RBS-backed anti-piracy company reports 300 per cent growth

Steve Regis

ARX Maritime, an award-winning developer of self-install anti-piracy barriers and current cohort of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Entrepreneur Accelerator programme, now supplies its products to 65 countries and employs 12 members of staff.

Ex-Royal Marine Steve Regis co-founded the business with Josh Hutchinson after spotting a gap in the market to provide affordable, self-install products to protect vessels of all sizes.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Entrepreneur Accelerator is the UK’s largest free business accelerator network, offering mentoring, insight and bespoke coaching developed for entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses.

Steve Regis, chief operating officer of ARX Maritime, said: “Shipping companies spend around half a billion dollars each year on anti-piracy security equipment, and many smaller vessels simply can’t keep up with the cost. Instead, they tend to use barbed wire, which rusts and can be easily cut. ARX was set up to provide shipping companies with a cost-effective and easy to install anti-piracy solution, to ensure all ships are suitably and safely equipped for hostile waters.

“The business has grown much quicker than anticipated, and we’ve been lucky to have the support of experts and other entrepreneurs through Royal Bank’s Entrepreneur Accelerator programme in Edinburgh. Scotland has one of the best entrepreneurial ecosystems in Europe, and we’ve found at the heart of the start-up network is a will to help each other out. We’re ‘graduating’ from the programme this year, but will continue to advise other programme start-ups and help where we can.”

Gill Rattray, entrepreneurial growth manager at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “The rapid growth of ARX Maritime is thanks to Steve spotting a gap in the market and dedicating himself to the development of the business. Steve has been heavily involved in the Entrepreneur Accelerator programme for a number of years and continues to actively support other new businesses, an integral part of a strong start-up network.”