Simon Orange Buys £40m Marine Civils Firm Southbay

Entrepreneur Simon Orange has acquired Southbay Civil Engineering, the Gateshead marine civils contractor that topped £40m turnover in its latest financial year. His holding company, Orange UK Holdings (OUKH), bought the business from founding shareholders Gordon and Gill Green. A purchase price has not been disclosed.

The deal follows OUKH's acquisition of £350m-turnover steelwork giant William Hare in June last year. It extends Orange's interests from structural steel into ports, harbours and coastal infrastructure — a sector where Southbay has spent more than two decades building a niche.

Who stays, and what changes?

The existing management team remains in place, led by managing director Paul Stephenson and operations director Antony Ballantyne. The new ownership will back their plans to expand in the UK and internationally while keeping Southbay's civil engineering focus.

Stephenson said: "OUKH shares our belief in the strength of the business and our ambition for its future."

He added: "Importantly, this transaction provides continuity for our people and customers while giving us the support to build on what we have achieved and pursue further opportunities in the UK and internationally."

So what does this actually change for clients? On the evidence so far, very little operationally. Same directors, same discipline, same Gateshead base — but deeper financial backing behind an ambitious growth plan that already stretches beyond British waters.

A specialist in demanding water

Founded in 2001, Southbay builds:

• Quay walls
• Jetties
• Sea walls
• Flood defences

That's complex heavy civils work in demanding marine environments, delivered for clients including Peelports and the Port of Tyne. The firm has also pushed overseas with its first international project: a major marine infrastructure scheme in the Falkland Islands.

Its recent record earned industry recognition. The North and South Shields Pier Repairs project won the medium-sized project category at the 2026 ICE North East Robert Stephenson Awards, while the Redcar Bulk Terminal Upgrade was highly commended in the large project category.

The deal machinery

Advisers on both sides:

• RG Corporate Finance advised the selling shareholders
• Beyond Corporate provided legal advice to the sellers
• Mills & Reeve advised OUKH
• Saffery carried out financial due diligence

The acquisition gives Orange a foothold in coastal and port infrastructure at a moment when flood defence and harbour upgrade work features prominently on the UK's engineering agenda — and Southbay gains a backer with a proven appetite for scale, as the William Hare purchase showed.