- Bristol-headquartered engineering design, energy and sustainability consultancy Hydrock unveils expansion plans
- Santander UK provides multi-million pound funding to support Hydrock’s acquisition strategy and growth funding for its energy and sustainability operations
Bristol-headquartered integrated engineering design, energy and sustainability consultancy Hydrock has unveiled plans to grow its business in the UK and internationally, following funding from Santander UK.
Santander UK has provided Hydrock with a multi-million pound funding package to support its acquisition strategy and refinancing of existing debt. Growth funding has also been provided for Hydrock’s sister company, Fig Power, a fast-growing battery storage business. The consultancy has also switched its day-to-day banking to Santander UK.
The consultancy is on the acquisition trail, having acquired Midlands-based structural and civil engineering firm Complete Design Partnership (CDP) in September 2022, and Newcastle-based engineering consultancy 3e Consulting Engineers in June 2022. It plans to make further acquisitions in the UK and overseas over the next few years and has a number of transactions due to complete in the next few months. Santander UK’s funding package supports these recent and planned acquisitions.
Fig Power is promoting battery energy storage sites in the UK, taking them through the planning process to ready-to-build status and then either constructing the facility or selling on to a third party. The business has a large and growing pipeline of more than 2GW of battery capacity coming to market in the coming months. Fig Power was recently spun out of Hydrock as a separate business.
Hydrock has more than 900 clients across the public and private sector, delivering engineering and sustainability solutions to infrastructure and real estate in sectors that include commercial, logistics, education, residential, healthcare, nuclear and industrial. It aims to assist its customers with addressing environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and create sustainable buildings and infrastructure. Its services include: smart energy and sustainability; fire safety; geotechnics; civil and structural engineering; mechanical and electrical engineering; air quality and acoustics; infrastructure; transport planning and mobility analytics; and complex multi-disciplinary projects. Among its signature projects are renewable energy-powered inland surfing lagoon, The Wave, Bristol, and the carbon verification of an 80km stretch of HS2.
Hydrock was founded in 1995, initially as a geotechnical and civil engineering consultancy and has since expanded and diversified organically and through seven acquisitions. The business is backed by BGF (Business Growth Fund)1, has 21 offices across the UK and plans to increase its current staff of 850 in line with sales growth plans over the next few years.
Mike Yiannis, Chief Financial Officer, Hydrock said: “Santander UK has helped us by providing key funding for acquisitions and we have a pipeline of strategic additions that we’re keen to complete in the next few months. The funding has also provided additional headroom to support our organic growth plans across all parts of the business.”
Olivia Hines, Senior Relationship Director at Santander UK said: “We are delighted to support Hydrock, a fast-growing British company that is putting sustainability at the heart of its business and is seeking to address the challenges that climate change is creating in the many sectors in which it is involved. We look forward to working as its banking partner over many years to come.”
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For information about Hydrock, please visit: www.hydrock.com/
Notes to editors
1) Further information about BGF is available at: www.bgf.co.uk/