New CEO and Chair to lead Cura Terrae in next phase of growth

Leading environmental services group Cura Terrae has appointed a new Chief Executive as part of a planned succession and brought in an experienced Chair.

The company, backed by Palatine’s Impact fund since 2022, said Founder Professor Pete Skipworth is moving to a non-executive role, while his successor as CEO is Nick Dilworth, who joined Cura Terrae as Chief Operating Officer in 2024.

In his new role, Professor Skipworth will continue to support the board to shape the South Yorkshire company’s future strategy.

Cura Terrae is a group of forward-thinking environmental companies, providing consultancy, services, and solutions to businesses in helping them to meet and maintain environmental standards across land, air, and water.

Nick Dilworth has more than 20 years’ experience in CEO and other leadership roles for private equity backed, family-owned and listed businesses. His experience extends across a range of relevant and complimentary industries to Cura Terrae, including renewable energy, aviation, and healthcare. He has a proven track record of operational excellence and a commitment to fostering positive environmental change.

Cura Terrae has also appointed Colin Stirling as its new Chair. Colin is a well-established non-executive leader in the environmental sector, having served on the boards of ALcontrol Laboratories, Adler and Allan, and FIS, with strategies covering organic and buy-and-build growth, following a career of over 20 years as a private equity investor.

Both Nick and Colin are experienced in driving organic growth supplemented by buy-and-build growth, complementing each other and the wider Board.

Professor Pete Skipworth, former CEO at Cura Terrae, said: “We are delighted to have teamed up with Colin, who will bring valuable insight from a customer and sector perspective and equally from an investor perspective. He shares our passion for the sector and for being the best at what we do. With Nick’s executive leadership experience and attitude to service excellence, we are looking forward to continuing to build the group and our customer offering in the coming period.”

Nick Dilworth, CEO at Cura Terrae commented: “It is a real honour to take the reins from Pete to develop the excellent foundations we already have in place. The future looks incredibly exciting, driven by the talent and commitment amongst our people that is evident across the Group. There is a clear plan to grasp the opportunities ahead in each of our businesses and I’m really looking forward to working alongside our teams and engaging with our broader stakeholders.”

Greg Holmes, Investment Director for Palatine’s Impact Fund, concluded: “It has been a pleasure to work with Pete for the last three years in establishing Cura Terrae as a leading independent player in the environmental services market. He is an outstanding entrepreneur and leader, and as part of our succession planning for the next stage of Cura Terrae’s growth, the time is right for him to step down from an executive role with the business. Importantly, we will be able to benefit from his knowledge and deep technical insight in his new role. We are delighted to see Nick step up to CEO and look forward to seeing the company continuing to thrive under his leadership.”