The company has confirmed two new investors, Philip Wilson and Russell Wilson, who join the Board alongside Aqua’s original founders, Kevin Lancaster and Simon Davis.
The Messrs Wilson bring a plethora of industry experience to Aqua, having both been intrinsically involved in ICS Cool Energy. Philip Wilson takes on a non-executive director, consultative role, whereas Russell Wilson will be active within the hire side of the business.
Aqua was founded in 2001, focusing primarily on industrial and process cooling across the UK and overseas. The service side of the business was formed five years later and Aqua acquired Stadco Cooling from the Stadco Automotive Group in 2010. Aqua won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation in 2015, and 2018 saw the launch of their hire division.
As the company celebrates its 20th anniversary, 2021 seemed a pertinent time to make a change, as Simon Davis explained: “Aqua has established itself as a market leader for technically led cooling solutions but Kevin & I recognised we needed capital investment to move to the next level. We have a great team with an over-arching belief that we can be number one in our industry. Phil and Russell joining us will be key to delivering that aspiration. This is such an exciting time for Aqua, I’m really thrilled about where we will go next.”
Initially the new investment will be directed towards rental equipment, new premises, and personnel, as Russell Wilson commented: “We aim to combine Aqua’s 20-year legacy and reputation with our industry experience, to create something really quite special for the marketplace. From a hire perspective, Aqua is now positioned to offer customers technical expertise, site specific hire solutions and a technically innovative fleet of equipment. Just because a customer hires it shouldn’t mean they have to compromise on quality of equipment, installation, or technical resource. Watch this space, we have exciting plans!”