Glacier Energy investment to further shape energy services landscape

BGF announces 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, 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 and led by CEO Scott Martin, 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.

Richard Pugh, Investor at BGF, said: “We have known Scott Martin for over 10 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.”

Building on strong growth, and to realise further ambitions underpinned by new investment, the company recently welcomed Nick Horler as Non-Executive Chair and Mark Ritchie as Group CFO.

Commenting on the appointments, CEO Scott Martin said: “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.”

Nick joined following a long-standing executive career across the energy, oil, and related infrastructure industries in the UK and US. Alongside his new role with Glacier Energy, he is also Non-Executive Chair of Horizon Energy Infrastructure and Smart Meter Assets. Nick was CEO of Scottish Power until 2010, following which he’s held several non-executive roles with Royal Mail, Go-Ahead Group, Thames Water, UK Power Reserve and, more recently, ESP Utilities Group.

Mark, meanwhile, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Mark has over 20 years’ financial experience, 10 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 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.