Historic engineering business bought from Indian owners

HISTORIC Sheffield-based heavy engineering business DavyMarkham is back under British ownership after Hughes Armstrong acquired a controlling stake  from Indian group IVRCL.

The company has a 180 year history of delivering complex large scale bespoke manufacturing for projects throughout the world including Wembley Stadium, The Millennium Bridge, Heathrow Terminal 5 and the Channel Tunnel.

DavyMarkham has turnover of £15m and employs 180 people. It operates out of 16,000sqm facility in Sheffield with in-house capabilities including design engineering, fabrication, machining and assembly for sectors including nuclear, mining/tunnelling, steel processing, oil & gas and energy .

DavyMarkham is ideally located to link-up with Sheffield University and its Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in order to help secure nuclear new build projects.

Kettering-based Hughes Armstrong has a strategy to further develop and build upon DavyMarkham’s heritage in the steel and mining sectors. This significant investment in research, development and technology will enable the business to compete on a global scale.

The re-balancing of the UK economy combined with investment in the UK’s energy infrastructure has triggered increased confidence in this previously unattractive manufacturing sector, says Hughes Armstrong.

“Its previous owners viewed DavyMarkham as a ‘none-core’, however it still retains an almost unique UK Engineering proposition in terms of experience, in-house capability and its extensive facilities. DavyMarkham also has a track-record of delivering high profile strategic engineering projects around the world to major customers including Tata Steel, Rolls-Royce, ABB and GE,” the company said.

Hughes Armstrong CEO Stephen Lord said: “This transaction is a solid strategic fit for HA, providing great synergies within the Hughes Armstrong Group. Furthermore it will provide its clients with a more comprehensive range of specialist solutions and will allow DavyMarkham to access new sectors. The business will also benefit from advanced machine tool technology from within the group. The scale of DavyMarkham’s engineering achievements over the last 100 years is unparalleled in the UK and I am delighted and proud to have the opportunity to return this strategically important UK asset to its rightful position as a major global force.”

DavyMarkham’s former owner Endless sold its investment to IVRCL in 2010 following a turnaround.

Martin Sweeney from Schofield Sweeney and Matt Copley from BDO advised Hughes Armstrong.

 

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