What ACO Technologies plc does

ACO Technologies plc is the UK operating entity of ACO Group, a parent company described in source material as one of the world market leaders in drainage technology. Headquartered in Shefford, Bedfordshire with 251–500 employees, the company designs, manufactures, and distributes surface water management and building drainage products. Operationally it is organised into three product divisions: ACO Water Management (channel drainage, kerb systems, stormwater attenuation, and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) for civil engineering), ACO Building Drainage (corrosion-resistant stainless steel gullies, access covers, and grease management for commercial and industrial built environments), and ACO House & Garden (polymer concrete and polypropylene channel drainage for residential patios, driveways, and landscaping).

The technical product base spans polymer concrete channel drainage (RainDrain, CivicDrain, KerbDrain with BSI Kitemark), polypropylene channels (HexDrain, Easyline), heavy-duty cast iron and steel systems for F900 load-class roads (H Range, Qmax, RoadDrain), stainless steel 304/316 gullies and shower channels, geocellular attenuation systems (StormBrixx), hydraulic flow controls (Q-Brake Vortex, Q-Plate), FOG management units (LipuMax, LipuJet, LipuSmart, LipuMobil), and bespoke fabricated access covers. Differentiation is anchored in the proprietary 'Collect, Clean, Hold and Reuse' methodology, certified compliance with BS EN 1433, FACTA and LTN 1/20, and a layer of complementary design tooling including QuAD hydraulic design software, BIM model downloads, ACO Academy CPD content, and a Building + Landscape visualiser.

Revenue is generated primarily through one-time product sales via three channels: a direct e-commerce web shop targeting DIY and domestic consumers, a preferred merchant and distributor network serving trade buyers, and a direct enterprise sales motion for large infrastructure projects supported by in-house Design Engineers, Regional Sales Engineers and Chartered Application Engineers. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is structured as project-specific quotations for B2B work, with bespoke items excluded from standard cancellation terms. Customer concentration evidence points to a diversified mix spanning highways (Silvertown Tunnel), tourism and culture (Tate Modern, The Wave), defence (DMRC Stanford Hall), Olympics (London 2012), retail (Westfield), and hospitality (The Londoner Hotel). Despite the UK plc legal designation, no stock exchange listing or public ticker is identified in source material.

Name

ACO Technologies plc

Legal name

ACO Technologies plc

Website

https://aco.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

ACO Technologies plc is the UK operating entity of ACO Group, manufacturing surface water management, building drainage, and residential drainage products — including channel drainage, kerb systems, stormwater attenuation, stainless steel gullies, and grease management — sold through merchants, distributors, and a direct e-commerce web shop to civil contractors, architects, and homeowners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Drainage and Surface Water Management Systems

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623)

akta.pro primary industry

Irrigation & Outdoor Plumbing Products (IMADALAI)

Keywords

• Surface water management
• Drainage channels
• Stormwater control systems
• Sustainable drainage solutions
• Grease management

Headquarters

HQ city

Shefford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Direct sales of drainage products to contractors, merchants, and directly to consumers through e-commerce web shop. Products include channel drainage, gully systems, access covers, grease management, and SuDS solutions.
2. Merchant/Distribution Channel: Sales through preferred merchants and distributors who stock and resell ACO products to trade customers including builders, contractors, and homeowners.
3. Design Services: Technical and design support services provided to customers for surface water management solutions, including hydraulic calculations and project-specific engineering.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ACO Technologies plc designs, manufactures and sells drainage and water management products across three divisions: ACO Water Management (surface water drainage systems for civil engineering projects including channel drainage, kerb systems, stormwater attenuation and SuDS solutions), ACO Building Drainage (corrosion-resistant stainless steel drainage systems for internal and external built environments including gullies, access covers and grease management), and ACO House & Garden (residential drainage and ground stabilisation products for driveways, patios, paths and thresholds). The company also offers design support services, BIM libraries, and QuAD hydraulic design software to specifiers.

Product overview

ACO Technologies plc is a drainage technology company offering three integrated product divisions: ACO Water Management (surface water drainage for civil engineering projects including channel drainage, kerb systems, stormwater control, and SuDS solutions), ACO Building Drainage (corrosion-resistant stainless steel drainage systems for internal and external environments including gullies, access covers, and grease management), and ACO House & Garden (residential drainage and landscaping products). The product portfolio includes channel drainage systems (RainDrain, HexDrain, CivicDrain, KerbDrain, MonoDrain, MultiDrain, Qmax, RoadDrain, H Range, S Range), stormwater control solutions (StormBrixx, Q-Brake Vortex, Q-Plate, StormSed), grease management systems (LipuMax, LipuJet, LipuSmart), access covers (UniFace, UniTop, UniPave), wildlife protection products (Climate Tunnels, Wildlife Kerb, nest boxes), and design software tools (QuAD Hydraulic Design, BIM models). The company operates under the 'Collect, Clean, Hold and Release' surface water management philosophy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ACO Water Management: Surface water management with complete integrated systems for civil engineering projects
• ACO Building Drainage
• ACO Building & Landscape
• ACO House & Garden
• ACO

