Retailer and manufacturer poised for further expansion following MBO

A management buyout of Huddersfield-based e-commerce retailer, Interior Goods Direct (IGD) and Green & Brown (G&B), a manufacturer of home and commercial window coverings, by the directors, has now been completed.

Led by managing director Nigel Blakey, the buyout sees the four directors, Job Brown (Operations), James Toase (Commercial) and Andy Thomson (Finance), taking a controlling interest in both companies.

Darren Green who founded IGD in 2003, alongside its retail e-commerce business, BlindsDirect.co.uk, and G&B in 2010 will remain as non-executive chairman for both organisations.

The buyout is designed to help deliver a set of ambitious plans for growth, building on the businesses’ successes in recent years, and ensuring a stable leadership for the future.

Planned growth is intended to offer greater employment and developmental opportunities for the companies’ 270 existing colleagues and future team members.  

The deal follows multi-million pound investments in both G&B, and IGD’s futures including a recent move to a new 130,000 sq ft manufacturing facility at Colne Bridge Road, Huddersfield.

The business has also recently invested nearly a quarter of a million pounds in sustainability initiatives, including roof-mounted solar panels and energy efficient LED lighting. 

Blinds Direct is a blinds and home accessories specialist, serving over 15,000 customers per month.

Since its creation, Green & Brown has grown and established itself as a supplier for trade blinds, manufacturing a range of UK made interior furnishings including vertical blinds, roller blinds and wooden blinds, alongside hand-sewn Roman blinds and curtains. 

Blakey said: “It is a very exciting time for the future of our companies. This buyout is a testament to our team’s hard work, dedication, and belief in the potential of our company.

“We are proud to be one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of made to measure blinds, curtains and shutters, based in Huddersfield, the traditional UK heartland of textiles.

“Unlike many online retailers we have our own manufacturing facility in the UK, and we are passionate about doing all we can to help our UK textile industries thrive and survive, not losing the deep heritage and skilled people that make our fantastic products. 

“With the buyout now complete, and a strong and ambitious team in place, we can focus on our plans for growth and to continue to implement a range of initiatives that will further strengthen our operations.

“While developing both companies, we also look forward to providing greater employment opportunities for the region.”

Green said: “Founding IGD and G&B, and steering them on paths that have seen both businesses become well established in their respective sectors, has been an incredible experience.

“With Nigel and the team now in position, it’s an exciting time for both companies and I’m certain of a bright future for not only the businesses, but also the dedicated staff that have been instrumental in building them up to this point.”

Andy Miller, partner at corporate finance firm Sentio Partners, structured and led the transaction as well as introducing the management team to Martin Beckett and Paul Hainsworth at Santander UK PLC, who arranged debt funding to facilitate the MBO.

A multi-disciplinary team at Addleshaw Goddard provided legal advice, led by corporate partner Richard Hunt with support from Tom Hopwood and Charlotte Martin in the corporate department, Andy Fordham and James Washington in banking and Martin Griffiths in tax.

Miller said: “Having worked with Darren Green for a couple of years, exploring his strategic options and helping him build an experienced and ambitious executive management team, it is really pleasing to see this work culminate in the sale of a majority stake to a talented team with the ideas and drive to take the businesses to the next level.” 

Martin Beckett, director in Santander’s structured finance team, added: “We’re pleased to have been selected as banking partner to IGD and G&B, businesses which have excellent positions in the market and a strong UK manufacturing heritage. We spent time understanding the prospects and cashflows of the combined Group to tailor a bespoke solution which should stand the business in good stead for the years to come”

Other professional advisers who assisted in the transaction process included Tim Vance & John Louden at Ernst & Young (Financial Due Diligence); Jamie Rhodes & Adam Cooper at Mazars (tax advisory); and Phil Scott & Zara Shafiq at Walker Morris (banking legals).