The sale was completed yesterday (18 August) and will see Wolverhampton-based Concept join the Hexcite Group, which Elaghmore created in 2019. The group provides specialist signage design, manufacturing, installation, and aftercare services to retailers and brand owners.
Operating from a 697sqm site, Concept provides a sign and large-format LED offering using traditional, bespoke, and digital signage. It doesn’t print in-house, instead outsourcing its traditional signage work to third parties. Its customers include some of the world’s largest out-of-home advertising companies, including Global Media Group, Open Media, and JCDecaux.
The business will continue to be run day-to-day by managing director Sean Morrough and director David Neale, with the company reporting to Wes Mulligan, CEO of Hexcite Group.
Concept’s name and branding and its 18 staff have all been retained, taking Hexcite Group’s total headcount to around 275.
The deal increases Hexcite Group's annual turnover to around £35m and expands its customer base to more than 250 retailers, financial institutions, facilities management companies, and internationally recognised brands.
The group also includes Blaze Signs, which has substantial signage manufacturing capability out of its sites in Broadstairs and Birmingham, and Cygnia Maintenance, which provides sign maintenance, sign repairs, and image protection services.
Mulligan, who joined Hexcite just over a year ago having previously headed up printer and photocopier supplier Danwood, said there were increasing signs that more of the group’s customers wanted to see a digital offering as well as a more traditional offering.
"The digital out-of-home advertising market has great growth opportunities, and Concept is well placed to be a key player.
“Working closely with Blaze Signs adds substantial technical and manufacturing expertise to Concept, and our Cygnia maintenance business can help Concept accelerate its digital signage maintenance capability.
“Concept’s offer will be of great interest to Blaze’s customer base, which will now have the option to go to one place for their traditional internal and external signage work as well as their digital signage requirements. Both Blaze and Cygnia are performing well. We expect Concept to reinforce its position as one of the leading full turnkey system integrators in its sector.”
Speaking to Printweek this morning, Mulligan added: “We have been on the lookout for digital business, and we’ve been talking to people about digital over the last year.
“As the Hexcite Group has morphed – we’ve sold off Kesslers and sold off Gardners in the last year, we’ve now been able to bring Hexcite into a more targeted marketplace – a purist signage business with traditional signage, now with digital signage, with our ability to install and to maintain, and also the fact that we can all do the external work and internal work.
“It’s a specialist business now, whereas a year ago it was a bit more generalist and therefore it was more difficult to cross-sell between any of the organisations, and even from a customer point of view you had lots of different people in common customers trading with us at different levels.”
The deal came about when financial advisor Interpath, which was running a sale process for Concept, got in contact with Hexcite around six weeks ago.
“[Concept’s team] are specialist people, and the two directors Sean Morrough and David Neale have both been in the industry for a very long time. We like them, and culturally there’s a very good fit with us, and their team have been in the business on average for 10-12 years,” said Mulligan.
“That always feels good because people don’t stay with a business that long unless they’re actually getting something out of it and enjoying it.”
Morrough also commented on the deal: “We are delighted to be working with Hexcite Group and Elaghmore. They will help significantly enhance the service we provide to our clients through the increased manufacturing capacity, technical resource, and geographical reach that being part of Hexcite Group will bring us.”
Elaghmore was advised on the deal by Mills and Reeve. The transaction is the 12th acquisition made by Elaghmore from its investment funds worth £100m.
