IN Brief:
- Sauter has acquired a majority interest in Knutsford-based mechanical and electrical services provider 24-7 Group.
- Contemporary acquisition reporting describes approximately £70m turnover and around 330 employees; the purchase price is undisclosed.
- Founder Andy Hawes remains chief executive and shareholder, while 24-7 continues under its existing name and management.
Swiss building automation and technical services group Sauter has acquired a majority stake in Knutsford-based engineering and facilities management business 24-7 Group. Founder Andy Hawes is remaining chief executive and a shareholder, with the company retaining its name and management team. The transaction gives Sauter a controlling interest in an established UK provider of mechanical, electrical and building maintenance services.
Hawes founded 24-7 as an electrical contractor in 2010, subsequently developing a business serving multiple construction and facilities disciplines. Contemporary acquisition reporting describes approximately £70m in turnover and around 330 employees. Its own website separately reports £72m in annualised FY26 turnover: that annualised operating measure has a different basis and should not be presented as audited revenue for a completed financial year.
The purchaser and seller have not disclosed the purchase price or Sauter’s exact percentage holding in the available accounts of the announcement. Hawes retaining shares means the founder continues to have an ownership interest alongside his management role. The change of control is established, although transaction financing, any contingent consideration and the value assigned to the group have not been publicly specified.
24-7 delivers mechanical and electrical installation and maintenance, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, fire and security systems, facilities management, cabling and other technical services. Its portfolio also includes fit-out, fabrication, renewable energy and electric vehicle charging work. These activities span both construction projects and occupied buildings, where maintenance staff must work around operating plant, tenant access and the applicable inspection and safety requirements.
Sauter is based in Basel and supplies building automation, control systems, mechanical and electrical engineering and technical facilities services internationally. It already operates in the United Kingdom; the acquisition expands its local workforce and delivery capacity rather than marking a first entry into the market. Its portfolio includes controllers and building management systems as well as design, installation, integration and building operation services that complement 24-7’s existing site-based engineering activity.
Automation combines readings from sensors with control logic to adjust equipment such as heating, cooling and ventilation plant. Once installed, the system’s practical performance depends on accurate plant sequencing, calibrated instruments, correctly operating valves and actuators, and communication between the control network and the mechanical installation. A contractor able to maintain equipment and investigate faults can support these systems through commissioning and occupied-building operation, although the acquisition itself does not demonstrate measured efficiency gains.
When a building’s controls produce alarms or performance falls short, facilities teams must establish whether the cause sits in sensor data, controller settings, failed components or the physical plant. Addressing those faults can require electricians, mechanical engineers and controls specialists working together, with access to accurate asset records and safe isolation arrangements. The combined companies have experience across those disciplines, but no specific new integration platform or customer upgrade programme has been identified.
Construction projects and occupied property portfolios require different combinations of these services. A new plant installation needs design coordination, electrical supplies, commissioning records and a controlled handover to the facilities team; an existing building more often requires planned servicing, fault response and compliance inspections without interrupting its principal use. Engineers crossing those activities can carry knowledge of installed equipment into later maintenance, provided contractual responsibilities and access arrangements are explicit. The newly acquired 24-7 teams already work in both kinds of setting, which explains their fit with Sauter’s technical services business.
The acquired business operates across sectors including retail, logistics, distribution, manufacturing and transport, where sites may need preventive maintenance and responsive service while remaining open. Contracts can require compliance testing, servicing of mechanical equipment and work at multiple locations under agreed service levels. Workforce coverage, technical competence and access arrangements determine whether such services can be provided consistently across an estate; corporate ownership alone does not change existing contract terms.
Sauter executives have described the transaction as supporting wider UK coverage and building lifecycle services. Industry reporting also refers to approximately £250m of existing Sauter UK turnover, but that figure belongs to the buyer’s reported operations rather than the acquired company’s sales. Adding the headline totals would not yield an independently verified post-acquisition group turnover because accounting periods, consolidation and intragroup transactions would need to be considered.
Hawes’ continuing management role is intended to maintain relationships with employees and clients while Sauter becomes the controlling shareholder. The business will continue to trade as 24-7 Group, leaving any later technology integration or organisational changes to be established as they occur. Its present engineering workforce and building services contracts provide the concrete scope of the acquisition; future delivery changes will depend on individual customer work and decisions taken after completion.
