Whyte & Ivory Exits to an
Employee Ownership Trust
January 2024
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Whyte & Ivory, the specialist Global distributor of high-quality curtain linings and blackout fabrics, has been acquired by an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).
The transaction delivers an exit for private investors introduced in 2019 with a 1.65x return (16% IRR) on their loan notes and minority equity investment.
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Despite turbulent market conditions, the business has grown impressively over the last 5 years, driven by investment in market leading digital printing technology, building a first class team and strong growth in North America.
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David Wilson joins as a Trustee alongside founder Peter Hamilton and Sales Manager Paul Blackburn, to guide the business through its next phase of growth.
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MBO at Leading Healthcare
Training Business
December 2023
High Wood Capital is pleased to announce the management buy-out of A-to-E Training and Solutions, a national healthcare training business. AtoE delivers a range of mandatory in-person training courses for clinical staff alongside managed service solutions and expert consultancy services. Customers include c.40 NHS Trusts and many of the largest private sector healthcare groups in the UK including Nuffield, Ramsay, HCA and Practice Plus Group.
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The transaction sees the senior management team becoming shareholders alongside founder Chris Kurt-Gabel, incoming Non-Executive Director Andrew Stubbs and a group of high net worth investors who provided the equity funding to finance the buy-out.
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AtoE was established in 2006 to improve standards in emergency life support and medical emergencies training in the healthcare sector. Specialisms now include life support and resuscitation training, manual handling, clinical skills, mental health & wellbeing and bespoke courses, all delivered in-person. As experts in resuscitation standards and protocols, AtoE also offer consulting services covering compliance, governance and general advice to healthcare providers across the country.
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With a team of over 350 instructors training on over 200 client sites across the UK as well as at its own dedicated training centres in North London and Birmingham, AtoE is the largest specialist life support training company in the country. The team runs c.3,000 courses p.a. for c.40,000 candidates per annum.
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AtoE’s enviable customer list already spans a wide range of healthcare sub-sectors, with growth supported by an expanding range and volume of services against a backdrop of an ever-increasing focus on patient safety.
Mark Traynor and Kerry Southworth at Harrison Drury Solicitors advised the buyer on the transaction alongside Claritas Tax in Manchester. Nikki Reid at Harper James advised the vendors and management team.
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MBO at Lifecycle & Reactive
Maintenance Specialist
July 2023
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High Wood Capital is pleased to confirm the management buy-out of Crown Flooring Limited, a leading UK Facilities Maintenance Business specialising in lifecycle and reactive flooring solutions for public sector customers.
Crown delivers essential maintenance programs across large property estates, necessary to ensure safe and clean building environments for staff, residents and the general public. Clients span NHS Trusts, Care Homes, Schools and Universities, Prisons, Housing Associations and National and Local Government bodies.
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Martin Cotterill will continue to lead the business as Managing Director with support from incoming Non-Executive Directors Andrew Stubbs and Ali Sharifi who worked together to back the MBO. A group of high net worth investors provided the equity funding to finance the buy-out together with senior debt from a leading regional debt fund.
Established in 1997, Crown is now the largest flooring contractor serving the public sector, installing over 4 million sqft per annum whilst undertaking life cycle and reactive maintenance services. Crown also delivers a broad range of property maintenance services with a focus on small to mid-sized reactive maintenance and refurbishment projects for public sector customers. These are delivered directly or in partnership with the UK’s leading property and facilities management companies.
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With a team of over 125 directly employed staff operating out of 4 regional offices in the Warrington, London, Glasgow and Cardiff, Crown delivers a national service purposefully aligned to UK Government policy to enhance the public sector property estate with a more proactive approach to lifecycle maintenance. This unique proposition in the market, together with industry leading compliance and ESG credentials, leaves Crown well placed to continue its impressive track record of growth.
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Mark Traynor and Kirsty Wilson at TLT advised the buyer on the transaction alongside Kroll and Claritas Tax in Manchester. Rickitt Mitchell and Keystone Law advised the vendors.
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Investor Loan Notes repaid as Whyte & Ivory breaks through £10m revenue
July 2022
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Whyte and Ivory Ltd continues its seamless track record of year-on-year growth, breaking through £10m of sales p.a. This strong performance has enabled the investor loan notes to be repaid in full with interest. Investors retain their equity interest in Whyte & Ivory which provides the opportunity to realise further profits on exit.
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Whyte and Ivory, the textiles business focussing on wholesale contract curtain fabrics and curtain linings, saw growth in its UK business, which exports a considerable proportion of sales into the EU, and in Whyte & Ivory LLC, its subsidiary based in North Carolina.
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Investors, who hold a 30% stake in the North West based business, first invested in Whyte and Ivory in 2019 to support the founders in building out the team and expanding its global customer base.
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In the last three years US Sales have grown 650% – reward for the investment made in a North Carolina warehouse and over £1m in stock to support key US accounts and markets. The business is now adding US customers at an average of one per week.
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A master wholesaler to some of the world’s leading home furnishings and contract fabrics brands, Whyte & Ivory continues to grow its network of distributors for market leading fabrics. Key to this is the recent investment in bulk wide-width digital printing equipment, enabling broad ranges of bespoke fabrics to be created at lower investment cost for distributors to the hotel and corporate sectors.
