Midlands PE-backed mid-market businesses saw average 51% EBITDA growth over three years

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Midlands PE-backed mid-market businesses saw average 51% EBITDA growth over three years
Midlands private equity-backed businesses experienced average EBITDA* growth of 51% over the latest three-year period, underlining the positive impact that the sector is having on the region’s economy, according to a new report. The inaugural Private Equity Value Report from Real Deals, developed in association with BDO, found that the region performed slightly below the UK average. Nationally, growing PE portfolio companies achieved an average EBITDA increase of 58.9% over the same three-year period while average revenues grew by 22.2%. Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO commissioned the research to understand the impact that private equity investment is having on the growth of the regional economy. The data was drawn from the most recent three years of accounts filed with Companies House. The fastest growing 25 businesses in the Midlands saw average EBITDA growth of an impressive 90% over three years and included a range of businesses from the East and West Midlands, such as: Kindred Education Limited in Northampton, Nottingham-based Care Fertility Group and M&J Evans Construction in Walsall. The top 25 showcased a range of sectors from technology to travel and manufacturing and the most featured investors in the region were Bridgepoint, CBPE Capital and BGF. Steve Round, partner at BDO LLP, said: “Despite the challenges of the past three years, this research demonstrates PE-backed businesses are a resilient and dynamic segment of the region’s economy. “There’s often a focus on the level of deal activity and headlines around exits but we should also celebrate the value created by investors and management teams working hard to deliver against their growth plans.” The fastest-growing PE-backed businesses in the region created an additional 878 jobs between 2020 and 2022. BDO’s latest bi-monthly Economic Engine survey of 500 mid-sized businesses revealed that 37% of Midlands businesses are either currently looking for private equity investment or will do so in the next three months. Whereas, 48% shared they wouldn’t consider PE-backing with the biggest barriers cited as not knowing how to engage the right adviser or business owners favouring a trade sale with no requirement to be involved post-deal. Steve added: “Private equity investment can be a real force for good as this growth also fuels innovation and job creation in the Midlands. Looking ahead, there’s a significant opportunity for the region which is home to so many high-quality businesses. “Investors have the capital and appetite to back more entrepreneurs to scale up and we have the experience to support business owners and PE houses on that journey.” *EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

Inflation comes in lower than expected for February

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Inflation comes in lower than expected for February
Inflation came in lower than expected for February, heading back in the right direction. Annualised inflation stood at 3.4% in February, measured by the consumer prices index (CPI), down from the 4% reported in January and below the 3.5% forecast. The largest downward contributions to the monthly change came from food, and restaurants and cafes, while the largest upward contributions came from housing and household services, and motor fuels. Meanwhile, core inflation, which takes out volatile factors like energy, food, alcohol and tobacco to give a clear picture of underlying trends, was 4.5% in the 12 months to February 2024, declining from 5.1% in January.

Alpesh Paleja, Lead Economist, CBI, said: “Inflation is heading in the right direction, and should fall below the Bank of England’s 2% target sometime in the Spring. However, the path beyond this is likely to be bumpy: shifting base effects mean that it will likely rise back above 2% later in the year, before settling down more sustainably.

“While the Bank of England are likely to look through these ups and downs, they will still want to see more definitive movement on domestic price pressures before committing to cutting interest rates.”

Revenue and profits slip at Eurocell

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Revenue and profits slip at Eurocell
Eurocell plc, the manufacturer, distributor and recycler of window, door and roofline PVC products, has seen a slip in its revenue and pre-tax profits. According to preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2023, profit before tax stood at £11.7m, down from £26.2m in 2022. This was, however, in line with expectations. Revenue, meanwhile, declined from £381.2m in 2022 to £364.5m. This came against a challenging backdrop, as noted by Eurocell, with a weak repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) market and particularly severe decline in new build housing.

Darren Waters, Chief Executive of Eurocell plc, said: “The trends reported at our half year results in September continued for the remainder of 2023, with some further modest weakening in our key markets. Against this challenging backdrop, we are pleased to report profits for the year in line with expectations and strong cash flow generation.

“We took early and decisive action on costs in response to lower volumes and have continued to focus on efficient working capital management, driving a good cash flow performance. Whilst the near-term outlook for our markets remains challenging, these actions leave us well placed to benefit from a market recovery when it comes.

“Our review of strategy is now complete and I am very pleased with the outcome. Looking ahead, we have identified a clear pathway to building a £500m revenue business, generating a 10% operating margin over a five-year period, built around four pillars; Customer Growth, Business Effectiveness, People First and ESG Leadership.

