Middlesbrough-headquartered green energy tech firm Time To ACT joined the Aquis Stock Exchange this year in what was the first IPO of 2024 for the exchange.

The group was formed in 2019 with the merger of two businesses. The first is Diffusion Alloys, a specialist coatings business. Aquis is an exchange that is more focused on the smaller end of the listed company scale as compared to AIM.

The second part of the business is Greenspur, which is intending to develop a rare-earth-free generator to help produce turbines that do not require rare earths.

Rare earths – almost entirely sourced in China – are essential to wind turbines as they are needed in wind turbines due to their magnetic properties. In particular Neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium are typically used.

Greenspur’s generator uses ferrite magnets and aluminium coils to replace the copper windings typically used within generators and uses an axial flux (as opposed to the more common radial flux).

It works together with the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult at Blyth in Northumberland.

At the end of June Time To ACT received €705,000 (£613,000) from the BEETHOVEN project, part of Horizon Europe. The UK rejoined Horizon this January after a deal was agreed last September. Horizon has an annual budget of €95.5 billion.

BEETHOVEN is a project to help develop energy solutions that will reduce the dependence of the renewable energy sector on rare earth elements.

The funding is to be used to help develop a magnetic material that will be developed by unnamed project partners. This material will be used in a new magnet that can be used in Greenspur’s demonstration generator. It notes this material could potentially be used in related industries such as for high-speed electric vehicles.

Time To ACT is led by chairman Chris Heminway. Heminway is a former MD at Lehman Brothers who joined Diffusion Alloys in 2012.

The chief financial officer is Gary Wallace. Wallace is a chartered accountant who previously worked at chemicals company Venator Materials. Chief operating officer Jason Moody joined the group from aerial lifts outfit Snorkel.

The non-executive team includes a number of notable figures from the renewables/offshore wind sector.

Andrew Hall has held directorships at a number of renewable companies. These include the Arctic Green Energy Corporation, a position on the committee for Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and a range of positions at Siemens including a stint as the CFO of Siemens Wind Power.

Fellow NED Rich Furniss worked as a managing director at German wind power giant Nordex for nine years.

The group intends to leverage its position as a listed company for further fundraisings and is a rare entrant to the capital markets at a time of limited new IPOs.