Manufacturer, retailer and trade supplier - water softening, treatment, filtration and pumping systems
Ref.EH002 Location SurreyAsking Price £250,000Confidential offered for sale
Finance available to buy this business subject to status. All regulated business is passed to independent financial advisors who are regulated by the FSA | |
Asking price includes:
Gross margins: 60%+
Annual turnover in excess of £400,000
Installations plus on-going Service Contracts
Qualified and highly skilled Service Engineers
Well established Commercial and domestic client base
Long established reputation for personal service and competitive prices
Excellent supplier relationships
Unpatented technical knowledge
Excellent growth potential
Training and handover
Specialist websites
Goodwill
Stock | Business profile: | Built from over thirty years’ experience of handling the water treatment requirements of a wide array of commercial and domestic customers, and under the control of the current owners for the past few years, this very successful Surrey based business is a manufacturer, retailer and supplier to the trade of water softening, treatment, filtration and pumping systems.
Supplying nationally and internationally into the commercial sector this business offers the widest range of equipment, buying the individual components in and building systems to meet specific customer requirements. Projects can include the supply of softening equipment for commercial and industrial use, bespoke filtration units to resolve a whole range of individual problems and situations – even for swimming pools and spas. As well as commercial reverse osmosis systems this business is also fast becoming one of the UK’s largest suppliers of calcium treatment units, commonly used on glasswashers, ice makers and beverage making equipment. All units are built to order, to an agreed specification, which always guarantees customer needs are met.
With a full survey and quotation service and with equipment and parts coming from a number of sources enabling this business to offer a large variety of options at very realistic prices as well as flexible maintenance programmes, it’s no surprise this business has an enviable commercial clientele across a number of industries from pharmaceuticals and medical to agriculture and catering. This business can boast leading hospitals, manufacturers of catering equipment, pubs, clubs and other catering establishments including one of the UK’s largest restaurant chains amongst its loyal, extensive customer base. It is also a specialist supplier to building service companies and works closely with a number of trade partners. And due to the high levels of personal service this business provides it has rapidly become the company of choice for many contractors and end-users alike.
On a slightly smaller scale product-wise this business also supplies a wide range of mains filtered water coolers. These are favoured commercially for being an environmentally friendly, convenient and cost effective way of providing a constant supply of fresh filtered water. And for customers in more remote locations where a private water supply is the only option this business supplies a standard and custom built range of clean water pumps, pressure boosting sets, borehole pumps and sewage pumping systems.
With turnover expected to almost double to £400,000 in the 2005 financial year and on-going service and maintenance income becoming an increasingly larger proportion of its overall turnover this is an excellent opportunity to acquire a well established, expanding business in one of the UK’s fastest growing sectors.
Key strengths:
The cornerstone to the success of this business is the personal service this business delivers. This is very much a people oriented organisation. As well as being highly trained, the employees of this organisation are highly motivated to deliver the levels of service that sets this business apart from the competition. This business believes in understanding customer requirements and developing bespoke solutions to meet them. Good supplier relationships coupled with an in-depth knowledge of products available in the marketplace enables this business to develop a range of options for every situation. In-house build guarantees quality at a very competitive price.
This business is building an increasingly impressive customer base and enjoys a high level of customer recommendation, testimony to the excellent reputation this business has built over the years of its operation. A good mix of commercial and domestic customers ensures this business isn’t reliant on any one particular sector for future growth.
By the very nature of the operation, on-going income can often far outstrip that from an initial installation – representing a relatively predictable income stream for several years to come. Commercial installations, for example are required to be serviced every 6 months whilst domestic installations also attract on-going income - from salt sales for water softeners or chlorine sales and filters for swimming pools!
Key opportunities:
This business is operating in a very fast growing sector – particularly on the domestic front. More and more households previously consuming increasingly expensive bottled mineral water are fast switching to under-sink drinking water systems. Advertising campaigns communicating the problems associated with hard water and the build up of limescale encourage the uptake of water softeners. More and more homeowners are installing swimming pools and spas in their gardens. All of these markets are targets for the products of this business. Following installation, all of these systems are required to be serviced and maintained – who better to collect this work and build an on-going relationship with the purchaser than the original installer. Indeed this business is already in the process of building an e-commerce site to merchandise packaged goods – chlorine, softeners and the more straightforward servicing items such as filters to help meet this increasing demand.
On the commercial side this business has barely scratched the surface with the catering equipment industry in particular a sector in which this business has already established credentials that could so easily be leveraged to beneficial effect on both turnover and profitability.
The owners of this business have invested a large amount of time and money in creating a number of dedicated websites to offer potential and extensive customers the most extensive range of products available within these markets.
A fast growing area is in the building and supply of pure water systems for the cleaning of windows with water fed poles. A new website dedicated to this sector combined with a direct mail campaign will enable this company to increase its market share and sales in this field.