“This is an ambitious vision, but when we aggregate the growth opportunities, and apply a degree of sensitivity, we believe it is an achievable target, with the potential to create significant shareholder value.”

Over 160 new energy-efficient homes to be built in Bolsover

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Over 160 new energy-efficient homes to be built in Bolsover
Chesterfield housebuilder, Woodall Homes has secured a resolution to grant permission at Bolsover District’s Planning Committee for one of the firm’s biggest developments to date. The development lies on the countryside edge of Bolsover and will comprise 161 energy-efficient properties, with a mixture of one to five-bedroom homes, including bungalows. Accessed by a new tree-lined link road connecting Shuttlewood Road and Oxcroft Lane, the scheme will feature broad swathes of attractive, accessible open spaces, with multifunctional green infrastructure, landscape corridors, wildlife-friendly habitats and a local play area for community use, along with pedestrian and cycle connections linking to Bolsover’s amenities. Darren Abbott, Planning Director at Woodall Homes, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have secured a successful resolution to grant full planning permission for our new site in Bolsover. “This will be one of our largest developments and will make a significant contribution to achieving our targeted growth as a business in the coming years. It will cater for a wide range of needs within the area, providing accommodation perfect for couples, families and buyers who are ready to downsize.”

Rolls-Royce selects design partner in key milestone for expansion of Raynesway site

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Rolls-Royce selects design partner in key milestone for expansion of Raynesway site
Rolls-Royce has appointed multi-disciplinary professional services consultancy WSP as its non-fissile design partner – a key milestone in the expansion of its Raynesway site.
In June last year, it was announced that Roll-Royce would be doubling the size of its Submarines site in Derby to meet the growth in demand from the Royal Navy, and as a result of last year’s AUKUS announcement. This increase in demand will see new manufacturing and office facilities being built and will create 1,170 skilled roles across a range of disciplines, including manufacturing and engineering. It will be WSP’s role to design these new facilities and the infrastructure that links the site together.

Rolls-Royce Submarines Infrastructure Director Terry Meighan said: “AUKUS won’t be delivered by one or two companies. It will take strong partnerships across the whole supply chain to meet the increased demands for the critical work we do. Selecting WSP as our design partner is the start of our journey to meeting the demands placed on us.

“Throughout the procurement process WSP stood out when demonstrating their technical capability, capacity and culture. Importantly, they also shared our vision and commitment to delivering our commitments to the MOD and the wider AUKUS agreement.”

Oliver Curlett, Head of Defence & Security at WSP, said: “WSP is proud to be partnering with Rolls-Royce to design optimised, resilient and complex critical infrastructure which enables ongoing delivery of its world-leading capability to customers, both now and into the future.

“We are excited to bring our expertise to the team and are committed to ensuring collaborative delivery of Rolls-Royce’s infrastructure programme, in support of AUKUS and as a key part of wider MOD strategic commitments.”
The next milestone in Rolls-Royce’s ten-year expansion programme is to select the non-fissile construction partner, who will bring WSP’s designs to life. They will be tasked with building the manufacturing and office facilities and the adjoining site infrastructure. The winning firm will be announced in the coming weeks. Rolls-Royce Submarines currently employs more than 4,500 people and designs, manufactures and provides in-service support to the pressurised water reactors that power every boat in the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet. WSP is one of the world’s leading professional services consulting firms with 67,000 employees worldwide and over 9,000 professionals in its UK business. Rolls-Royce is currently supporting the existing Astute and Dreadnought boat build programmes through the delivery of reactor plant and associated components. Additionally, it provides frontline support across the world for reactor plant equipment from its Operations Centre in Derby and supports the submarines when in the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard and the naval bases at Devonport and Faslane.

