Speed Medical buys Liverpool rival

SPEED Medical, a medical reports provider to the personal injury market, has expanded through the acquisition of Liverpool-based Medical Legal Appointments (MLA).

MLA operates in the same field but also draws up reports for industrial disease claims which will account for 15% of the merged group’s business, up from 5%.

Chorley-based Speed Medical said the deal would enable both businesses to extend and improve the “scope, performance and efficiency of their operations”.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed. Speed Medical said MLA would retain its branding and its management, with no redundancies planned. MLA, which has been sold by David Edmonson, employs 40 staff and has a £5m turnover. Speed Medical has 150 staff and sales of £40m.

Speed’s managing director Graham Pulford said: “MLA represents the ideal acquisition for Speed. It is a well-run, profitable business, full of passionate, skilled and pragmatic professionals.

“The MLA team is as committed as we are to delivering quality, value and innovation into a dynamic legal marketplace, sharing our desire to provide an unrivalled service to customers and their clients.

“This purchase fits perfectly into our longer-term growth and diversification plans and is a progressive move in the current climate, demonstrating both our strength and ambition. United by a common culture, operational integration will be relatively seamless so we will be able to extend our respective offers, increasing our breadth of service and depth of expertise, overnight.”
 
Mr Edmondson said: “Some consolidation among medical agencies is inevitable but that’s not what this move is about. Both parties recognise the synergies in areas where operations overlap but we have also been quick to identify the vastly expanded opportunities and advantages for existing customers and prospects that will accrue as a result of this move.”