NorthEdge relights pilot light under Help-Link with second investment
BOILER installation firm Help-Link has secured further investment after a turbulent year that resulted in an overhaul of its management team and strategy.
The Leeds-based firm has been backed for a second time by NorthEdge, just two years after the private equity house put in £11m. The amount provided in this second tranche of funding is undisclosed but is described as “multi-million”.
Help-Link’s chief executive and chief operating officer Mel Butler and Alan Dickinson were removed at the start of the year, while around 60 people also lost their jobs as the company responded to poor trading, principally within the government-backed Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) market but not helped by its tricky integration of loss-making Miller Pattison, which it bought for £1 in April 2014.
Help-Link has now withdrawn from the ECO sector, which it characterised as “volatile and commercially challenging”.
“Help-Link has a unique opportunity to generate significant growth,” said Warwick Ley, chairman at Help-Link and former Endless LLP partner. “To capitalise on this, we have driven a lot of change during 2015 which has only been possible through the first class support from NorthEdge.
“I am particularly excited by the outstanding directors we have attracted to the company and their individual track records speak volumes, as does their decision to join the Help-Link team and seize upon our exciting opportunities.”
Mr Ley has been joined by the former managing director of Webuyanycar.com Richard Harrison, who becomes chief executive, Kathryn Facey as chief financial officer, Richard Cotton as sales director and Jessica Reading as marketing director.
The business will now focus its efforts in growing market share within the highly-fragmented private boiler market, where it is already the second-largest player behind British Gas despite only having 1% of the market.
Its short-term goal, which it expects to meet by the end of 2015, is to fill the gap created by dropping the ECO sector work, to set the platform for a sustained effort to grab market share.
Mr Harrison said: “Help-Link has a significant opportunity to grow in the highly-fragmented boiler installation market in the UK, and we need to focus our resources on this opportunity. Our decision to withdraw from the ECO sector will enable us to focus fully on the private installation sector.”
Dan Wright, partner at NorthEdge Capital and non-executive director at Help-Link, said: “NorthEdge’s commitment to the business is underscored by our confidence in the new management team and the strategic direction that the board has set for the business.”
