Mitie acquires the Forest Group
20th November 2025
UK: The Mitie Group has completed the acquisition of Blackburn-based refrigeration and air conditioning contractors Forest Group.
The acquisition comprises an initial payment of £4.5m and deferred performance-based payments of up to £2.5m over three years.
The award-winning Forest Group primarily operates in the north of England, Midlands, Wales and Scotland. Its group companies, Forest UK and GB Refrigeration, support a wide range of blue chip companies and market leading brands, to specialist venues. Clients include Wetherspoon, Greene King, Marstons and Whitbread.
Its range of services extend from refrigeration equipment including walk in fridges, walk in freezers, commercial cabinets, blast chillers, bottle coolers, ice machines, cellar cooling and specialist equipment including retarders and provers, though to air conditioning and catering equipment.
The Mitie Group, which this week reported half-year revenue of £2.68bn, says that the acquisition will enable it to self-deliver critical refrigeration services. This includes the retail sector, where Mitie already has a strong presence in security and hygiene through a customer base of national high street retailers and the major supermarket chains.
