IN Brief:
- Global has acquired a controlling stake in Aberdeen-based Prism Energy.
- Prism provides project management, planning, estimating, risk management, and project controls software.
- The deal supports expansion into renewables, infrastructure, data centres, nuclear, utilities, and defence.
Global has acquired a controlling stake in Prism Energy, adding project management, project controls, and software capability to its energy and infrastructure services portfolio.
Aberdeen-based Prism Energy was founded by Andy Sutherland and employs a team of 40. The company provides consultancy services covering project management, planning, estimating, and risk management, and is the creator of Prism Apps, project management software used across the energy sector.
Sutherland and his team will remain with the business following the investment. Global said the deal will support Prism’s next stage of growth as it develops its technology and expands its services into renewables, infrastructure, data centres, nuclear, utilities, and defence.
Prism already has working relationships with companies in the Global portfolio, including Apollo and Global Energy Solutions, formerly Aventus Energy. Global has positioned the acquisition as part of a wider strategy to build connected capability across energy and infrastructure markets.
The deal follows a period of expansion for Inverness-headquartered Global. The group has announced a new headquarters at the Inverness Campus Freeport Zone and has set out plans to grow turnover from £300m to £500m over the next three years through organic growth and acquisitions.
Project controls capability is becoming more valuable as infrastructure and energy projects grow in scale and technical complexity. Clients are managing programmes that combine civils, M&E, digital systems, consenting, grid connections, long-lead equipment, specialist commissioning, and operational handover. Cost and schedule visibility now sit at the centre of whether projects remain fundable, buildable, and defensible.
That pressure is particularly acute in the sectors Global is targeting. Data centres require power-secured sites, resilient M&E systems, cooling, phased commissioning, and tight interfaces between shell, fit-out, and tenant equipment. Renewables and utilities projects must coordinate network constraints, land access, grid equipment, environmental requirements, and programme dependencies. Nuclear and defence work adds further demands around assurance, documentation, controlled processes, and long-term asset performance.
For contractors and consultants, stronger project controls alter how delivery teams are structured. Planning, estimating, risk, cost, and change management need to be linked earlier, rather than handled in separate reporting lines once a job is already under pressure. Software can help, provided it is paired with people who understand how construction, commissioning, and client governance interact on live programmes.
The acquisition also reflects the growing overlap between construction technology and professional services. Digital tools are increasingly embedded in delivery models, while clients still need advisory support to interpret data, challenge programme assumptions, and manage risk. Prism’s combination of consultancy and software gives Global a route into both sides of that market.
Major building and infrastructure programmes are also becoming more services-intensive. Engineering specialists are seeing stronger demand for organisations that can manage technical systems as well as physical construction, a trend reflected in NG Bailey’s growth across infrastructure-led work.
The Prism deal positions Global to capture more of that demand from a project controls perspective. As the infrastructure pipeline shifts towards power, data, defence, and regulated utilities, delivery teams will require stronger methods for tracking cost, progress, risk, and readiness. The acquisition gives Global a larger platform from which to sell that capability across connected sectors.
