Hart Shaw - Chartered Accountants in Sheffield, South Yorkshire

ESS Steels Holdings Ltd, a manufacturer of engineered components to the oil industry, has undergone one of the region’s biggest private equity backed management buy-outs of the year.

Hart Shaw Corporate Finance acted for the Vendors in the disposal process. Chris Sellars, Head of Corporate Finance commented, “This is a fantastic success story for the Shareholders and Hart Shaw. We have acted for the Company since its inception over 15 years ago and have supported it through its growth, we wish the management team continued success with what is undoubtedly a fantastic business”.

Yorkshire Bank has provided a total funding package in excess of £35m to support the MBO and growth of the company, which operates from sites in Sheffield and Rotherham, while Baird Capital Partners Europe has invested £12m and the MBO team a further £9m.

ESS, founded in 1992, represents a major success story having grown turnover from £7m in 1997 to £34m this year. Its operating companies are Engineering Special Steels Ltd, Ancon Special Alloy Steels Ltd and Sheffield Deep Bore.

The group provides a range of semi-manufactured steel alloy-based engineered products to the oil field services sector. Key clients include several of the world’s leading oil services companies. Finished products are employed in the production sectors of both downhole and wellhead completion markets.

ESS managing director Duncan Milner will take charge, supported by finance director Steven Horne. Alex Miller, one of the original founders, will remain as a consultant to the group.

The debt-funding to support the deal was structured by Robin Womersley and Kevin Hambling, both directors at Yorkshire Bank Specialist & Acquisition Finance in Leeds.

Group finance director Steven Horne said: “The oil and gas industry is a large and rapidly expanding market place. Growth is being driven by increased demand from the West together with the emergence of industrialised nations such as China and India. This has led to high oil prices which in turn underpins increased investment in markets served.”

Sheffield-based accountants have helped sow the seeds of growth for one the UK’s leading garden equipment suppliers.

Hart Shaw accountants have acted on behalf of Chesterfield-based Two Wests and Elliott in a £600,000 MBO which sees long-term managers Peter Bennett and Lucie Bradley now share ownership of the company.

Hart Shaw were lead advisers for the buyout, negotiating on behalf of the management team, arranging the necessary funding and project managing the transaction.

Two Wests and Elliott manufacturer and supply of mail order garden hardware and accessories, including greenhouses, fruit cages, watering systems and propagation equipment.

The company was founded more than 30 years ago by Christopher and Josephine West. They were bought by a major national firm in 2000 and have 16 staff.

Hart Shaw accountant Mark Sims said: “We have been delighted to act as lead advisors to Peter and Lucie in this MBO to hopefully sow the seeds of future success for this successful local company.”

Peter Bennett, Managing Director of Two Wests and Elliott, said: “We have a superb team of talented people at Two Wests and are delighted to be investing in the firm.”

The deal is being funded by Alliance & Leicester and Enterprise Ventures with Ironmonger Curtis LLP the lead legal advisors.

One of the largest architectural practices in Yorkshire has designs on even greater success following a management buyout.

Sheffield-based Bond Bryan has agreed a 75 per cent MBO in a multi-million pound deal which sees four long-term directors share ownership of the company with the founders Jon Bond and John Bryan.

Independent South Yorkshire accountants Hart Shaw were lead advisers for the buyout, negotiating on behalf of the management team, arranging the necessary funding and project managing the transaction.

Chris Sellars, Head of Corporate Finance at Hart Shaw said: “Bond Bryan is a sector leading practice which has clearly benefited from a very strong leadership team. We have been delighted to act as lead advisor to the management team in this MBO to take the business on to its next stage. Jon Bond and John Bryan have built an excellent business which I am sure will benefit from their continued involvement.”

South Yorkshire Investment Fund, advised by Keeble Hawson, provided an equity package to Bond Bryan with a major six-figure investment in the business.

Mary Broadhead, Investment Director at South Yorkshire Investment Fund, added: “We were pleased to support the MBO of Sheffield-based Bond Bryan, one of the UK’s leading practices in the Education sector. This will enable the practice to develop on a national scale, while continuing to support business growth in South Yorkshire.”

Bond Bryan, which has a staff of almost 150, is well-established in the private sector and its turnover is expected to exceed £11 million in the current financial year.

