MALVERN DISPOSABLE TISSUE PRODUCTS MANUFACTURER SOLD TO ITALIANS

A Malvern disposable tissue products manufacturer has been bought by Lucart Group, the leading Italian producer of tissue products for daily use.

Lucart Group has acquired 100 per cent of the share capital of Essential Supply Products (ESP) Ltd.

Founded in 1990, ESP turns over around £26 million per annum. The company, which has its head office and production plant in Malvern, employs 85 people on five different processing lines. The production facilities cover an area of 77,000 sq m, 15,000 of which are covered.

Lucart said that the investment will decisively strengthen its leadership in the European “Away from Home” hygiene products market. The UK is, apparently, the second largest market in Europe for tissue products (the biggest is Germany).

Founder Carl Theakston said: “We have done deals over the years to enable us to compete at the highest level. However, the standard of investment required to make my ambitions for this company a reality needed an investor who shared our values and desire to grow the company sustainably and to its full potential.

“Lucart is a 70-year old family-owned multinational company. Its history, vision and commitment to sustainable development make it the ideal investor to ensure ESP’s adventure continues.”

Investment fund pumps £100 million into Midlands businesses

The sum of £100 million has been invested into the region’s small businesses through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund.

The milestone was reached by the Fund after making 481 investments in 350 businesses in the West Midlands, East and South East Midlands.

An additional £90 million of private sector leverage has also been secured as a result of the Midlands Engine’s Investment

Fund’s investments to date. This follows the Fund regularly unlocking additional funding rounds and investing along with other traditional and private investors in supporting small businesses across the Midlands.

The £250 million Fund was launched by the Government’s British Business Bank in 2017 with an aim of improving the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Midlands.

Chevron buys Welsh business and begins big recruitment drive

The largest independent traffic management provider in the UK, Chevron Traffic Management, has bought Powys-based Camps Highways Limited, which specialises in commercial landscaping and verge maintenance, and its associated business, Camps Environmental Services (CES).

Thame-based Chevron Group CEO, Tim Cockayne, said: “We have been providing soft estate maintenance services through our sister company ACones Ltd and it has always been our intention to expand this part of our business.

“Camps Highways will bring additional experience and a strong reputation in highway soft estate maintenance which will support our expansion plans. CES consultancy will enhance the breadth of professional services we can offer.”

Camps Highways and CES Ltd employ 38 people and have depots in Hampshire, Cambridgeshire and the West Midlands.

Chevron has also embarked on a mammoth recruitment drive to hire more than 300 staff across the UK.

Construction company reveals robust full-year results

Swindon and Oxford based family-run construction firm Beard has published its full-year accounts for last year, and they reveal a resilient performance.

The 128-year-old business made £136 million in sales in 2020 and

£3.5 million profit while holding a strong cash balance with zero debt on its books.

Beard completed a total of 31 projects, including the iconic Swindon Carriage Works and a new training facility for

Premiership Rugby club Bristol Bears.

The company said its strong financial performance was due to operational resilience through the pandemic, and because it was able to continue work on more than 90 per cent of its sites.