An engineering consultancy and software provider that solves complex engineering problems for companies including Renault F1 and Jaguar Land Rover has been sold in a deal completed by Northampton-based corporate finance specialists Watersheds. GRM Consulting Ltd, which provides design optimisation services and software solutions to a range of sectors including the automotive, motorsports, aerospace, rail and medical industries, has been sold to Solid Solutions, part of the TriMech company. The acquisition of GRM, whose origins date back to 2003 when MD Martin Gambling founded the then one-man company from his kitchen table, is a key part of Solid Solutions’ strategy to grow the engineering services team that services its 15,000+ software customer base in the UK. Watersheds partner Tim Harrington said that the sale has secured an exciting future for all concerned. “When owners Martin Gambling and Oliver Tomlin approached us to investigate the potential to sell, we explained that a lot of preparation work would be undertaken to present the business in the most appropriate way. GRM is a complex business marrying two connected, but very different, aspects – consultancy and software sales,” said Tim Harrington. “We spent a lot of time making sure information about GRM was clear, drawing attention to the fact that GRM was a growing business with a very impressive customer list, including several F1 racing teams, some top car manufacturers and medical equipment specialists. “We realised GRM would be attractive to the big players outside the UK, and planned our research accordingly. When we approached a range of credible and suitable international buyers we were able to spark a considerable amount of interest, which meant Martin and Oliver had a range of options. “GRM is now set to be part of a much bigger group that serves some of the most prestigious companies in the world. Martin Gambling and Oliver Tomlin will continue to lead the business through its next growth stage, and their staff know that the company’s future is very positive.” Martin Gambling said: “When we started thinking about selling, we realised we would need strong professional support on the entire process, from marketing the business to keeping us on track with all the due diligence and legal aspects of a deal. “GRM serves fast-moving clients who continually innovate, rather than iterate, always pushing design boundaries, so we wanted a buyer to match and complement that ethos. “Watersheds encouraged us to begin this process early, and took a very international approach to sourcing potential buyers, which has worked out very well indeed for both parties. “We’re delighted that Watersheds found us a buyer in Solid Solutions that shares our commitment to innovation, wants to build on our success and sees the importance of the role of our loyal and talented staff in that process. It’s the best possible combination we could have hoped for.”

A fast-growing doughnut business is set to raise the ceiling on its crowdfund campaign after attracting five times its prospective investment target in just two weeks of trading.

Derby-based Project D launched a £400,000 crowdfund campaign at the beginning of May in an effort to inject cash to speed up its already rapid expansion. On the first day of launch alone, the pre-registration figure totalled more than £500,000.

And, within two weeks of launching its online campaign on the Crowdcube crowdfunding platform, the firm received expressions of interest amounting to more than £2m, in addition to the £150,000 lead investment already generated prior to the launch.

More than 2,500 potential investors keen to claim their own stake in the booming bakery business have flocked to the crowdfunding site to register an interest.

The company, which was launched from a kitchen table in 2018 by three former school friends, is now keen to encourage more potential future shareholders to pre-register before it decides how much to increase its original £400,000 target by.

The closing date for pre-registration has not yet been announced.

Max Poynton, co-founder and marketing director for Project D, said: “Given the level of interest, we will probably now look to overfund our original investment target.

“It’s unbelievable how many individuals want to be a part of our company. I’m totally blown away by the numbers our crowdfund registration campaign has generated so far.

“It’s also really rewarding to see some real interest from everyday people, including hundreds of our loyal social media followers.”

Max said that around 45 per cent of the £2m total came from professional investors, while 55 per cent came from first-time investors, most of whom showed an interest in investing between £50 and £1,000.

Once the pre-registration stage of the crowdfund campaign has closed, the firm will begin the task of inviting potential investors to formally pledge their desired amounts. This will be handled by and large on a first-come-first-served basis until the firm’s overfund level has been reached.

“We urge any interested parties who haven’t yet visited our crowdfund page to get involved before the door closes,” said Max. “We’d love to invite as many investors as possible to join our ‘inner ring’.”

The multiple award-winning bakery manufactures around two million doughnuts per annum at its purpose-built 11,000 sq ft bakery.

With a current annual turnover of around £2.6m, the team is aiming to use the crowdfund investment to reach a £12m turnover within three years. 