Wellingborough automotive firm acquired

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Wellingborough automotive firm acquired
Raffenday Ltd, the automotive harness wiring manufacturer and distributor, has been sold to a US corporate, TTI Inc. Based in Wellingborough, with a facility in Slovakia, Raffenday Ltd have been supplying the automotive, marine and industrial markets for over 20 years. The UK development centre specialises in product design and project management as well as the manufacture of prototypes and low volume assemblies, while the facility in Slovakia specialises in the manufacture of medium to high volume harnesses and cable assemblies. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, TTI Inc. is a world-leading authorised distributor and specialist in electronic components for industrial, military, aerospace and consumer electronic manufacturers worldwide. Howes Percival advised Raffenday’s General Manager and Sales Director Simon Blincow, along with seven other shareholders, on all of the legal aspects of the deal.  This included a significant cross-border element involving a pre-sale reorganisation, liaising with and instructing the Slovakian lawyers to coordinate both the pre-sale reorganisation and the diligence/disclosure, and negotiating an appropriate warranty suite on the Slovakian share transfer agreements. Other challenges involved ratifying historical share transfers in the company and issues relating to the company’s statutory registers and carrying out a share buyback for a minority shareholder. Head of the Milton Keynes Corporate team, Andy Harris, led the Howes Percival team, assisted on corporate matters by Bradley Johnson, with Sobia Ahmad and Anna Bithrey advising the clients on their service contracts and settlement agreements, and Michelle Woolston on a new lease of the target’s UK premises. Chloe Bristow dealt with all company secretarial and governance matters, while Sam Moore advised on tax. The cross-border transaction involved expertise from HKV Law Firm in Slovakia, who also acted for the sellers and Knights plc and Accace, who acted for the buyer. Howes Percival’s Head of Automotive, Tom Redman, said: “We are delighted to have worked with the Raffenday team to bring this complex transaction home. It is a fantastic deal for all parties involved and one that once again showcases the breadth and depth of the firm’s automotive expertise across the entire sector. “A large part of the complexity was due to the cross-border element, which meant the UK sellers needed to appoint Slovakian lawyers as their attorneys. Procedural regulations in Slovakia meant that a strict timetable had to be adhered to in order to carry out an effective transfer.”

Revenue rises while pre-tax profits slip at Mortgage Advice Bureau

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Revenue rises while pre-tax profits slip at Mortgage Advice Bureau

Mortgage Advice Bureau has seen revenue rise and pre-tax profits dip in its final results for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Revenue grew to £239.5m, up from £230.8m in 2022, while statutory profit-before tax slipped to £16.2m from £17.4m, and adjusted profit before tax decreased to £23.2m from £27.2m. During the year, market share of new mortgage lending was up 11% to 8.3%, though gross mortgage completions were down 8% to £25.1bn and gross new mortgage completions were down 21% to £18.6bn.

Peter Brodnicki, Chief Executive, said: “Against a very challenging backdrop in 2023, MAB continued its exceptional track record of outperformance and market share growth in all market conditions.

“Despite the severe market downturn, we continued our investment across the entire business and remained resolutely focused on long-term growth. Our proposition for growth focused mortgage and protection firms is outstanding, underpinned by best-in-class technology, lead generation and infrastructure, and our aim is to continue to further increase MAB’s differentiation versus our competitors and grow market share and profitability.

“2024 has started well, with both purchase and re-financing activity having picked up significantly. We believe this signals the early stages of a market recovery that builds towards a catch-up year in 2025, with pent-up demand continuing to be released as consumer confidence and affordability increase.

“Although we expect organic adviser growth to start building some momentum again in H2 as our AR firms gain more confidence in the sustainability of the recovery, recruitment activity in terms of new AR firms is exceptionally strong, reflecting the significant strides we have made in terms of our technology and lead generation developments, as well as how we have engaged with and supported our partner firms with the introduction and integration of Consumer Duty.

“Following an exceptionally strong year for our most mature investment First Mortgage, strong progress has been made in terms of efficiencies and lead sources in all our other AR investments, with adviser productivity in these firms being significantly higher than our average across the Group. We expect a record performance from our investments this year and believe the portfolio will contribute to accelerated Group profit growth over the medium term.”

Yü Group delivers another set of record breaking results

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Yü Group delivers another set of record breaking results

Yü Group, the independent supplier of gas and electricity to the UK corporate sector, has reported “significant growth” in revenue and profitability for 2023.

According to final audited results for the year to 31 December 2023, revenue grew to £460m, up from £278.6m in 2022, following strong sales bookings.

Profit before tax, meanwhile, increased to £39.7m, from £5.8m in 2022.

Bobby Kalar, Chief Executive Officer, said: “It’s been an extraordinary year and I’m very pleased with our strong performance, delivering another record breaking set of results.

“We have a strong forward order book which continues to build into 2024, and with this high degree of predictability, I remain confident in delivering another strong performance and continuing to deliver further shareholder value in 2024 and beyond.

“We’ve made significant strategic and operational progress. I’m very excited by the capability of Yü Smart and the value it creates for the Group. We have a transformational new commodity trading agreement with Shell, and all the foundations and digital-led systems in place to ensure continued growth.

