Now in its 20th year, and fresh from a management buyout, Aberdeen-based AquaTerra Group is planning a multimillion-pound growth spurt.
The energy services specialist, plans to grow turnover to £23m in 2025, up 64% from an expected £14m this year.
It comes months after managing director Stephen Taylor led a management buyout of the firm in November to become majority shareholder.
Commercial director Nigel Whitton and marine services director Frank Hall, along with former majority owner (now chairman) Peter Robinson, all have minority stakes, while accounts director Elaine Pacitti has sold her shares ahead of retirement.
Through 20 years the business has always been privately owned, says Stephen Taylor, without external investment or private equity – something Peter and Elaine were keen to continue if possible.
“They weren’t looking to actively sell, but they were looking for you know the next step for the following three or four years.
“It was at that point I expressed an interest, and Pete said he was very keen for the key management to take the business on in the future.”
Peter Robinson said the company “is arguably the strongest it’s ever been with a growing international element across oil and gas, marine and renewables markets.
“I’m no longer at the helm but very much involved and want to be for some time to come – we have a bright, exciting future.”
What’s driving the growth for AquaTerra?
© Supplied by DCT/ Kenny ElrickCommercial director Nigel Whitton says “known quantities” underpin their ambitions.
“We’ve got existing relationships with a lot of the key players out there to build that that revenue picture up, and that’s on the back of increasing their turnover 50% from previous year up to up to this year.”
Starting as a rope access company in 2004, AquaTerra has main divisions across marine and drilling, “splash zone” (such as items under a platform or subsea) and late-life and decommissioning, offering Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) support, access and inspection services and integrity products.
A mix of growth opportunities and the sector recovering from Covid has played a role in its bullish plans.
Marine, a sector it never used to serve, is now a burgeoning area for AquaTerra, doing £5m of this year’s turnover, with plans to grow further in part thanks to its own bespoke inspection software.
Meanwhile “we’re tendering for more projects and bigger projects than we’ve ever tendered for,” in decommissioning, reports Taylor, having one two large scopes in the last six months.
And energy transition is a growth area too with an award linked to a UK carbon capture and storage site, and progress on offshore wind.
Taylor points to the recovery from Covid-19 as part of the growth for the firm, which has a team of around 25 on at its onshore base in Kintore, and up to 80 people offshore during peak periods.
“We’ve always been very dependent on personnel offshore, as we continue to be, you know we supply personnel, equipment and products so Covid restricted that hugely.
“Now that restriction is gone so we’re back to having the same ambitious plans that we had before the pandemic.
“All of the growth is organic. We may look at acquisitions, it’s not something that we’re actively targeting at the moment, but it is something that might complement what we do here just now.”
Differentiating itself in the market with its own products, as well as having a “construction-led” approach to decom work to maximise productivity has been key, especially in supporting heavy-lift work.
The ability to provide multi-disciplined teams is another plus on offer.
Marine services director Frank Hall calls it “common sense engineering”.
“If we’re providing a multi disciplined team, you’ve got that advantage in that they can do other things when you’ve got weather restrictions or downtime or otherwise.
“It boils back to trying to make sure that when the team goes out, it’s a team that can give maximum efficiency and maximum productivity. But most importantly, safety.”
There’s a few ‘AquaTerras’?
Twenty years from its launch, AquaTerra has to deal with sharing a name with other businesses up and down the country.
“It’s like taxi firms, though, isn’t it?,” jokes Hall. “You’ve got loads of taxi firms and they always try to start with an ‘A’….”
Taylor says his firm has a very good reputation in the market for what it does, but is keen to solidify and increase visibility for new clients in the renewables and energy transition space.
Former MD Peter Robinson says a prestigious engineering, procurement and construction award for Fairfield’s Dunlin, and a series of specialist projects for Shell’s Brent field were among the high points over the last 20 years.
Today, the picture continues to change, says Taylor.
“A few years ago, it just looked like there was there was kind of one market; oil and gas.
“But now there’s oil and gas, there’s transition, renewables, decommissioning – all of these things are happening all at pace at the same time.
“Our services remain the same but are spread across multiple industries and sectors now, which is good for us.”
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