To leave BP after nearly 30 years in various senior roles - including global head of mergers and acquisitions - to become the chief executive of a little-known, Aim-listed oil recycling company, Ian Smale must have seen huge potential in Hydrodec (HYR).
- New management with strategic focus
- Fully funded for growth
- Director deals
- Green sky upside
- Still loss-making
- Plant explosion in Ohio
Hydrodec's niche technology currently allows it to recycle used transformer oil - the oil used to keep electrical transmission boxes from overheating - and turn it into a product that's as good as new, with almost zero waste, at a significantly lower cost than the competition. Hundreds of millions of litres of the stuff are currently used each year in a global market valued around $1.6bn (£1bn). Admittedly, Hydrodec's market share is tiny, but Mr Smale hopes to rapidly expand production and eventually transfer its technology to the much larger lubricant oil market - where global sales total in excess of $30bn a year.