Fircroft powers-up with £105m refinance

TECHNICAL recruitment specialist Fircroft has sealed a £105m refinancing deal to support further growth.

The Warrington-based company, founded in south Manchester in 1970 by John Johnson and now run by his son Johnathan, has agreed a four-year deal with HSBC, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The deal with the lenders and their invoice finance arms, replaces Fircroft’s existing working capital facilities held with HSBC and provides additional funding firepower to support further global organic growth and targeted acquisitions or joint venture investments.

Chief financial officer Stuart Hall, said: “Fircroft has expanded considerably in recent years by building and maintaining long-term relationships with clients and investing in service capability and geographical reach.

“We remain focused on further growing the business in markets where energy and strategically aligned engineering opportunities exist.  This refinancing provides us with a flexible facility to fund investment and expansion.

“We are very pleased to renew our existing relationship with HSBC, which has been a strong partner to Fircroft in the last three years, and to welcome on board Barclays and RBS.  This banking club has global capabilities and expertise to match that of Fircroft, and we look forward to working with them on the next stage of our journey.”

Fircroft, which has been expanding in the Far East, specialises in the oil & gas, automotive, power & energy, mining and engineering sectors.

Since 2012 it has been backed by private equity firm Equistone, although the Johnson family retain the majority shareholding.

Fircroft was advised by the investment bank Rothschild (Guy Bagshaw) and by law firm Addleshaw Goddard (Martin O’Shea and Simon Prendergast), while Eversheds (Kathryn Walters) acted for the banks.