Manufacturing firm rescued from administration lands £7.2m contract

A manufacturing firm which was bought out of administration in the summer has landed a government contract worth £7.2m.

Bolton based Booth Industries was bought out of administration for £1.8m in June by equipment supplier Avingtrans.

Booth Industries firm was founded in 1873 and was originally a blacksmith. It has been making blast doors for the last 40 years.

The AIM-listed group acquired Booth from Christopher Petts and Sarah O’Toole of Grant Thornton, acting for Redhall Group, which had been placed into administration.

Avingtrans announced this morning its wholly owned subsidiary Booth Industries has secured the Government contract for safety doors.

The new contract consolidates the turnaround of the business since the summer.

Booth Industries was bought out of administration by Stainless Metalcraft, part of Avingtrans’s Process Solutions and Rotating Equipment (PSRE) division.

A statement said: When Metalcraft acquired the Booth Industries assets it did not acquire the existing order book, meaning the business essentially had to build a commercially viable order book from scratch.

“This new contract brings the total value of contracts secured since June to over £12m, spread over the next two years. At the time of the acquisition, Booth’s net assets totalled approximately £2.5 m, excluding existing cash and the company’s debtor book.”

Booth Industries has 90 employees and focuses on the design and manufacture of blast doors and prefabricated fire and blast wall systems and fire doors.

Its products are sold into a wide range of markets including offshore oil and gas, marine, rail and infrastructure, tunnels and mining, security and counter terrorism, aviation, nuclear, commerce and industrial, spares, maintenance and repairs.

Austen Adams, managing director of Avingtrans’ PSRE division, said: “This is fantastic news for the team at Booth Industries.

“When we acquired the trade and certain assets of the business earlier this year, we were excited by its potential, given similarities to other businesses within our division and the opportunity to enhance our offer to a range of existing and potential customers.

“Securing these contracts supports that judgement and, as home to a number of great British engineering brands, we remain confident in our abilities to restore Booth Industries to a clear leadership position in its chosen niche markets.”

Steve McQuillan, chief executive of Avingtrans, said: “The team at Booth Industries have got off to a promising start, clearly justifying our decision to invest in the business.

“Avingtrans has a strong track record of identifying underperforming businesses in highly regulated engineering markets and investing in them to turn the underlying business around, via our PIE model (Pinpoint-Invest-Exit).

“As the Booth acquisition shows, it’s an approach that continues to deliver significant shareholder value while securing the future of traditional UK engineering businesses and retaining essential skills in the economy.”