Abbey Logistics is based in Liverpool and operates from nine sites including Wirral, Hull, Manchester, Knowsley, Middlewich and London, employing more than 450 staff. Set up over 25 years ago by the Lucy family, the company initially specialised in the liquid food ingredients transportation market, with more recent diversification into the bulk powder market, palletised transport and warehousing under the leadership of current CEO Granite.
Abbey has demonstrated strong growth over the past five years with turnover increasing from £20m to over £55m in the current financial year following a number of acquisitions and large contract wins. The funding from NorthEdge Capital will support the business as it continues to expand; Abbey will be targeting growth with new and existing customers, as well as exploring a number of acquisition opportunities that management have been progressing in parallel to the MBO with support from NorthEdge. The deal will provide a full exit for the founding family and the business will continue to be led by Steve Granite as Chief Executive and Dave Coulson as Commercial Director. The Board will be further strengthened post completion with the appointment of a Non-Executive Director and Group Chief Financial Officer, who have already been identified.
Granite said: “We are delighted to have partnered with Northedge Capital to complete the MBO and enable the Lucy family to exit the business realising their well-earned value. It is an exciting new chapter in the company’s life and we are very much looking forward to continuing the successful journey we’ve experienced to date. Our customers and employees will benefit from the transaction as the new investment enables us to develop our business and continue growing from solid foundations. Through both organic and acquisitive growth Abbey will become the market leader in both the liquid and powder transportation markets over the coming years.”
Jon Pickering, Investment Director at NorthEdge Capital, added: “Abbey Logistics is led by an exceptional management team who have been with the business for more than 20 years. They fully understand the specialist logistics market they serve having carved out a niche by distributing bulk powders and liquids for the food ingredients markets. The company has demonstrated growth through a number of major contract wins and targeted acquisitions and this strategy will continue going forward with our support and follow on funding. We are pleased to have provided an exit opportunity for the founders and are looking forward to working with Steve and Dave as we target further expansion across the UK and Northern Europe.”