Products and services

• ACO Stainless Steel Gully Systems Stainless steel gully systems manufactured in austenitic grades 304 or 316, fully pickle passivated for corrosion-free joints. Designed for cementitious and resin screed, ceramic tile, and vinyl sheet floor applications in commercial and industrial buildings.
• ACO Shower Drainage Range Stainless steel shower channels for use with tiled or flexible sheet flooring, available with various grating designs for domestic, hotel, commercial and leisure wetroom applications.
• ACO Modular 125 Linear channel drainage system for commercial and industrial applications.
• ACO Total Flow Gullies Cast iron gully products designed for easy specification, installation and maintenance, particularly well suited for areas of high pedestrian traffic such as railway stations, airport terminals, public buildings and shopping centres.
• ACO Blue/Green Roofs Patented solution for blue green roofs that meets building regulations and planning conditions, integrating stormwater management with roof planting systems.
• ACO RoofBloxx Roof outlet system for flat roof rainwater drainage.
• ACO UniFace Recessed Covers Specialist floor access covers suitable for commercial and industrial applications, allowing inset of flooring material for aesthetic integration.
• ACO UniTop Solid Covers Solid access covers providing contrasting aesthetics with raised slip-resistant surface. Available in aluminium, hot dipped galvanised steel or stainless steel grade 304, tested to FACTA specifications.
• ACO Bespoke Access Covers Custom-manufactured access covers, floor doors and escape hatches for specialized requirements.
• ACO LipuMax Below ground grease separator for commercial kitchen applications, separating Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) from wastewater.
• ACO LipuJet Above ground grease separator for commercial kitchen FOG management.
• ACO LipuSmart Grease separator and lifting station combination system for commercial kitchen drainage.
• ACO LipuMobil Under sink mobile grease separator for commercial kitchens, providing point-of-use FOG separation.
• ACO GMX Pipe Stainless steel pipe system for drainage applications, complementing gully and channel product ranges.
• ACO Rainwater Outlets Aluminium flat roof rainwater outlets and car park gullies suitable for commercial, industrial and residential applications.
• ACO RainDrain Polymer concrete drainage channel for residential applications including driveways and patios.
• ACO RainDrain B 125 Light to medium duty polymer concrete channel drainage system for domestic driveways.
• ACO RainDrain Brickslot B 125 Discreet slot drainage channel that integrates with block paving for residential applications.
• ACO CivicDrain Light to medium duty polymer concrete channel drainage for residential and light commercial use.
• ACO HexDrain Polypropylene drainage channel suitable for residential patios, paths and garden applications.
• ACO HexDrain Pro Light to medium duty plastic channel drainage for residential applications.
• ACO Easyline H50 Low-profile linear drainage channel for residential applications.
• ACO GroundGuard Award-winning ground reinforcement tile for gravel surfaces in residential and light vehicle applications.
• ACO GravelGuard Ground stabilisation tile for protecting gravel surfaces and preventing rutting.
• ACO Threshold Drain Linear drainage channel for building thresholds and door entries.
• ACO Domestic Soakaway Attenuation and infiltration system for residential surface water management.
• ACO EV Power Channel Electric vehicle home charging drainage channel for domestic driveway installation, integrating cable routing with drainage.
• ACO Wildlife Products Wildlife protection solutions including nest boxes, bat boxes, wildlife refuges, climate tunnels and guide walls for integration into infrastructure and housing schemes.
• ACO KerbDrain Award-winning combined kerb and drainage system specifically designed for highways schemes. Range includes HB1, HB2 and 45 degree splayed profiles with Kitemark certification.
• ACO KerbDrain CycleKerb Combined kerb and drainage solution specifically designed for cycle lanes, providing continuous drainage with safe transitions between pedestrian and non-pedestrian areas. Tested to EN 1433 standards.
• ACO KerbDrain BridgeDeck Combined kerb drainage system designed for bridge deck applications.
• ACO H Range Heavy-duty monocast drainage channel with F900 load class for motorways and trunk roads.
• ACO S Range Heavy-duty channel drainage for commercial and industrial applications.
• ACO MonoDrain One-piece channel drainage system for various load class environments.
• ACO MultiDrain MD High-strength grated channel drainage system for medium-duty applications.
• ACO Qmax High capacity, heavy-duty slot drainage system with 2m channel lengths, available in 6 sizes for demanding civil engineering applications.
• ACO RoadDrain Channel drainage for highways and trunk road applications.
• ACO Multiline Sealin First high-strength grated channel drainage system with sealed flange joints.
• ACO UniPave Paving Covers FACTA-rated block paving manhole covers with 100mm deep tray for infill, available in 12 dimensions from 200mm to 1220mm, tested to FACTA B and D load rating.
• ACO Freestyle Bespoke grating solution for aesthetic surface water drainage.
• ACO Q-Brake Vortex Horizontal vortex flow control designed to prevent downstream flooding by controlling stormwater release at 2-100 l/s flow rates. Manufactured from grade 304 stainless steel.
• ACO Q-Ceptor Bypass oil separator for treating surface water runoff containing oil.
• ACO Q-Plate Orifice Plates Flow control device designed to regulate stormwater flows greater than 100 l/s, individually tailored to specific project performance requirements.
• ACO StormBrixx Plastic geocellular stormwater attenuation and infiltration system with configurable design software for underground storage.
• ACO StormSed Vortex Vortex water treatment system for stormwater management.
• ACO SuDS Swale Inlet Aesthetically pleasing interface between proprietary drainage and vegetated features such as swales, basins, ponds and rain gardens. Available in 110mm and 160mm pipe diameter options.
• ACO Climate Tunnel Wildlife climate tunnel for guiding small animals under roads.
• ACO Wildlife Kerb Kerb system designed to prevent amphibians from falling into roadside gullies.
• ACO TramDrain 200 Drainage system designed for tram and light rail applications.
• ACO GravelGuard Eco Grey New ground stabilisation tile added to the GravelGuard Eco range, expanding the colour and finish options for gravel surface protection in residential and light vehicle applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• KerbDrain BSI Kitemark certification ensures consistent product performance

Named customers8 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ACO Technologies plc