MBO at finger safety firm
THE managing director of Fingershield Safety UK, which sells devices that prevent children’s fingers from being trapped in doors, has completed a buyout of the firm.
Paul O’Carroll has acquired the 50% stake held by his father-in-law Frank Garvey who founded the Manchester business in 1999.
The value of the transaction was not disclosed but NatWest in Bolton provided a £110,000 loan through the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme to part-fund the deal.
Mr O’Carroll, who joined the business in 2002, said: “Having managed the business for the last few years I am delighted to have reached an agreement to become Fingershield’s majority shareholder.
“We have some interesting plans in place to develop the business. In particular we are looking to source new safety-related products for the UK market and expand or international distribution network. We continue to receive lots of interest from overseas buyers and are confident of further growth in this area.”
Fingershield initially specialising in anti-trapping devices sold under licence. It now supplies a range of hinge covers and hand-shaped door stoppers to more than 7,000 schools and nurseries throughout the UK.
Last year it expanded its operations with the launch of simplesafetysolutions.com, a new website selling more than 400 child safety products including baby monitors, stairgates and kitchen guards.
The £1.6m turnover company recently signed a deal with an Israeli distributor and is trialling its child door safety devices at Tokyo Airport. Its products are already on sale in Scandanavia, Australia and the US.
