Interviews
Interviews
The UK’s fastest growing private companies: Hot 100 2015 – (91) Ikon Science
2 min read
26 June 2015
Ikon Science has dubbed itself the “present and future of geoprediction”. The company, which was found in 2001, develops innovative technologies in collaboration with its clients – as well as leading global universities and research centres.
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Name: Ikon Science
Industry/Sector: IT, software and telecoms
Date founded: 2001
The boss: Martyn Hargrave
Location: South East
Latest turnover: £24m
Three-year compound growth rate (%): 30.52
Latest EBITDA: £1.3m
It develops these technologies into commercial software solutions on its RokDoc platform, which enables geologists and engineers to understand and predict the properties and behaviour of rocks in the Earth’s subsurface.
This enables its clients – the world’s oil and gas exploration and production companies – to target and drill profitable and safe wells.
The business grew its service footprint with the acquisition of GeoPressure in 2005 and then JRS in 2012. The five-year growth plan it set in 2009 resulted in strong compound annual growth rate, with offices opened in key energy hubs such as Perth, Calgary and Rio de Janeiro.
The focus was then placed on expanding the management team to support this growth and globalisation of the company, before the most recent acquisition of Terra added real-time drilling monitoring solutions to the company.
Led by Founder and CEO Martyn Hargrave, Ikon prides itself on its customer focus, ensuring its developments are relevant to client’s issues. It currently employs over 200 staff in 15 locations.
According to Hargreave, Ikon’s team has helped this growing company catch the attention of the world’s large oil companies through commitment and innovative products. Over the next five years, he plans to increase the company’s headcount by 50 per cent – the result of increased market visibility, new clients coming on board, a larger product footprint and a wider geographic reach.