Nick Oates

Company:

55 Degrees & Oates Family Investment Co.

Position:

Founder & Chairman

Nick is an entrepreneurial Business Leader, Chartered Engineer and Chartered Director operating within both the Energy & Property industries.

He started his career as a Quantity Surveyor and he has always retained his passion for the Property industry. He went on to attain an MSc in Engineering which took him into the Energy industry where he built a reputation for business turnaround activities. in 2016, he joined the struggling Fabricom Offshore Services (part of the Engie group) which specialised in offshore engineering, and within 12 months he turned the business from lossmaking to significant profit whilst almost quadrupling turnover. Also during this period, he ran and grew a successful Business Exchange from the Fabricom offices in Quorum business park.

In 2018, Nick founded and was Executive Chairman of Quanta Services Group Ltd., which was established as a vehicle to facilitate his Management Buyout of Fabricom from the Engie group. This deal led to his award of the Deal of the Year 2018, the subsequent rebranding of Fabricom to Quanta and the establishment of a new Aberdeen office. In 2018, Nick was also awarded the Director of the Year Award from the Insitute of Directors (IoD) - North East & Yorkshire. 

In 2020, he successfully guided the business through the global pandemic which saw a collapse in the oil price and the cancellation of several major projects. Then, in 2022, in order to facilitate the next stage of growth, Nick attracted Private Equity investment into the business and sold his majority shareholding to PE. Following the sale, he agreed to stay on as CEO, stepping down from the day-to-day management in late 2023 and is now retained on a consultancy basis, to continue supporting the business. 

In 2019, he established a property investment business which, along with his consulting and NED activities, is now his main focus. 

news links: 

Executive Business Unit Director Nick Oates wins IoD Yorkshire & North East’s New Director of the Year Award • Quanta (quanta-epc.co.uk)

Dealmakers awards: Muckle wins 4 times: Muckle is a forward thinking commercial law firm in Newcastle upon Tyne. (muckle-llp.com)

Impact Awards 2019 - North East Times (netimesmagazine.co.uk)

Foresight completes a multi-million pound investment into Quanta, a North East specialist engineering service provider - OGV Energy

Coverage of the Insider North East Dealmakers Awards 2022 (insidermedia.com)