In addition this business is currently building an e-commerce site dedicated to the swimming pools and spas sector which will act as a supplier to both domestic and commercial sectors. This will be completed and ready for the 2006 season.
A buyer able to invest a relatively small sum would also enable this business to reduce its cost base and therefore its operating profits significantly by procuring equipment that would enable this business to recycle the resin used in many of its machines.
Customer Service:
Not surprisingly for a business in this sector, quality is at the core of every aspect of its operation - whether installing or servicing. This business is equally at home working on its own or other manufacturer’s equipment. This business works closely with all of its Clients to do everything possible to enhance its excellent reputation providing a personal, thorough, efficient and friendly service.
This business has a team of expert, highly skilled Service Engineers and offers that most important commodity - reliability. Offering value for money as well as a dedication to customer satisfaction, it has attracted and continues to attract new referrals and maintains an extensive base of very satisfied customers. | Premises:
Situated in well-suited rural premises of approximately 2,000 square feet, half of which is given over to the Workshop with the remainder split almost equally between office accommodation and storage this business is ideally located for easy access throughout the South East via the excellent motorway network close by.
The premises are leasehold with a rent of £10,000 per annum. There is currently four years left on the lease. Rates are £400 per month. | <>Advertising and Marketing:
Apart from a number of well designed, informative and easy to navigate websites this business does little or no advertising or marketing, relying on the strong word of mouth recommendation it enjoys within the industry together with the occasional use of direct marketing.
The website dedicated to the domestic division has recently been re-developed to attract a greater share of the domestic market and this combined with an on-going marketing campaign and aggressive pricing policy has allowed the company to grow towards being one of the largest domestic suppliers in the UK.
Having been established within the industry for over thirty years its name is very well established and its excellent reputation for developing the right solution to meet the Client’s needs, its competitive prices and high levels of Customer Service are sufficient to ensure that it receives constant customer referrals. | | | Financial profile: | The business is offered for sale as a going concern. All financial discussions will take place directly between the vendor and all interested parties under the auspices of Turner Butler.
The projected turnover for the 2005 financial year (also the calendar year) is £400,000 – almost double that of the previous year. Gross profits are expected to reach £240,000. | Employees:
The two owners, a husband and wife team, are responsible for the day to day management of the business with one dealing with the technical aspects of running the operation whilst the other manages marketing, finance etc. The business has two Service Engineers, one of which works part-time, a Company Secretary, also responsible for Invoicing and Deliveries, an Office Administrator and a part-time bookkeeper. | Support and Training:
The current owners of the business will provide full business familiarisation, training and handover to ensure a smooth transition to new owners as appropriate. | Reason for Sale:
The current owners of the business believe their skills lie in the setting up and establishing of businesses rather than the on-going running of them. Consequently having built the business up to its current size and scale they believe the time is right to pass the business on to new Owners to build on the excellent foundations already laid. | | Turner Butler Disclosure Statement: This statement applies to information relating to any company or other undertaking or business advertised for sale by Turner Butler (a 'Business') The information supplied by Turner Butler on its website or in any other promotional material ('the Information') is not and is not intended to constitute an offer for sale of the Business or any assets of the Business or of the shares of any company which owns the Business. For the avoidance of doubt there is no intention to create a legal relationship which will only come into existence when a written contract for sale and purchase of the shares in or the Business has been entered into The Information provided is not intended to address your particular requirements. Further the Information does not constitute any form of advice recommendation representation endorsement or arrangement by Turner Butler and is not intended to be relied upon in making (or refraining from making) any specific decisions. Any agreements transactions or other arrangements made between you and any client of Turner Butler are at your sole risk and responsibility. The prospective sellers of the Business have provided the Information to Turner Butler. The Information has not been verified by Turner Butler. You must carry out your own due diligence and satisfy yourself as to the accuracy of all matters. In the case of the sale of shares in a Business the Information has been prepared on the basis that the shares will consist of or include more than 50% of the voting shares and that both the seller and the buyer is either a body corporate, a partnership, a single individual or a group of connected individuals so as to fall outside the scope of regulated activities as defined by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. If you are considering a transaction which falls within the scope of such regulated activities you cannot do so through Turner Butler. Appropriate professional, legal and accountancy advice should be obtained before making or refraining to make any decision. Turner Butler does not accept any responsibility or liability for loss or damage of any nature that may occur by reliance on the Information. Neither Turner Butler nor any of our employees or agents makes any representation as to the completeness or accuracy of the Information nor do we accept any liability for any losses, costs, liabilities or expenses which may arise directly or indirectly from your use of, or reliance on the Information. This document is governed by and shall be construed in accordance with English Law and any dispute arising in connection with it shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts Turner & Co (GB) Limited registered in England and Wales under company no. 2477988 of registered office Savoy House Savoy Circus London W3 7DA, trading as Turner Butler © Shaun Sweeney October 2006 |
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