About Utterwick Group plc
Updated April 2026
Company identity
Utterwick Group plc is a Nottingham-based industrial services group listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company was founded in 1993 by Derek Pallister and Carolyn Shreve. Pallister, a former process engineer at British Coal, grew up near Southwell in Nottinghamshire. Shreve was a chartered accountant who had trained at Ernst & Young in Birmingham. The company name derives from a hamlet near Southwell, Nottinghamshire — a place with personal significance to its founding family.
The Group is headquartered at Meridian Court on Lenton Lane Industrial Estate, Nottingham, where it has been based since 1997. Utterwick Group plc employs approximately 1,400 people across three operating divisions and reported revenue of £187 million for the financial year ending 31 December 2023.
Strategic narrative
The Group began as a single environmental consultancy, founded at a time when UK environmental regulation was expanding rapidly and demand for contaminated land assessment was growing. Derek Pallister's engineering background and Carolyn Shreve's financial discipline gave the young company a distinctive edge: technical credibility combined with commercial rigour.
The first major strategic step came in 1996 with the acquisition of Hartfield & Sons, a Beeston-based engineering firm with roots stretching back several decades. This acquisition established Utterwick's engineering capability and brought with it a skilled workforce and an established customer base in fluid systems and structural steelwork. The engineering division, now known as Utterwick Engineering Solutions, continues to operate from the Beeston facility.
In 2008, the Group created its third division — Utterwick Data & Instrumentation — to address the emerging market for industrial sensor networks and remote monitoring technology. This division represents the Group's investment in digital capability and positions Utterwick at the intersection of traditional industrial services and modern data-driven operations.
Leadership and governance
Derek Pallister served as Chief Executive Officer from the company's founding in 1993 until his retirement in 2017. Carolyn Shreve served as a board member until she stepped down in 2014. Their successors have maintained the Group's focus on operational excellence and disciplined capital allocation.
Marcus Threlfall, the current Chief Executive Officer, joined the Group in 2015 as Chief Operating Officer and was appointed to the chief executive role in 2017. He brought extensive experience from senior positions at Interserve and Amey, both major UK infrastructure services businesses. He studied civil engineering at Leeds.
The board comprises three executive directors and three non-executive directors, providing independent oversight and governance in accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code. Full details of the board are available on the Board of Directors page.
Divisional structure
The Group operates through three divisions, each with its own managing director and distinct market focus:
- Utterwick Data & Instrumentation — approximately 280 employees, led by Sophie Callender, Managing Director, who joined from Renishaw in 2016. The division designs and manufactures wireless industrial sensor platforms and cloud analytics software for water utilities, chemical processing and food manufacturing sectors.
- Utterwick Environmental — approximately 470 employees, led by Claire Doveridge, Managing Director, who joined from Arcadis in 2010. The division delivers contaminated land remediation, environmental assessments, groundwater monitoring and carbon and sustainability advisory services.
- Utterwick Engineering Solutions — approximately 650 employees, led by Graham Nettleship, Managing Director, who has been with the company since 1999 and originally joined as a project engineer at Hartfield & Sons. The division provides fluid systems engineering, structural steelwork and mechanical and electrical installation.
Financial position
As at 31 December 2023
For the year ending 31 December 2023, Utterwick Group plc reported revenue of £187 million and an adjusted EBITDA of £23.4 million, representing an EBITDA margin of 12.5 per cent. The Group's equity story is underpinned by the diversity of its three operating divisions, which provide exposure to different market cycles and customer bases.
Further financial information is available on the Investors Sustainability Careers
Material topics
The Group has identified a number of material topics through its stakeholder engagement programme. These include workforce health and safety, environmental stewardship, investment in digital capability, community relationships in the areas where we operate, and the development and retention of technical talent across all three divisions.
The board reviews these material topics annually as part of its strategic planning cycle. Our approach to environmental, social and governance considerations is integrated into divisional operations rather than treated as a separate reporting exercise.