Our story so far
Partial management buyout secures our future independence while
celebrating 25 years in business
Left to right: Martyn Cashmore, Stephanie Barnett-Dean, Mark Macdonald and Ken Amott.
Martyn Cashmore and Ken Amott cutting a Fan Coil Unit cake.
This announcement and the new share ownership structure will allow us to continue our pioneering product development, while preserving our heritage and precious culture. It also devolves more accountability to the people who know the business best – our senior management team which has a real passion for our clients, people, products and services.
The MBO supports the future growth of the business and secures our independence, which is reassuring for all our people and our clients. “We are very excited with our ambitious plans for the future and we now have the solid foundations in place to help us achieve our targets,” says Ken Amott.
He goes on to say, “this year we will turn over more than £13m and employ around 150 people, across three offices and two factories. It is a fantastic achievement that has been made possible by everyone who has worked so hard for us over many years”.
During the past 25 years there have been plenty of highs and lows. Working on prestigious projects like The Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Stadium, The Shard, The Millennium Dome (now the O2 Arena) and just recently a £2.6m continuous line Acoustic Louvre façade project at Infinity Here East are just a few of the high points.
Fighting the effects of the recession was undoubtedly a low point but we took the opportunity to improve our processes and as a result we still enjoy the positive impact on our productivity.
Martyn and Ken started the business in 1993 in a small two-room basement office in central Reading where they got the business off the ground, often worked 14 hour-days and 7 days a week and it was an exciting but challenging time. With the help of our first two employees, we turned over £350k in the first year which was a tremendous achievement.
“Working with the team of people we have in place today is why we can achieve something special and I believe this will provide real motivation for all staff to participate in the future of the business” Martyn Cashmore states.
