Automotive firm strengthens market presence with acquisition

A COVENTRY firm which produces show-cars for some of the world’s leading motor manufacturers has been bought by another company in the city in a multi-million pound deal.

Envisage Group has taken over Concept Group International (CGI) in a deal that will see the buyer’s workforce increase to around 850.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Concept was founded in 1999 by Joe Molloy, who grew the firm until his death three years ago. It has continued to trade under the guidance of its management team and has an annual turnover of just over £10m.

The Envisage Group is made up of five companies which undertake design, engineering, niche manufacturing and recruitment in the automotive, rail and marine industries. It also has offices in India and the United States.

Bryan Campbell, chairman and founder of Envisage, said the move not only added to the service offering of the group but also ensured that key skills remained in the city.

He said: “We have worked closely with CGI over the years and by bringing the company into the Envisage Group means we can offer the full range of services to our clients, from producing show vehicles right through to actually manufacturing small run and limited edition vehicles with every process in between.

“We are big believers in retaining and nurturing world class skills in Coventry, and there is no question that CGI – like Envisage – undertakes work that simply cannot be done anywhere else in the UK and in very few places across the world.”

The firm has produced show cars for the likes of Bentley, Jaguar, Land Rover, Nissan, Geely (owner of Coventry-based London Taxi Company) and Volvo, many of which are existing clients of Envisage.

Mr Campbell said it therefore made commercial sense to bring the two companies together.

The deal will see all 250 Concept staff retained and CGI will continue to operate out of its current 70,000 sq ft base in Longford.

Adrian Coppin, currently manufacturing and operations director of Envisage, will assume day-to-day running of CGI.

Chris Devane, CEO of Evinsage Group, said: “This is a very positive move for both companies. It adds to our strength of service offering but we also see considerable growth potential in CGI, as well as giving us much-needed space to expand.”

Envisage was advised by Freeths and CGI by Wright Hassall.