“We are increasing our dividend payment to reward our loyal investors and we look forward to providing further growth in shareholder distributions.

“I’m grateful to the Board who continue to deliver the right blend of challenge and encouragement to me and my team.”

Five Midlands Councils awarded £17.6m funding to get EV chargers on our streets

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Five Midlands Councils awarded £17.6m funding to get EV chargers on our streets
Five Midlands Councils, in collaboration with Midlands Connect, have come together to successfully bid for £17.6m of Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to get more EV charge points onto our streets. Midlands second Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Consortium, alongside Sub-national Transport Body Midlands Connect, have successfully bid for £17.6m of Government funding together, to help the region not only to accelerate the number of EV charge points on our streets as well levelling up our regions EV ambitions across rural and urban areas. The cash has come from the Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund, in which each local authority has been allocated an individual amount from that pot and additional private investment from chargepoint operators will enable the achievement of chargepoint socket aspirations. The £17.6m funding will equate to approximately 8,000 new charge sockets across the consortium area and is also likely to support approximately 11,138 jobs in the whole electric vehicle charging supply chain. The second Midlands EV infrastructure Consortium is led by Nottinghamshire County Council and is in partnership with Derby City Council, Derbyshire County Council, Nottingham City Council, Staffordshire County Council and Midlands Connect. Analysis by Midlands Connect found the Midlands needs over 58,000 new public EV charging points by the end of 2030 to meet the needs of the growing EV market, with over 2m EVs expected on our region’s roads by the end of the decade. It’s hoped this latest good news around the Government funding will spur on more region-wide installation of charging points. Maria Machancoses, CEO of Midlands Connect, said: “It’s great to see Government supporting our collaborative approach to delivering EV and today’s announcement will lead to thousands of new chargers being installed, transforming how we travel around our region and beyond. “We are helping councils working together to charge ahead and provide this vital infrastructure for their communities. “The collaboration draws on their collective knowledge and expertise to deliver on street charging, making it even easier for those without driveways to make the switch to cleaner travel. “We hope in the coming weeks the rest of our consortiums will also receive investment so we can continue to supercharge the Midlands and lead the way in EV infrastructure.”

Phoenix, Leicester names new CEO

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Phoenix, Leicester names new CEO
Phoenix, Leicester has appointed Kate Chadwick as CEO, assuming the role from John Rance who retires in April after more than 13 years at the charity. Kate has worked in the cultural and charity sector for over 20 years, and brings to the role her strategic leadership knowledge gained at diverse organisations, coupled with experience in community engagement and developing new audiences. As Deputy Director of MK Gallery in Milton Keynes she was responsible for managing their £12m capital development, which launched successfully in March 2019. Then in 2022 she took on the role of Executive Director at Stanwick Lakes, Northamptonshire – a unique 750 acre countryside attraction and protected nature reserve which attracts over 300,000 visitors a year – where she led the development of new hospitality and visitor services, and established a new exhibition programme. Kate said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Phoenix at this exciting time in the charity’s history, following its multi-million pound expansion. Phoenix is at the cultural heart of Leicester and I look forward to working with its dedicated and talented team to continue to grow the organisation and bring new cultural, creative and business opportunities and experiences to the city’s diverse communities.” Ali Sinclair, Phoenix’s Chair, said: “After an extensive recruitment process which attracted a lot of interest, I am delighted we are making this announcement to welcome Kate Chadwick as our new CEO. “Kate has a background which is both art and venue based, and she understands the challenges and opportunities of the role. Kate starts at the beginning of April; we know that she is very excited about joining Phoenix and I very much look forward to working with her. “The board is indebted to retiring CEO John Rance for his commitment to Phoenix, his resilient leadership and wide ranging expertise that have been invaluable in steering Phoenix through some very complex and challenging times. “He has worked tirelessly with the board, stakeholders and the senior management team to deliver the recent capital expansion and he leaves us with a tremendous legacy of a bigger and even more vibrant Phoenix as a platform to realise our artistic, community and business ambitions. “We wish John every happiness in his retirement from Phoenix, this will be a period of change and adjustment for all of us who have worked closely with him for many years.” Peter Knott, Midlands Area Director, Arts Council England, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Kate Chadwick as Phoenix’s new Chief Executive, who brings a wealth of sector experience across galleries and other visitor attractions to the role. “I’d also like to pay tribute to John Rance, who has led the organisation for 13 years, which included overseeing the major redevelopment of the building which saw an additional two screens and new kitchen and café bar added to the site last year. I’d like to wish him good luck for his retirement.”
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