A County Durham manufacturing company is poised to grow its current £5.16m turnover after an investment package from two leading finance providers backed a successful management buyout.
The buyout of North East Sheets and Panels Limited (NESP), based in Derwentside, was completed by Richard and Lisa Williams. They secured investments of £200,000, made up of £50,000 in equity and a £150,000 unsecured loan, from UK Steel Enterprise, the Tata Steel business support subsidiary, and £400,000 from IGF (Independent Growth Finance).
The company, which started in 1997, has a workforce of 32 and customers right across the UK, with a particularly strong presence in the North East, Scotland and Yorkshire. The MBO will help it to grow its workforce and maintain its place as one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of made-to-measure doors, panels, cabinets and worktops to customers in the fitted kitchen, bathroom and bedroom sector.
New Managing Director Richard Williams, who has been with NESP since 2009, welcomed the investments and the involvement and support from Harlands Accountants and Swinburne Maddison LLP.
“We are delighted to have secured this investment package and completed the buyout successfully,” he said. “We are very grateful to everyone involved – investors, accountants and our legal team – for all their efforts and commitment.
“We expect our workforce to grow in double figures over the next two to three years. We have already taken on two additional people and we are fortunate to have a high quality and skilled workforce available on our doorstep.
“The growth in the home improvement market is helping to drive our growth and the demand for bathroom cabinets is proving to be an area with particular potential. We are very pleased that our confidence in the future of the business has also been recognised by our investors.”
Peter Taylor, Business Development Manager, UK Steel Enterprise, said: “This management buy-out at NESP, a well-established manufacturing business at the heart of one of our steel areas, has not only retained but is already creating valuable jobs for Derwentside. With a strong and experienced management team in place we are confident that NESP will continue to prosper.”
Richard Spielbichler of IGF said: “We are delighted to provide the finance for NESP to complete the MBO and honoured that Harlands sought our services for this investment. We could see that NESP was a long established North East cabinet manufacturer with a high-quality customer base, so we were committed to helping the MBO team take the company to its next ambitious stage of growth and development.”
Glyn Davison of Harlands Accountants, based in Stanley, said: “We are very pleased to have supported Richard and Lisa Williams to secure their investment. Whilst these deals are not easy it’s so important that they happen and that the business continues to scale not only for the North East but for the benefit of the UK economy. We look forward to working closely with Richard and his team to help them deliver their growth plans and move forward.”
Martyn Tennant of Durham-based solicitors Swinburne Maddison, said: “It has been a real pleasure to work with both Richard and Lisa and make a positive contribution towards the realisation of their inspirational plans for the ongoing success of the company. Having grown up in the area where the business is located, it’s also nice to have worked on a deal on the doorstep that supports entrepreneurs in this part of the region.”
