Richard Irvin FM Limited is the leading provider of hard facilities management and energy solutions for commercial property and domestic housing. The business employs circa 300 people across its network of offices in Scotland and Northern England. It focuses on helping clients maintain safe, productive and healthy environments – for working or for living, through planned preventative maintenance to stop problems before they occur and reactive repairs when the unexpected happens.
In December 2018, Richard Irvin and Sons, whose activities included facilities management (FM) and mechanical and electrical (M&E) services for North and North East of the UK, fell into Administration. Working closely with the Administrators E&Y, Rcapital completed a competitive tendering process, at pace, to save 337 jobs through the acquisition of the FM business from the failed group.
Over the next 12 months, RIFM focused on undertaking a comprehensive review and delivering a plan to rationalise the business, consolidate and strengthen the compliance function and HSEQ, restructure the finance and support services divisions and supplemented the board with key appointments. As a result, the business benefited from a number of key contract wins and successfully retained 97% of the customer base from pre-acquisition.
In 2020, Richard Irvin expanded the team with a number of senior hires with extensive industry experience. During this period, the business also moved its Aberdeen base to new offices in City South, Aberdeen, and established a new Central Scotland Management office located at Castle Business Park, Stirling, to create a senior management hub in the region. During this period of Rcapital ownership, Richard Irvin went from strength to strength, change programmes included; operational improvements, cost reduction, marketing refresh, acquisition of a fleet of new greener vehicles, simplification of IT systems, bolstered bid winning and delivering market-leading contracts whilst retaining a key focus on HESQ. These improvements combined with the growth in the company’s profits and its working capital management, attracted the interest of a global, privately owned UK-based environmental, engineering and technical services group, RSK Group, comprising over 175 companies employing some 10,000 people.
In 2023 Richard Irvin FM was successfully bought by RSK, global leaders of sustainable solutions. The acquisition offers an excellent cultural fit and will enable RIFM to drive forward into the next stage of transformation and growth whilst adding material scale to, and diversification of, their existing operations.
“This is an exciting outcome for the loyal Management team, workforce, contractors and clients of the business who have shown real dedication in delivering an impressive turnaround, sometimes within the most challenging of circumstances throughout the pandemic. We wish everyone at Richard Irvin and RSK the very best of success for the future.” Phil Emmerson, COO, Rcapital Partners LLP.
“From the very outset I’ve found the Rcapital team to be open and honest. They have also proved to be a source of invaluable experience in retaining business stability whilst driving forward strategy and investment from acquisition to exit.” Mark Buchan, CEO, Richard Irvin FM