Waterford’s Suir Engineering has announced the acquisition of Taylor & Fraser
Waterford’s Suir Engineering has announced the acquisition of Taylor & Fraser, a leading mechanical and electrical engineering business operating in Scotland for over 100 years.
The news follows the recent launch of Suir Engineering’s first UK offices in London and Manchester as it expands its operations, and customer base, in the UK market. With a strengthened local presence, Suir Engineering is improving its ability to serve clients in the UK, capitalising on new business opportunities and bolstering its position in the competitive engineering sector.
Taylor & Fraser, headquartered in Paisley, has been a family-run business for 114 years. It provides mechanical and electrical engineering and construction services to a wide range of public and private businesses and organisations.
Irish-headquartered mechanical and electrical contractor Suir recently opened its first British offices in Manchester and London. The company confirmed on Tuesday that it has bought Paisley, west of Scotland-based Taylor & Fraser, bolstering its ability to serve clients in Britain.
Suir’s latest acquisition, along with a strong stream of projects, will help push the Irish company’s revenue to €550 million this year, the company forecasts.
Its turnover reached €429 million in 2023 while it has yet to publish figures for last year.
About €180 million of this year’s projected revenue is likely to come from work on data centres, one of Suir’s key areas of growth, according to chief executive John Kelly.
John Kelly, CEO of Suir Engineering, said:
The acquisition of Taylor & Fraser is part of our ambitious growth strategy. The team brings with it a wealth of mechanical and electrical engineering (M&E) expertise, and an outstanding legacy built over three generations of this highly regarded family business.
By the end of 2025 we anticipate that Suir Engineering will already be among the top 10 mechanical and electrical contractors in the UK by revenue.
The UK presents huge opportunities in two of our four specialist sectors, data centres and energy, power and renewables, and it is one of the biggest data centre territories in Europe.
Taylor & Fraser will become a Suir Engineering business but will continue to operate under its own name. Founded 114 years ago, the Scottish business specialised in mechanical engineering, but recently set up a construction division that now undertakes projects in its own right as a principal contractor.
Director Scott Taylor said the sale to Suir Engineering would ensure that it continued to provide “mechanical and electrical engineering services in the UK for generations to come”.
Based in Waterford, with offices in Dublin, Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, Suir is a European supplier of mechanical, electrical and instrumentation engineering. It employs more than 1,600 people. Private-equity firm Duke Street bought the Irish business in 2022.
Mr Kelly predicted the Taylor & Fraser deal would strengthen Suir’s presence in Scotland and across Britain.
“We now have a UK presence at three key locations and have further plans for expansion in line with the multibillion-pound market demand that we are seeing in our sector,” he said.
