BGF, one of the largest and most experienced growth capital investors in the UK and Ireland, has announced a multi-million-pound investment in Glacier Energy, joining Averroes Capital as investors in the business.
BGF took a minority stake in the Aberdeen-headquartered energy services company after following its growth and expansion into the broader renewables market for a number of years.
With the support of Averroes and BGF, Glacier Energy will now continue the rapid growth delivered in the last two years, and is investing in additional manufacturing capacity and establishing a technician training academy. It will also pursue further strategic acquisitions.
Glacier Energy is a specialist provider of products, services, and engineered solutions for a wide range of industrial and energy markets. Its core capabilities include heat transfer and pressure vessels, machining, welding, and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and inspection services. These specialisms are well suited to the energy transition, and Glacier has been instrumental in advancing in-demand hydrogen, carbon capture, and energy storage technologies.
Founded in 2011, the business has completed 11 acquisitions and has been an early-mover in leveraging its engineering and technical expertise to support low-carbon technologies. It directly employs 220 people plus 20 contractors, and is now recruiting further capacity.
Building on strong growth, and to realise further ambitions underpinned by new investment, the company recently welcomed Nick Horler as Non-Executive Chairman and Mark Ritchie as Group CFO.
Nick joined following a longstanding executive career across the energy, oil and related infrastructure industries in the UK and USA. Alongside his new role with Glacier Energy, he also Non-Executive Chairman of Horizon Energy Infrastructure and Smart Meter Assets. Nick was CEO of Scottish Power until 2010, following which he has held several non-executive roles with the Royal Mail, Go-Ahead Group, Thames Water, UK Power Reserve and more recently ESP Utilities group.
Mark is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Mark has over 20 years’ financial experience, ten years of which have been spent in Board level roles in private equity backed businesses. Prior to joining Glacier Energy, Mark was CFO of RCapital portfolio company Richard Irvin FM, and a key member of the management team that led the sale of the business to the RSK Group. He has worked in the Energy sector for a significant part of his career, with CFO roles at ICR Integrity (Graphite Capital) and AIM listed energy engineering company Enteq Technologies.
Richard Pugh, an Investor at BGF, said: “We have known Scott Martin for over ten years and have been impressed at how he and the team have grown Glacier Energy while also achieving success in a diverse set of high-growth markets. We are really excited about the scale of ambition, involving investment across multiple sites in Scotland, as well as in Yorkshire and the North East of England. It is also great to invest in a business that is already working with other portfolio companies.”
Scott Martin, CEO of Glacier Energy, said: “We are thrilled to welcome BGF as a key partner in our growth journey alongside Averroes Capital. With BGF’s support and experience, we are well-positioned to accelerate our growth and further contribute to the development of sustainable energy solutions.
“The addition of Nick Horler and Mark Ritchie to the company’s board underlines our ambition. We have secured two of the best in the industry who will drive Glacier to the next level.”
Simon Rowan, Partner, Averroes Capital, said: “We are delighted to bring BGF on board as a co investor and believe this will significantly enhance the undoubted growth prospects of Glacier Energy. The business has made large strides forward following our recent investment, and we look forward to seeing this positive momentum continuing alongside BGF”.