Founded by Max and fellow ex-schoolfriends Matt Bond and Jacob Watts, Project D has already attracted partnerships with global heavyweight brands like British Airways, Brewdog, Amazon and Coca-Cola.

Finance raised from the crowdfund campaign will be invested in product innovation, retail expansion, digital marketing and e-commerce and key office hires.

The firm, which has to date created more than 2,500 individual product lines, works closely with food scientists and nutritionists at a state-of-the-art research and development facility in Corby, Northamptonshire.

Its rapid expansion has been aided by the company’s huge digital marketing push and social media following, with its TikTok account alone receiving 19m views, 1.1m likes and 27,000 comments in a single two-month period.

Nottinghamshire retailer Wilko is considering entering into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), according to reports by Bloomberg. The CVA could help Wilko to renegotiate rents and agreements with creditors and potentially close shops, as the company looks to cut costs. PwC is said to have been approached to explore restructuring options. The news comes as Wilko looks to stabilise the business and accelerates its turnaround plans. In February (2023) the household and garden retailer formed a new senior leadership team and revealed a number of roles would be lost. Wilko was set to cut 400 jobs. Wilko is the UK’s 23rd biggest retailer, employing 16,000 team members. It operates 400 stores across the UK.

One of the first companies in the UK to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint is celebrating huge success after doubling its turnover in the space of a year.

Viridis, based in Collingham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, designs and project-manages solutions for businesses and organisations to minimise the carbon output of their buildings and make them more energy efficient.

Following a slow first year of trading in 2012, before Net Zero was a widely recognised concept, the firm experienced an impressive 2,500 per cent growth up to the end of March 2022. 

Having reached a point over several years where annual sales were in the hundreds of thousands, it has been benefiting from a growing interest in the impact that our lives and businesses have on the environment.

Now, with added pressure for firms to prepare for the UK Government’s Net Zero target in 2050, sales have continued to go through the roof and, in the last 12 months alone, Viridis has doubled its record income of last year.

Yet, despite forecasting that business will increase by a further 50 per cent by March 2024, the firm does not expect to be adding to staff numbers much beyond its current team of seven.

Lee Marshall, founder and Managing Director of Viridis, said: “We’re on the cusp of a really big push forwards in business terms. 

“Back in 2012, no one was doing what we set out to do. It just wasn’t on the agenda for businesses, at least nowhere near as much as it is now. 

“We are now reaping the rewards of being Net Zero pioneers and are moving to the next generation of innovation. 

“With so many proven projects already under our belt, we have gone through the learning curve. We are actually designing building decarbonisation solutions at a 2030 level and have been doing so since probably 2014.”

Lee said that his team, made up largely of environmental and design engineers, were all highly creative individuals who spent their working lives searching for increasingly innovative Net Zero solutions. 

“This is why we won’t be increasing staff levels beyond some additional administrative assistance,” he said. “We will handle the increased workload simply by being more innovative, as we have always done.”

The team at Viridis, which also has a base in Stirling, Scotland, uses its science, engineering and environmental expertise to create plans both for buildings still at development stage and existing older buildings. This could involve things like the installation of heat pumps and photovoltaic panels to improving insulation, lighting sources and ventilation.

The firm also offers a wider Net Zero auditing service to businesses, where it will recommend a series of measures that an organisation could take in order to achieve the Government’s Net Zero target well before the 2050 deadline.

Lee said: “We’re all going to have to go down this road eventually, so businesses are wise to begin their journey as soon as possible. 

“Amongst all the other environmental and statutory benefits, our solutions invariably slash energy bills overnight which, in the current climate, could mean the difference between survival and failure of a business.”

Viridis has been responsible for major cost, energy and environmental savings at numerous buildings across the UK, whether commercial, residential, heritage, leisure, community or education.

It helped to achieve a BREEAM Excellent accreditation in 2014 for the Newark & Sherwood District Council offices. BREEAM is the world’s longest established method of assessing and certifying the sustainability of buildings.

Other Viridis clients over the years have included Loughborough College, where the team reduced energy consumption by a third in one of the campus buildings, and Wheeler Gate, a mixed-use development in the Grade II-listed Cavendish Building and Wheeler House in Nottingham, which achieved an EPC rating of B, with an operational energy that exceeded the RIBA 2030 Challenge.