EMS Group announces £3.4m tech and property investment in HQ relocation
EMS Group, the global marketing and healthcare solutions business, has announced a £3.4m investment in real estate and technology as it relocates its headquarters.
The company is made up of Event Marketing Solutions (EMS), the roadshow agency, and EMS Healthcare, a supplier of mobile medical units to the NHS.
New state-of-the-art head offices will account for £2.4m of the invested funds. The new 21,452 sq ft head offices lie on South Road, Ellesmere Port, and fall within the Cheshire Science Corridor Enterprise Zone meaning the company will benefit from reduced business rates as it continues to grow.
There are currently 42 staff but EMS Group said that over the next 12 months this is set to increase to around 51-52 with new roles ranging from senior management, to apprenticeships and university placement students.
The company was previously located at Lakeside in Ellesmere Port.
Meanwhile, a further £1m investment in technology and fleet capacity will see the business establish a workshop to create and design its roadshow trucks in-house, a development that also creates new senior roles at the company across management and vehicle body building.
Keith Austin, CEO of EMS Group, said: “Increased demand for mobile solutions in both of our core markets – marketing events and healthcare – has put us on a tremendous growth trajectory that now requires that we invest further in expanding our Cheshire operations. While we will still be working with our network of suppliers, we have exciting plans to bring some more design and tech-capabilities in-house. This will be significant in driving cost efficiencies, and our customers will benefit from greater speed of deployment of our vehicles. The new workshop and technology is a real first within our sector, and reflects our commitment to spearheading the industry with innovations that will future-proof our service.”
The investment follows a record breaking financial year for the business, which saw profits in 2016 surpass the £1m mark for the first time.
Milestones for the marketing division include the launch of its largest Middle Eastern project to date – a £2.5m roadshow across Saudi Arabia for a legacy tour of the late King Abdullah.
Meanwhile, the healthcare division achieved an official listing as a supplier on the NHS’s mobile diagnostics, theatres, treatment and therapy services framework.
Austin added: “We’re now operating in over 40 countries, so the investment in technology will also be instrumental in our ability to innovate in new markets, catering to them individually by developing vehicles to meet their specific needs. For EMS Healthcare, it means we can widen our offering of clinical medical units to the NHS, further supporting the NHS Five Year Forward view and the drive for more out-of-hospital and community care.”
