In Brief: Railex sold; £400,000 contract for GodelTech; Revenues up at recruiters Axon and Rowan Group
FILING products firm Railex has been acquired in a management buy-in.
The £3.5m turnover business has two operations – the filing cabinet arm in Essex, and the folders, files and wallets business based in Southport.
Bolton-based KBS Corporate advised on the firm’s acquisition by Andrew Ferguson and Raymond Crane. KBS’ Guy Haynes handled the deal with Gateley’s Manchester office providing legal advice.
The acquisition marks the first time in Railex’s 105-year history that the link will be broken with the founding Wilson family. It was originally established in Rochdale by Frank Wilson and his wife as WH Hilton in 1908.
Mr Haynes said: “It was evident from the outset that there was significant trade interest in both Railex entities. I spoke to a number of different buyers within both sectors, especially in the storage sector. However, it became clear that ultimately, the best solution for our clients came from the eventual buyers, who held an interest in the whole group rather than just one of the subsidiaries.”
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MANCHESTER-based GodelTech has won a £400,000 contract to supply software firm CACI over an 18-month period.
GodelTech’s programmers will work alongside CACI’s team on software development and quality assurance. CACI has its headquarters in London but also has an office at Manchester Science Park where GodelTech is based.
Chief executive Neil Turvin said: “This is a fantastic piece of news for us. This longer-term contract with CACI demonstrates our quality and reliability as a partner. Having a client agree to a longer term contract is a true testament to the hard work put in by the GodelTech team.”
Simon Kelly, operations director at CACI, said: “Keeping ahead of the market place with cutting edge software is something which GodelTech has been helping us with since our partnership began in 2011. The dedicated team model we have with GodelTech allows us to obtain high quality capacity, which enables us to continue to deliver quality features into our products. In agreeing a partnership for 18 months, it allows us to retain our fantastic team at GodelTech and control expenditure for a longer period.”
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WARRINGTON recruitment agency Axon Resourcing said revenues grew by 20% to £8m last year.
It said the performance was down to growth in demand for interim contractors and an increase in the number of permanent senior and executive roles in both the private and public sector.
The firm’s owner Andy Edwards said: “We have experienced growth in all areas through 2013 but notably we have seen an increase in the amount of six figure retained assignments we have been instructed on, and a growing appetite to appoint more generally at the executive level.
“This was particularly marked in the third and fourth quarters. We have invested further in attracting the very best quality recruiters to Axon and will continue to do so in 2014. We are well positioned for another year of profitable growth as the economy improves and confidence grows.”
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EXECUTIVE recruitment firm Rowan Group said it expects turnover to hit £1m this year.
During the last year the Manchester company placed over 50 professionals in boardroom positions in a range of companies including Intrinsic Technology, Metronet and Elstat Group.
This included 12 finance directors, placed through the specialist arm Rowan Finance. The company also invested £250,000 in a new Spinningfields operation to supplement its Didsbury headquarters, and increased its team to 10 people.
Director Paul Waite said: “The October to December period was a record quarter for the business, and with a turnover in excess of £250,000 during this time and an excellent pipeline of work we are in the best possible position to beat the £1m mark this year.
“However growth in 2014 will not come solely from the current set-up, we are well-advanced in developing a new market offering which will see us expand our horizons, and we will appoint the newest addition to the team this month.
“The business has developed a respected profile built on integrity and loyalty, and all these elements together make for a positive, exciting year-ahead.”
