A rapidly-expanding Galway-based marine environmental consultancy welcomed two Government Ministers to opens its new office last week – as it revealed plans to add significantly to its workforce.

AQUAFACT is now based in Liosban Business Park, having relocated from its original office which has been its headquarters since the late 1980s.

The move to the larger space supports AQUAFACT’s substantial growth since becoming part of the leading global environmental consultancy APEM Group in 2022 and the company has plans to hire for ten new roles in the next 12 to 18 months.

The new premises on the Liosban Business Park will also allow for other Irish companies under APEM Group to collaborate and deliver together.

The marine environmental consultancy’s new office was officially opened last week by Mayor of Galway City Cllr Peter Keane, and Minister of State in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Dara Calleary, with Government Chief Whip, Minister Hildegarde Naughton, also attending.

Since becoming part of the APEM Group, a leading global environmental consultancy, in 2022, and leveraging its extensive resources, expertise and global network, the AQUAFACT team has grown from 16 people to 25 and has plans to be 35 strong by the end of 2025.

Roles it expects to be recruiting for over the next 12 to 18 months include environmental consultants, marine ecologists, numerical modellers as well as graduate trainees.

“Moving to new offices after so many years in the previous premises is an important milestone for AQUAFACT,” said Shane O’Boyle, Divisional Director, AQUAFACT.

“Over the past two years, since we became part of the APEM Group, we have seen a real surge in demand for our specialist services which is incredibly exciting for our team as well as the local economy.”

Minister Calleary said that the opening of AQUAFACT’s new premises was ‘a direct reflection of Ireland’s need for marine skills and expertise to achieve our offshore renewable energy targets, as set out in the Government’s Climate Action Plan’.

“Meeting this opportunity will greatly expand the range of commercial opportunities available to our excellent Irish companies, such as AQUAFACT, which have marine expertise and experience. It is wonderful to see AQUAFACT going from strength to strength right here in Galway,” he said.

AQUAFACT’s establishment in the 1980s was in response to an increasing national and international awareness of the need to understand, develop, manage, and protect the natural environment – an awareness that has only grown in the following decades.

The company works closely with academic communities and universities in Ireland and throughout Europe and has particularly strong links with the University of Galway, the Atlantic Technological University, University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin.

Pictured at the official opening of AQUAFACT’s new offices were (from left) Mayor of Galway City Cllr Peter Keane; Minister Dara Calleary; Minister Hildegarde Naughton; Shane O’Boyle, Divisional Director at Aquafact International Services, and Alistair Davison, MD, Marine Science and Development, APEM.