In its largest acquisition to date, Gateley, the legal and professional services group, has snapped up Smithers Purslow for a total maximum consideration of £20 million, with an initial consideration of £12.15 million payable on completion – around 56% in shares and 44% in cash. Established in 1978, Smithers Purslow is a multi-disciplinary chartered surveying practice, comprising building and quantity surveyors and civil and structural engineers. Specialising in services to the property insurance claims market, it resolves high value claims for insurers, policy holders and their advisers. The senior management team will continue to lead the business, renamed Gateley Smithers Purslow. Smithers Purslow has delivered compound annual growth in revenue and EBITDA of more than 20 per cent over the last five years. In the year ended 30 September 2021, organic revenue increased by 22.3 per cent to £11.7 million, generating adjusted profit before tax of £2.5 million. Smithers Purslow operates from ten regional offices across the UK and employs 130 staff. Rod Waldie, Gateley Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Smithers Purslow team to the group. This is another dynamic business that further expands the breadth of capability in our already strong Property Platform. “Smithers Purslow’s growth over the last decade has been impressive and it is a highly regarded market leader in the property insurance claims sector, in which we see significant opportunity to develop broader and deeper relationships with insurers and insurance intermediaries. “The existing synergies between Smithers Purslow and Gateley Vinden, across a number of their multi-disciplinary service lines, extend the depth of our expertise and provide additional capacity to maximise on the opportunities presented in this sizeable and growing market and the wider built-environment consultancy space. “This is our largest acquisition to date and is a clear demonstration of our commitment to invest and grow our market-facing Platforms, as well as to continue to strengthen our resilience through diversification.”

Rapidly expanding Yorkshire business supplies company Corporate Trade Supplies (CTS) UK has completed the £3 million acquisition of a personal protective equipment firm. CTS UK, which specialises in personalised uniforms, workwear, promotional products and cleaning and hygiene products, has bought Safeguard Supplies in a “game-changing” deal. The transaction, which has been completed this week, will enable the Northallerton-based CTS to rapidly expand its business, allowing the company to deal directly with factories in the Far East. Howard Gill, Managing Director of CTS UK, explained: “This is a tremendously significant, game-changing deal for us. The acquisition of Safeguard Supplies enables us to expand into healthcare and to become the largest importer of health and safety products from China in Yorkshire. “This will mean we will be playing a crucial role in helping the country to recover from the global pandemic by providing healthcare equipment across the UK. We will now be servicing the retail, food manufacturing, healthcare and hospitality sectors, which is an exciting new dimension for our business and our brand. “It is important not to underestimate the importance of this deal in the on-going expansion of CTS UK. It is absolutely crucial to the company’s swift and exciting evolution. We estimate that Safeguard Supplies, which will operate under the CTS UK umbrella, will have a turnover of £10 million within three years.” AJ Swinbank, the founder and chairman of CTS UK, said: “I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved at CTS UK during the past two years, under the energetic and inspired leadership of Managing Director Howard Gill. “Howard’s vision, passion and expertise has enabled the company to expand rapidly and successfully, culminating in the Safeguard Supplies deal. This unlikely to be our last acquisition this year as we look to expand our production arm of the business and tighten control of our supply chains. “The success of CTS UK has seen us expand into new premises in Northallerton and create much-need quality and sustainable jobs in North Yorkshire. We are planning to recruit at least 20 more staff in the next couple of years, with overall turnover targeted to reach £50m by 2027. “We believe that independent, flexible and forward-looking companies such as ours hold the key to the country’s future prosperity and we will continue to work exceptionally hard to build on our success so far.” Howard Gill added: “Our diverse sectors include PPE, uniform, consumables, warehousing and fulfilment. We are looking to grow through e-commerce channels, offering warehousing and fulfilment. With online retail booming, we are now looking to maximise sales opportunities across all sectors of our business.” CTS UK’s clients include Frasers Group, WS Transport, Morrisons, Asda, Eddie Stobart, Heck, Wolseley and HC One.