Through acquisitions and organic growth, AIS continues to evolve in light of energy transition
As a global leader in the engineering, manufacture, and application of insulation and passive fire protection systems, AIS delivers mission-critical solutions across the energy, industrial, automotive, chemical, and marine sectors. With over 100 patents, AIS champions innovation and new product development, creating unique solutions to solve industry challenges.
Established in 2007, the company’s operations focused on the oil and gas sector during its early stages, but AIS has since diversified to create forward-thinking solutions for a range of sectors involved in the transition to clean energy. Today, its product portfolio still includes oil and gas equipment, but also encompasses buoyancy and SURF (subsea, umbilicals, risers, and flowlines) products, as well as products tailored to the electric vehicle (EV) and onshore wind markets.
Having grown both organically and through acquisitions, Andrew Bennion, Managing Director, speaks to Energy, Oil & Gas about the company’s evolution and the
strong reputation it holds. “AIS started in 2007 through a management buyout led by me and Simon Shepherd, another of our directors, and we acquired Alderley Materials shortly afterwards in 2008,” Andrew begins. “In 2008, our revenue stood at around £3 million, but fast-forward to this year, 2024, and we’re on track to reach an annual revenue of £135 million.
“When we first started, we had just one product – subsea insulation installed two-and-a-half miles below the sea to prevent equipment that supports oil and gas structures from getting blocked or damaged. We then developed additional complementary products like fire protection and insulation, but as we’ve grown, we’ve diversified from our core area, which was upstream oil and gas, into other markets that are working to accelerate energy transition.
“We’re particularly excited about the emerging floating wind opportunities and we’re preparing to meet increased demand,” he states. “Our cable protection systems prevent the cables from bending inside the turbine and our development and installation expertise in this area can be easily applied to offshore wind.
“Although the technology for renewable applications differs from the traditional oil and gas industry, we have the knowledge, expertise, and track record required to meet specific requirements. These applications are demanding, but we’ve invested in experts from the industry to help us grow our market share across both offshore wind and EVs.”
In terms of transferable expertise, AIS is entering the EV market with bold new materials. “We’re using our knowledge of fire protection to explore the protection of lithium-ion batteries used in EVs,” Andrew explains. “Specifically, we’re working to protect the battery pack in the event that a single cell fails. We’re looking at heat shields, cell spacers, coatings, and rebound protection to prevent the huge fires caused by cell failure in lithium-ion batteries.
“These sorts of projects remind me how crucial our in-house testing facility is, as we can conduct abuse and stress testing during new product development. Although we use the facility for our own development, we also conduct testing for third parties. We’ve recently invested in the site to add 1.2 million square meters of capacity, which will boost our EV capacity to around 600,000 vehicles per year once available later in 2024.”
Strategic acquisitions
Having grown both organically and through acquisitions, AIS has evolved to occupy a strong global presence. Headquartered in a state-of-the-art, 65,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Gloucester, England, which opened in 2021, the business boasts more than 650 employees across 13 locations. Its subsidiaries can be found in the UAE, USA, Brazil, Korea, Angola, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia, as well as joint ventures in Nigeria and Canada.
“We acquired a small fire protection business in Brazil a few years ago with the aim of geographic expansion,” Andrew elaborates. “Through acquisition, we’ve not only grown our geographic presence, but strengthened our product offering, particularly for the subsea market. In 2020, we acquired Bardot in La Ciotat, France, to increase our product range, and most recently, we acquired subsea specialist, CRP Subsea (CRP) in 2022 to strengthen our portfolio and consolidate within the market.
“The acquisition of CRP not only resulted in synergy savings of over £3 million, but also increased our profitability by adding £50 million to our turnover. In terms of our portfolio, it highlighted us as a major player in the subsea category with protective products, including the market-leading Uraduct® cable protection system now available under our brand.
“Uraduct® is designed to protect subsea fiber optic cables, power cables, umbilicals, flexible flowlines, rigid flowlines, hoses, and bundled products from impact and abrasion. Last year, we invested in the manufacturing processes to increase our capacity to produce Uraduct® in line with increasing market demand.
“Export accounts for around 85 percent of our business, and we’re proud to have received several awards in this area,” Andrew adds. “We won the Innovation Award at the Made in the UK national awards last year, and received the King’s Award for Enterprise, also in 2023.”
Innovation is engrained in the values of AIS, and the business invests heavily in its product development operations. “We have a dedicated product development team of around 25 people who evaluate our core capabilities and apply them to different materials or products,” Andrew says. “With expertise in silicones, rubbers, epoxies, and composites, many of our technologies can be used in other industries like defense. As part of our commitment to innovation, we invest up to ten percent of our revenue into development.
Evolving operations
“Most recently, we launched the ContraTherm® B85 ultra deep subsea insulation solution. It is a flexible, two-part, pour-in-place, solid, deep-water insulation solution, which is capable of withstanding temperatures of up to 204 degrees Celsius; the highest rated temperature product currently available in the world. As a pour-in-place product, B85 can be applied to meet specific dimensional requirements or bespoke needs and its high tensile and tear strength makes it a suitable solution for both static and dynamic structures.”
As our conversation ends, Andrew shares how AIS supports employees and prepares for a diversified future. “Our people are crucial, and we recognize our responsibility in securing skilled people to carry the business forward,” he proffers. “We set up our own graduate and apprentice schemes a few years ago to encourage and support young people in the industry, but we also sponsor existing employees to further their education.
“Looking to the future, we’re actively growing our market share in offshore wind and EVs, and we’re aiming for overall growth of ten-to-15 percent per annum over the next five years,” Andrew concludes. “As the world progresses further in the global energy transition, the percentage of our revenue generated outside of the oil and gas sector will continue to increase, and we will evolve or diversify as necessary.”