The deal at the Nottingham-based digital printing and direct mail business completed on Friday (30 April).

David Beardsley, the firm’s former owner and chairman, has now retired. He stepped back from the day-to-day running of the business in September 2019 when Hill joined as managing director. 

Hill said the MBO deal had been a natural progression. He is now the majority shareholder with operations director Karen Herbert and shift manager Jake Beardsley, David Beardsley's son, also taking a stake. 

“It’s a really good deal for everyone and the timing is perfect. The business has had a fantastic year and we’ve got a lot of new business wins in the last three or four months as well – it’s been phenomenal, we have been working really hard on it,” Hill said. 

He said he was upbeat about future prospects: “This business is fundamentally solid financially, which is a compliment to David’s hard work over the years. which has created a great foundation for the next phase of growth.

“We’re really excited about what the future looks like. Even in a severely depressed economy, we’re in good shape.” 

The £5m turnover firm employs 20 and has just taken on two new trainees through the government’s Kickstart scheme, using the IPIA gateway for SME businesses.

It also plans to boost its account management team with a further hire, on the back of the new business wins. 

Its product offering includes direct and essential mail, web-to-print, hybrid mail, data services and fulfilment for customers in a wide range of sectors including healthcare and pharma, financial services, retail, education, and leisure. 

Hill said that while some customers had paused campaigns due to the Covid situation, this work was now returning and business overall was “buoyant”, with the firm’s focus on short-run and medium volume work proving successful. 

“We offer smaller customers an all-round package and we try to make everything as easy as possible for them. People are so time-poor,” he explained. 

“We are really good at sharing expertise and helping customers.”

No external finance was required with the deal comprising an upfront payment and deferred consideration. Financial advice and support was provided by Pippa Hawkes of BSN Associates and legal representation for the MBO team through Graham Spalding of Lodders Solicitors. Matthew Bradley of Bradley & Jeffries handled legal support on behalf of David Beardsley.