£1.3m bonus package for Ross-shire Engineering employees after private equity firm acquires stake in business
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A PRIVATE equity firm has bought a stake in a major Ross-shire business – and employees are set to share in a £1.3 million bonus following the move.
Ross-shire Engineeering (RSE) managing director Allan Dallas said the firm does not expect that the move by MML Capital Partners will "affect our employees, other than in a positive way" following the latter's move to partner with existing investors Envoy Capital Management.
RSE, which is based in Muir of Ord and Inverness and describes itself as "the UK’s leading modular service provider to the water industry", employs more than 1500 people across its UK-wide operations.
The firm said the partnership with MML Capital Partners will help RSE continue its "impressive growth journey".
Allan Dallas said: "We do not expect this change to affect our employees, other than in a positive way. The partnership with MML will help us accelerate the growth of the business safely, providing high quality jobs, promotion opportunities and long term employment. We also expect RSE to advance beyond UK shores, taking its innovations internationally.
"Our business is winning because of the culture we have formed at RSE. We believe a business’ culture can only ever be the sum of the people that work for it, especially in our field which is technically orientated. With this in mind we have sidelined a £1.3 Million bonus package to be shared across our employees."
RSE focuses on developing and maintaining the UK’s water treatment plants, and was founded by Mr Dallas in 1982. In 2019 Envoy Capital Management and RSE management led a buyout of RSE from Global Energy Group, with an ambition to "develop and prove new ways to build water treatment assets for the UK market".
Since then, through a combination of organic and acquisitive growth, revenues have grown from £60 million to more than £200 million.
With MML’s investment and under the continued leadership of Iain MacGregor and Allan Dallas, RSE said it was "well positioned to continue to drive transformational change across the water industry".
Richard Mayers, Managing Partner of MML’s UK partnership fund, commented: “We have built a strong relationship with Iain, Allan and the team over two years, which has demonstrated we have strong alignment on strategy and values, particularly on building sustainable businesses.
"We are therefore delighted to be cementing that relationship with this partnership investment to support their ambitious growth plan. The water sector is experiencing significant change and RSE is well-positioned to help the industry innovate to deliver better quality water for consumers and the environment. This is an incredible team and we are fortunate to be partnering with them at this stage of their journey.”
Envoy and RSE chief executive, Iain MacGregor, added: “The investment by MML marks a key milestone in the RSE growth story, providing new access to capital and confidence to pursue our ambitious plans. Envoy and management will continue to be majority shareholders in RSE, backed now by a private equity firm with international experience and reach. Our decision to partner with MML was founded on shared values and a goal to change the way water companies and industrial water users enhance their treatment processes.”
RSE specialises in the design, build and maintenance of water purification and water recycling equipment.
Envoy is a UK-headquartered investment group. Its goal is to invest in rich but often fragmented industrial markets, preparing investment cases for partners with the experience and capital to "go to the next level".
MML is an international mid-market private equity investor focused on investing alongside existing management to deliver "bold expansion plans". MML has €2 billion of assets currently under management.
