THE UK’S MOST SUCCESSFUL NEW-HOME ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR UNDERGOES MBO

Clarkson Evans, the UK’s most successful new-home electrical contractor, has undergone a management buy-out.

Clarkson Evans is the largest electrical contractor serving the new-build housing sector. It achieves an annual turnover of around £65 million, with 21 branches around the country, and typically wires around 24,000 new homes each year.

It employs around 850 staff, three quarters working on-site each day.

The MBO has been initiated by Steve Evans, who founded the business as a sole trader in 1981, and it sees control pass to the existing management team. Currently chairman of the business, Steve will become non-executive chairman, with his son and former Clarkson Evans managing director, Nathan Evans, also taking on a non-executive role.

Steve said: “At the age of 65, I felt it was time to step back further into retirement and I’m delighted to be able to do so knowing that the company will be in safe hands.”

The MBO is being led by the existing management team, headed up by Lindsey Young, 43, now the company’s CEO, who joined the company more than 20 years ago.

Along with Lindsey, the team includes production director, Chris Pike, commercial director, Tim Bisp, technical director Leigh Mason and finance director Doug Sparrow.

Clarkson Evans was established four decades ago. By the late 1990s the countractor had established commercial premises at Meteor Business Park, Staverton which is still its HQ, along with additional premises nearby at Anson Business Park. In 1999 it opened its first purpose-built centre for training apprentices at the site and began delivering classes in-house.

It has always invested heavily in apprenticeships, training them in-house to gain a nationally-recognised qualification while mastering the skills needed to wire new homes, and employs its staff directly rather than using sub-contractors.

Lindsey said: “Clarkson Evans has always had strong values and we will run it along the same lines. Our management team have a combined experience of 75 years within the business, so the MBO will feel less a sale and more like the business being handed over to extended family.”

While Lindsey is keen to emphasise that it will be “business as usual” for the company as it continues to wire new homes across the UK, she has also said that in the interests of offering staff new opportunities within the business, there may be opportunities to diversify.

“Clarkson Evans has been built on firm foundations under the guidance of our founder and over the years those we have trained have wired tens of thousands of new homes. But some of our qualified staff want to widen their careers, and we would like to be able to offer them a more diverse career progression.”

While any diversification is still in the very early discussion stages, it’s likely to include green technologies such as electric vehicle charging.

Cheltenham digital marketing company sells to French counterpart

A Queen’s Award-winning digital marketing agency has been acquired by French digital marketing group JVWEB. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Based in Cheltenham, Ocere was launched by Tom Parling in 2009 and manages more than 220 active clients across a wide range of sectors, including gaming, technology and finance, and more than 40 languages.

Tom who will be staying with the business, said: “We are excited to become part of an ambitious international group, develop our service o erings and continually improve our proposition to clients worldwide.”

Last year the French group raised €25 million to support its doubledigit growth and to strengthen SEO capabilities as well as its international network.

With rapid growth in recent years (including 113 per cent revenue growth in 2020, and 63 per cent in 2021) Ocere is a major player in search engine optimisation, specialising in premium outreach, SEO performance and content creation.