Heating firm completes MBO in locally funded deal
A MIDLANDS heating and plumbing specialist has completed a management buyout with the support of a £200,000 invoice discounting line from Solihull-based Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance.
Nottingham-based T&S Heating, which has a turnover of £6m and employs 50 full-time staff and 38 sub-contractors, primarily supplies heating and plumbing solutions to the private and commercial sector.
Established in 1974, the business is a ‘Which? Trusted Trader’ and has recently extended its offering into a broad range of property services including building and fitting kitchens, bathrooms and loft conversions.
Fitting over 2,500 boilers and successfully completing contract work with seven councils, the business is looking at increasing its total supply to private clients to 50 per cent by 2018, and is on target to reach turnover of £10m.
The MBO sees the company’s founder Malcolm Theakstone exit the business. Saeed Rafique, who has been Finance Director at the company for five years and Robert Bluff who has been at T&S Heating for 24 years, will be taking over the company as part of the deal.
Regional Sales Director, Matthew White at Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance worked closely with the management team to structure the management buyout.
Saeed Rafique, now CFO of T&S Heating, said: “The progress of the business has been extremely encouraging and this management buyout was the next logical step for the company.”
He said allied with the bank’s support, the business was now confident about tapping into new markets.
Matthew White added: “This is an exciting time for T&S Heating as they look to move into new areas of property services. With the owner looking to retire, we were happy to provide Saeed and Robert the funding required to complete the transaction and take charge of this award-winning business.
“With a strong management team, T&S in on track to meeting its £10m turnover target and we’re looking forward to helping the business achieve its goals.”
Secure Trust Bank is an AIM-listed challenger bank and a subsidiary of Arbuthnot Banking Group. It launched its Commercial Finance arm in September last year and has teams in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle, the South Coast and London.
