Data centre cooling specialist secures a £1.75m loan

A provider of growth capital for UK SMEs has awarded a data centre specialist a £1.75m term loan to support major anticipated growth this year.

The money from BOOST&Co has gone to FEL Group, which builds and maintains infrastructure supporting data centres across the UK.

The Scunthorpe-based company is projecting growth of 246% in 2021 after winning a contract with CityFibre, the country’s third national digital infrastructure platform.

BOOST&Co’s investment will support FEL’s working capital needs and will fund additions to the business.

It has also enabled the repayment of three smaller funding facilities. Founded in 1997 as an air-conditioning provider, FEL currently has 30 staff.

Managing director, John Higginbottom, who led a management buyout of the company in 2019, said: “This investment will help us massively.

“It gives us a chance to strengthen the team, and also to finance any further growth opportunities we’re looking at.

“It helps us with financial stability: it’s given us that and more. It has given us a really good foothold to push the business forward. It’s an absolutely amazing bit of funding for us.”

BOOST&Co principal Faye McDonough, who led the deal from the alternative lender’s Cambridge office, added: “John and his management team have made great progress since completing an MBO in 2019, transforming the customer base and product offering.

“They are now well placed to grow through 2021 and beyond, with fantastic new momentum and significant contract wins.”

Chris Silverwood, of the corporate finance boutique CorpFin and an advisor on the deal, said: “FEL Group plays a leading role in managing the critical infrastructure of the nation, and as such, it is perfectly positioned to benefit from the ever-increasing levels of investment that are being made in further enhancing connectivity throughout the UK.

“Changes to how we all live and work, which have only been expedited by the pandemic, have driven further demand for FEL’s services.

“In BOOST&Co, it has found the perfect financial partner to enable it to fund what I have no doubt will be a very exciting next chapter in the history of the group.”

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