Acquisitive £45m-turnover office furniture business snaps up fit-out firm
Southerns Group, the Leeds-based office furniture and equipment specialists, have made a “shrewd” acquisition in the form of Bowman Projects.
Southerns said its new acquisition is a fit-out business, Bowman Projects Ltd, which has been registered at Companies House since August 2016.
Michaela Walker and Steve Bowman are listed as directors and will lead the new offering.
As well as the new fit out business, Southerns has acquired two 11,000 sq ft units in Bramley, which will create 20 jobs. The company said these acquisitions mark an “evolution” in its supply chain.
£45m-turnover Southerns employs 220 people across sites in Leeds, Bolton, Macclesfield, Manchester and London. Clients include Microsoft, GE Capital, Lexmark International and BUPA.
Over the past year, Southerns has been expanding rapidly with acquisitions, acquiring Manchester-based fit out business Broadstock and interiors business SpaceInvader, which has recently opened in Leeds. It also became TheBusinessDesk.com’s Medium Business of the Year at the Business Master Awards 2017.
The year before it bought its Bolton-based namesake, as well as Manchester-based Ralph Capper Interiors, marking the beginning of an acquisitive streak for the business.
CEO, Andy Kendall-Jones, said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Bowmans Projects to our family of companies.
“We worked with the firm in the past and have always been impressed with the company’s professionalism and output.
“It is a business that not only shares our values, in particular a determination to be ‘best in class’, but also adds to our offering through the provision of specialist fit-out services, essentially giving our clients the choice of a full end-to-end provision.
“We’ve seen an immediate impact – this is a shrewd addition to the Group.
New director Michaela Walker said: “We’re already working with the Group on some exciting projects for major companies, and we’re confident our fast-growing pipeline of new business will continue.”
Pictured: Michaela Walker, Tim Worne, managing director, Southerns, and Steve Bowman
