The business was founded by Sir Ian Wood in 1982, when it split away from JW Holdings,[3] the largest fishing company in Scotland.[4] JW Holdings had diversified into the energy services business at the outset of the North Sea oil industry in the early 1970s.[5] The company acquired Mustang Engineering Inc, an engineering business based in Houston, Texas in September 2000.[6] In 2002, the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange.[4]