Garage door manufacturer snapped up by private equity firm

Leeds-headquartered Garolla, the UK’s largest manufacturer of roller garage doors, has been acquired by Mayfair Equity Partners for an undisclosed sum.

Operating across the UK and Ireland, Garolla provides garage doors to customers through a national network of more than 130 franchisees. The business has grown significantly over the last three years.

Mayfair, a dedicated consumer and technology investor with over £1bn in assets under management, is backing the management buyout of Garolla and will hold a majority stake in the business.

Founded in 2017 by David Wilkinson and Graeme Pogue, Garolla began with a single franchisee supplying roller garage doors in Harrogate.

Today, it is the fastest growing roller garage door business in the country and manufactures garage doors at its facility in Leeds.

Recognising the growth potential of the firm, Mayfair is partnering with Mark McAvoy, managing director, and his management team to support the domestic and international expansion of the company’s franchise model and to increase installation capacity.

McAvoy said: “We see significant opportunity to accelerate our growth in the UK and across Europe, reaching more consumers than ever.

“I am thrilled to partner with Mayfair, who have an excellent track record of supporting companies with international expansion and digital evolution.”

Neil Price, managing director at Mayfair, said: “As a true national champion, we see a real opportunity to support Garolla to expand its trusted brand and services to new customers in the UK and across Europe.

“Garolla provides a comprehensive offering to customers in comparison to its peers and is the only supplier to fully control the customer experience, from product manufacturing to after sales service. We are excited to partner with Mark and his team as we support their next stage of growth.”

The corporate team at legal and professional services business, Knights, advised Garolla’s shareholders on the sale. Knights’ transaction team comprised David Hayes, Adrian Rogers, Matt Hitchen and Alana Pearson.

David Wilkinson, co-founder of Garolla, said: “The Knights team has shown throughout this process a high level of integrity, dedication and professionalism.

“We would like to thank the team for being attentive, beyond patient and a joy to work with.”

David Hayes, corporate partner at Knights, added: “The sale of Garolla and our legal advisory role to the shareholders is hugely important to us as it marks another successful completion in a long history of high-quality transactions in the regional markets in which we operate.

“A number of us in the team have been focused on a series of cross-border transactions with limited connections to our home region in recent months, so we have enjoyed working with owner-mangers, advisors and a fast-growing business closer to home – which after all is what we normally spend most of our time doing.”

EY’s Manchester-based Corporate Finance team, led by Mark Clephan and including Mitchell Cox, Chinmay Punekar, William Farrow and Joshua Ackers, also advised Garolla.

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