UK offshore wind pioneer buys US marine environmental consultancy

UK offshore wind pioneer Venterra Group has entered the U.S. market with the acquisition of INSPIRE Environmental, a Rhode Island-based marine environmental consultancy.

Founded in 2015, INSPIRE collects, interprets and visualizes seafloor data for clients in the offshore wind, ports and marine construction sectors.

“INSPIRE is our first North American acquisition and adds new capability to both clients worldwide and existing US clients of our UK and European-based member companies,” said Rob Jewkes, CEO of Venterra Group.

“Protecting the marine environment is crucial, and the building of renewable energy needs to be done with full consideration to the environmental effects.”

According to Jewkes, INSPIRE further enhances Venterra’s fast-growing early stage ‘engineer’ phase.

“Combining our environmental focus with Venterra’s offering means we will be able to offer a more comprehensive set of services with greater international reach as the global market accelerates,” said Drew Carey, CEO of INSPIRE.

“Venterra member companies already operate in the US and we will now open Venterra’s US headquarters on the East Coast to be close to the offshore wind industry as it grows across the US northeast and beyond.”

Venterra, established in 2021 by former Petrofac CEO Ayman Asfari and colleagues, acquired Ordtek, the UK-based provider of unexploded ordnance (UXO) risk management consultancy, at the beginning of the year.

Last month, the company announced it is buying Balltec, a provider of high-integrity connectors for subsea and marine engineering in the renewable energy sector, and Partrac, a provider of metocean and seabed measurement, analysis and critical advice for the offshore wind industry.

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