Under the buyout long-standing directors Kevin Grayson, Geoff Halliwell, Jonathan Herbert and John Lee now share ownership of the company with founders Jon Bond and John Bryan. Between them the team has over 100 years of combined experience at the practice.

Yorkshire Bank provided senior debt funding to support the transaction. Kevin Hambling, Acquisition Finance Director, commented: “Bond Bryan is a market leading firm in its chosen area and we were very pleased to be given the opportunity to support the business in the next stage of its development. The transaction had a number of complexities, but with the benefit of the input from the various advisers these were resolved to the satisfaction of all parties”.

Banking and corporate lawyers from the Sheffield office of DLA Piper acted for Yorkshire Bank. The team was led by partner and corporate location head Richard May, and included banking associate Sarah Acton and corporate lawyer Paul Roberts.

Jon Bond and John Bryan will continue to play key roles within the practice and will manage various projects and client relationships.

Jon Bond added: “The MBO injects capital into an already successful firm, enabling it to deliver increasingly high standards of design-led work. We have a superb team of talented people and we are delighted that they will now be able to fully share in the success of Bond Bryan.

“The deal would not have been possible without the skill of the financial and legal advisers, lead by Hart Shaw, which reflects the strength and depth of professional services in South Yorkshire.”

A Sheffield entrepreneur’s passion for coffee and the Fairtrade movement has proved a uniquely successful business blend.

Bryan Unkles has brought together a love and knowledge of the finest coffee and cocoa with a genuine commitment to ethical trading. And, in just three years trading, Cafeology has become one of the UK’s leading suppliers of exclusively Fairtade drinks to the out of home market.

It supplies 100 per cent Fairtrade certified coffee, cocoa, teas, and sugar to caterers, universities, colleges, businesses, festivals and restaurants all over the UK. Customers range from the Glastonbury Festival to Revolution bars, from News International to Sheffield College.

Bryan formed the company with business partner Andy McClatchey in 2003 and earlier this year his wife Toni was brought in to head up the financial side, after a 19 year career in the banking industry.

In the last six months, the company has secured two major national contracts, the first to supply Cafeology drinks to the fifth largest managed pub retailer in the country, the Orchid Group, with over 300 pubs, bars and restaurants.

And, in a major coup, they have also secured access to 900 outlets across the UK supplied by the global leader in professional services ARAMARK, helping to move Fairtrade products from the niche to the mainstream market.

The company’s rapid growth is being managed in partnership with the corporate finance team at leading independent South Yorkshire accountants Hart Shaw who have just helped Cafeology source a refinancing package which includes a £30,000 loan from South Yorkshire Investment Fund.

Hart Shaw’s head of corporate finance Chris Sellars said: “Bryan, Andy and Toni have developed the Cafeology brand which is built on superb quality products ethically produced.

“The business is rapidly expanding and we are delighted to help such a fantastic company to develop and expand further.”

Bryan, who has more than 15 years experience in the coffee trade, said: “Hart Shaw helped us to develop a business plan and with sourcing the re-financing package which has enabled us to create a national brand and to manage Cafeology’s significant growth.

“We truly believe in the importance of supporting the Fairtrade movement, and our mission is to build a market for the finest products available and bring visibility to small independent producers.

“We source the finest coffee beans, mainly from cooperatives in Colombia and Costa Rica, and we are the one of the first coffee companies in the UK out of home market to be exclusively 100 percent Fairtrade certified.”

Cafeology is delighted to add a range of triple certified coffees, not only Fairtrade, but organic and backed by the Rainforest Alliance. Indeed Bryan is travelling to Rainforest Alliance plantations in Costa Rica after Christmas to personally meet farmers and their families.

He added: “I am incredibly proud of what we have done. Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.

“It is truly rewarding to be providing customers with the finest coffee, tea and hot chocolate products and knowing that this business is directly benefiting the lives of hundreds of farmers and their families around the world.”

South Yorkshire Investment Fund’s, Investment Manager Grahame Lunt, added: “Cafeology is an early stage business which has shown great potential to create an impact upon their chosen marketplace through unique products.

“They have created terrific promise of dynamic development and the potential for high yield returns. We are therefore pleased to support another Sheffield-based business in the UK market.”