes have been paid to David Doig, the much-liked chief executive of industry training and standards organisation Optio, who has died suddenly aged 57.
Doig, who was based in Dubai, suffered a heart attack on 31 December and died peacefully in hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on 14 January.
John Taylor, chairman of Opito, said: "His loss is sorely felt by us all. Our thoughts are with David’s wife, Gillian, and his family at this difficult time.
“David was a vocal champion of Opito, a much-respected industry leader, a firm advocate of social responsibility, and a trusted colleague and friend to many.
“His straight-talking approach, determination and passionate belief that all oil and gas workers regardless of their job role, their employer or their nationality should be able to travel to work and return home safely at the end of the day, helped drive positive change in countless countries around the world and inspired great loyalty among those who knew him.”
Born and raised in St Andrews, Doig was educated at Madras College and remained intensely proud of his Fife roots.
With an early background in engineering, he worked on major offshore projects in the North Sea for more than 25 years before moving onshore in 1994 to lead on maintenance support contracts as a business unit operations manager with KBR.
He joined Opito in 1999 as head of the audit team and worked steadily to broaden his knowledge and experience, including returning to education to complete an MBA with the Open University.
Doig was appointed chief executive in spring 2005, then group chief executive following the creation of Opito International in 2009 where he forged new relationships and advised governments, NOCs, IOCs and contractors on workforce development strategies.
Under his leadership, Opito supported initiatives to both attract people to the industry and empower people around the world, including a transformational international higher education programme with the Open University and life changing schemes in Africa and India to address the chronic shortage of teachers and increase pathways into education for women.
As the organisation grew, he relocated to the United Arab Emirates, over-seeing growth into new markets and the establishment of Opito’s first overseas offices in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Houston and Cyprus.
(Click here to read an in-depth Upstream interview with Doig from 2008.)
