Winds of change: Roy MacGregor on Global Energy Group’s new name, Highland HQ and £500 million post-Nigg goal

The energy services heavyweight is building a 2,000-square-metre, state-of-the-art HQ at the heart of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) Inverness Campus “freeport” zone.

Having outgrown its long-term Henderson Road base in the city, the multi-million-pound office will facilitate planned growth, creating space to accommodate up to 50 extra staff.

The move to new-build premises at the heart of the Highland capital’s innovation hub comes on the back of a sustained period of growth, which has seen the group add companies including planning, engineering and safety consultancy Arthian - formerly Mabbett & IKM Consulting - energy infrastructure business Approved Power Services. and construction firms Capstone Construction and ScotBuild to its portfolio in the past couple of years.

Outlining the expansion plans and three-year goal to build group revenues to £500 million, chairman and industry veteran Roy MacGregor said the business “understood the renewables industry inside out”, having now worked on a series of major onshore and offshore wind farm projects including Inch Cape and Dogger Bank.

“We know the challenges for Scotland,” he said. “We are going to a site at the freeport which is just 100 yards from a university where the innovation and skills are going to come from. It was really important in terms of making a statement to both the Highlands and Scotland in that we take where we’ve been in terms of oil and gas and renewables and develop it and be very much part of the new supply chain as it develops.

“We have some of the most talented people in Scotland but they need direction and need to believe in themselves again and not be another stop-start business. We are excited today and have been preparing this for the last two or three years,” he added.

“This week we are going to buy two or three businesses that will help us on our journey. They will bring different aspects to the portfolio. We have been at £500m in three years twice before so we’re not just throwing out a number - there is a plan and a strategy and a vision behind it.”

The group, which has added eight companies to the global portfolio in the last 18 months, is also undertaking a rebrand and will now be known simply as Global. Group companies Global Port Services, Global Crane Services, Global Wind Projects, Global Infrastructure and Global Power Services (formerly Approved Power Services), will each undergo a brand refresh to bring them in line with the new corporate identity.

The move, coming as the group celebrates its 20th anniversary, follows the recent divestment of the Port of Nigg, on the north-east coast near Inverness, and fabrication and scaffold/access businesses Global Energy (Fabrication) and Global Energy Services. July’s deal saw long-term investor Mitsui Group acquire the assets for an undisclosed sum.

Mitsui, which first invested in MacGregor’s GEG (Holding) Limited in 2012 - taking a 25.5 per cent stake - has been a valued shareholder and strategic partner in the group’s growth.

MacGregor, chairman of Ross County FC, said: “We spent £120m on [Nigg] and it was going to require another £250m and we felt that wasn’t our journey. We are a services company, we are a doer. So I convinced my partner Mitsui to become a land owner and a fabricator. We did an agreement with them for Nigg that will support them for five years on services, so we probably got the best of both worlds.”

MacGregor also called for a more balanced approach to energy provision in the UK.

“If we can take more oil and gas out of our own patch sensibly and environmentally we could elongate things a bit more and make sure that the skills in particular are transferable,” he said.

“Energy costs personally and corporately are too high. We need to have policies that address that. Our costs are about double those of Germany and we are never going to become an industrial nation unless we can get our energy costs right.”

As part of the rebranding, GEG Capital, the investment arm of the group, will now operate under the new Global identity. Portfolio companies Apollo, Aventus Energy, Bracewell, Capstone Construction, Arthian, Calder Electrical, Scot Build, Cammach, Global Highland, Be Personnel, and Chance Recruitment will retain their current corporate identities.

Eye-catching

MacGregor said the new HQ would provide the business with room to grow as it looks to become one of the country’s top “end-to-end” industry partners to the energy, infrastructure and utilities sector. Global aims to grow its turnover from some £300m to £500m within three years.

Growth will be underpinned by a hybrid investor/operating model that includes the group’s major energy services portfolio together with investments that previously sat under GEG Capital, concentrated in consultancy, construction and recruitment. Collectively, the group employs in the region of 2,000 people.

The eye-catching design for the new HQ has been created by lead architect David Lawrie from Bracewell - another recent addition to the Global portfolio, which will also be based out of the office. Fellow group company Capstone Construction will be principal contractor on the project which is expected to be completed by autumn 2026.

The investment in a new headquarters brings the operational offices of companies within the group together under one roof for the first time. The corporate services team, Global Infrastructure, Global Power Services, Arthian, Bracewell, Global Highland, Chance Recruitment and Be Personnel will all have a presence at the new base.