Nottingham-headquartered Phenna Group, whose aim is to invest in and partner with selected niche, independent Testing, Inspection, Certification and Compliance (TICC) companies that serve a variety of sectors, has made its 15th deal of 2023, and its 4th in food and health sciences.
Formed in 1993 by vets Rob Jones and Pete Eville, Leeds-based Eville & Jones (E&J) is a provider of veterinary, compliance and public health solutions to the food industry. Its UK-wide team of nearly 1,000 professionals delivers audit, verification, inspection and compliance services in the fields of animal health, public health, food safety and animal welfare.
E&J works with various government departments across the UK to safeguard animal welfare within abattoirs and ensure that meat is safe to enter the food chain. E&J is also the country’s largest provider of Export Health Certification services to the private sector, enabling the export of Products of Animal Origin.
Charles Hartwell, CEO of Eville & Jones, said: “My team and I are hugely excited to join Phenna Group. Our business has grown steadily over recent years and I believe with Phenna’s support, that can continue and allow us to expand more rapidly into complimentary services and geographical areas.
“Since our first interaction with Paul and his team, the process has run smoothly and they have acted with great integrity and professionalism throughout. I’m confident in our ambitious future growth strategy and look forward to working with the Phenna Team to deliver it.”
Paul Barry, Group CEO of Phenna Group, added: “I am delighted to welcome Charles and his team to Phenna Group. The addition of Eville & Jones really augments our fast growing Food & Health Sciences platform.
“By headcount, this is our largest deal to date and their experienced team creates a UK wide footprint of experts, that we hope to leverage into new adjacent services into the future. E&J provide a critical service to the UK food industry and I’m proud to have them join Phenna Group. I look forward to working with Charles and his team to help them deliver their exciting growth plans.”
Phenna Group was advised by Avonhurst and RSM. Eville & Jones was advised by Blacks Solicitors, Parsons Chartered Accountants, and Claritas Tax.
The deal follows hot on the heels of Phenna Group’s acquisition of CEIMIC Life Sciences Testing Group.
