Full steam ahead for local heating and plumbing contractor

3rd January 2008

A local Northamptonshire businessman has just completed a management buy-in (MBI) of Kettering-based K Gray Plumbing & Heating Services Ltd.

With investment funding from Yorkshire Bank, the UK's best performing business bank, John Sharp - former managing director of the City Plumbing Contracts Division, part of the Travis Perkins Group - is taking over the reigns from Ken Gray who set up his services business four decades ago.

Blue Cube Chartered Accountants in Northampton acted as one of advisers on the deal.

Established in 1968, K Gray Plumbing and Heating Engineers focussed on providing a service to the building industry on new housing projects, and has built up a client base which boasts the likes of Persimmon Homes.  In 1979 the company diversified and began supplying plumbing and heating services to the general public.

"Having been in business for 40 years, this is a highly successful and reputable company that has solid foundations from which we can continue to build from into the future" said John Sharp, managing director of K Gray Plumbing & Heating Services Ltd.

Today, the company has an annual turnover of £7m and employs over 80 staff in Northamptonshire and the East Midland area "K Gray is a highly respected and successful local company which has supplied service to the building trade and general public for many years," said Nick Behan, business partner at Yorkshire Bank's Northampton Financial Solutions Centre (FSC).

"The complex nature of this project meant that our Specialist & Acquisition Finance (SAF) team in Birmingham, led by Nigel Wood, was brought in to assist with the completion of the deal."

Nigel Wood, SAF director at Yorkshire Bank concluded:

"Supporting local businesses - from nurturing and supporting their ambitions, to raising finance and helping them to meet growth plans - is something that Yorkshire Bank is fully committed to and we recognise the value that supporting companies like K Gray brings to the area."

For Further Information:

Stuart Neill  
Yorkshire Bank
Tel. 0845 60 35 44 77 or 07767 788 765

Natasha Lobley
The BIG Partnership
Tel. 0141 333 9585

NOTES TO EDITORS

Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks are both part of the National Australia Group.

Yorkshire Bank
Yorkshire Bank was founded in 1859 in Halifax, West Yorkshire.  Today, the Bank has more than 190 Yorkshire Bank branches, a strong personal customer base and a growing business capability in the North of England and the Midlands.

Yorkshire Bank is a trading name of Clydesdale Bank plc, which is a subsidiary of the National Australia Bank Group of companies. