Balmoral Group transitions to family office structure amid £50m investment

Balmoral Group said its transition to a “family office”, which provides a formal structure to centralise management and governance of family wealth, would help consolidate an increasingly diverse business portfolio that has grown to encompass over 15 markets and 55 countries since it was founded by Sir Jim in 1980.

Last month Balmoral Group sold its Balmoral Comtec subsea engineering unit, which makes equipment for the oil, gas and offshore wind industries, to Freudenberg Flow Technologies, a privately-held German industrial group.

Balmoral Comtec, which employs about 400 people, is one of the most prominent examples of the subsea engineering businesses that are the backbone of the Northeast’s economy.

At the time, Balmoral Group said the sale would allow it to focus on investing in “high-potential businesses” and use the profits to support philanthropic activities.

Through the new family office structure, Balmoral Group now plans to invest over £50 million in ventures ranging from continued evolution of its existing portfolio companies to new “co-investment opportunities opening doors to high-growth sectors”, it said.

“The restructuring aims to reinforce Balmoral’s traditional focus on family-led long-term investments favouring sustainable growth and responsible stewardship over rapid returns,” Balmoral Group said.

Family offices are a global phenomenon and are often set up by successful entrepreneurs as a way of channelling the wealth they have generated from their businesses into emerging technologies and startups, using any profits to generate a steady income for their families. Some of the proceeds also fund the family’s charitable activities.

The transition of Balmoral Group to a family office structure comes after months of study by the Milne family of existing family offices, including in Scotland, to see which model would be most suitable.

Sir Jim’s move means he now joins a handful of family office owners in Scotland, including Sir Tom Hunter’s The Hunter Foundation; Souter Investments, belonging to Stagecoach bus and rail empire co-founder Sir Brian

Souter and his Perth-based family; Murray Capital, the family office of steel-to mining business Sir David Murray; and a foundation run by Sir Ian Wood, founder of Aberdeen-based Wood Group.

“This move marks the next chapter for Balmoral Group as a family office, giving us the structure to take a long-term, family-led approach focused on sustainable growth and meaningful impact,” Sir Jim said. “It allows us to

support the success of our companies while continuing to give back to the communities around us, reflecting the same drive that has shaped Balmoral Group from the start.”

The creation of a dedicated Milne family office highlights how such private investment vehicles are quietly become an increasingly important feature of Scotland’s investment landscape as families reach generational inflection

points and businesses are restructured.

“We are seeing a growing number of family-owned businesses reaching an inflection point, where the sale of core operating assets is no longer an endpoint, but a pivot into a new investment model,” said Andrew Ley,

corporate partner at law firm Addleshaw Goddard.

“Transactions like Balmoral Group’s reflect a broader shift in the market: founders are increasingly looking to preserve and deploy capital in a more structured, long-term way, using family office models to back future growth

opportunities across a diversified portfolio.”

With Balmoral Comtec sold, the group’s remaining portfolio is made up of Balmoral Tanks, which makes bulk liquid storage tanks for aquaculture, desalination and wastewater; Blaze Solutions, which makes fire safety

equipment for various industrial sectors; the Balmoral Business Park south of Aberdeen; and the city’s Marcliffe five-star hotel.

Balmoral Group’s transition to family office will also see the company relocate to Queens Road in Aberdeen, which will serve as the headquarters for its core team of around 15 staff and provide a new home for Friends of ANCHOR, a local haematology and cancer care charity that Balmoral has supported since 1997.