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Leading the linings world in innovation, whilst caring for the planet, W&I has just launched two more sustainable products. The first is a 50% GRS Recycled Polyester / 50% Better Cotton Initiative (fair trade cotton) version of its best-selling Manchester Satin lining, the second a 50% Recycled Polyester version of its most popular FR sheer, called “Linen”. Most of W&I’s linings can now come with Better Cotton Initiative accreditation.
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Peter Hamilton, Founder of Whyte & Ivory; “We plan to keep building sales from the UK but really see the US as a huge market opportunity for us. We have the best quality product in the market offered at competitive prices, all the while retaining the premium service proposition of a dynamic, private business that is passionate about customer service. The results of this are evident in the numbers.”
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MBO at North-West Power Infrastructure
Engineering Group
February 2022
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High Wood Capital is pleased to announce the management buy-out of B&S Group, a Chester based engineering, manufacturing, and e-commerce group. A leader in integrated power solutions, B&S Group designs and manufactures critical power infrastructure to support some of the UK’s most innovative green energy projects.
The transaction was led by incumbent Group Operations Manager Jason Wittenbrink and High Wood Capital, whose principals and high net worth investors provided equity funding to finance the acquisition. B&S Group has been acquired from family owners Steve and Karen Potts who established the business 31 years ago.
B&S Group is an electrical and mechanical engineering group providing full-service design, manufacturing, and installation solutions for power systems, energy management processes, and industrial control applications. The group’s specialisms include commercial and industrial switchgear solutions, modular substations, and e-houses for the energy and renewables sectors, printed circuit boards and electronic product assembly. In addition, B&S Group operates three successful e-commerce websites providing specialist commercial and industrial power, and electronics equipment.
Steve and Karen are stepping back from the business to focus on B&S Technical Services, which will continue to deliver on-site electrical services and support to its network of UK clients. They leave a strong legacy and established reputation for Jason to build upon with the support of his management team and High Wood Capital.
Jason Wittenbrink, MD, commented:
‘I am delighted that High Wood Capital and its investors are supporting B&S Group as we look to build upon the platform Steve and Karen have entrusted to us. I know for High Wood Capital it’s all about the people and we have a first-class team here with ambitious plans for the business.
Our core businesses are strong with many exceptional customer and supplier relationships. In recent years this has enabled us to become a prominent partner supporting leading clients in upgrading UK power infrastructure and the transitioning to green energy and the 2050 Net Zero target.'
Andrew Stubbs, at High Wood Capital, commented:
‘B&S Group has set itself apart from other businesses in its sector by taking a different approach with customers, offering solutions rather than simply products. This has been recognised by customers and led to an enviable pipeline of opportunities. Steve and Karen leave the business in great shape and we’re looking forward to working with Jason and the team to deliver on their plan to build from this platform. This is exactly the sort of opportunity private investors want to support.’
Mark Traynor and Kirsty Wilson at TLT LLP advised the buyer on the transaction alongside Claritas Tax in Manchester. Jamie Hawley at Aaron & Partners advised management and Simon Wallwork and Mark Warburton at Slater Heelis advised the vendors.
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High Wood Capital Launches
December 2020
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North-West based High Wood Capital has recently launched offering an alternative approach to small business deals across the UK. The options for small business owners and management teams to fund MBOs or cash-out deals are very limited and High Wood Capital is stepping in to help address this.
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Andrew Stubbs, who left Seneca this summer to set-up High Wood Capital, commented “It can be notoriously difficult to find a trade buyer for small businesses and if you fall under the radar of mid-market private equity firms, there aren’t many options for shareholders and owner-managers to realise value.”
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High Wood Capital helps facilitate an exit or partial value realisation for shareholders funded from by high net worth investors looking for interesting private investment opportunities in small businesses with attractive risk-reward dynamics. As the criteria for EIS and VCT funding have tightened in recent years to focus on pure growth capital, Andrew commented that HNW investors have been starved of high-quality investment opportunities in successful and profitable small businesses.
“That’s where High Wood Capital is positioned. We’re specialists in identifying and structuring small buy-out deals including MBOs, retirement sales and cash-out / partial sales. Investor appetite to back established and profitable small businesses has always been strong. Even more so given the volatility in traditional investments that we’ve seen recently. Working with first class advisors and simple structures, we can combine professionalism with a personal approach to investing at the lower end of the market.”
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High Wood Capital will focus on transactions requiring between £0.5m and £5m funding to buy out shareholders and owner managers looking to realise value from their business. The proposition is to partner with management teams to deliver a buy-out for shareholders and support the long-term growth of the business.
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“We invest personally in every transaction so we’re directly aligned with the investors and fully motivated to help the management team grow their business and fulfil its potential wherever we can. The businesses we work with can also benefit from the expertise of the investors, typically successful business owners themselves, who can often add value far beyond their capital.”
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Founder Andrew Stubbs previously ran Seneca’s Private Equity business which he established in 2018 having worked with Seneca Partners since 2013. Before that he began investing in SME’s with RBS Private Equity.
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About Us - High Wood Capital
High Wood Capital is an independent corproate finance business structuring acquisitions of small UK businesses with an equity requirement of between £0.5m and £5m. We facilitate management buy-outs and cash-out / partial sales, supporting ambitious businesses and management teams to realise their potential. Our owners invest personally in each transaction alongside small syndicates of HNW investors who choose to participate in professionally structured and evaluated, high-quality investment opportunities.
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Contact Details
Andrew Stubbs
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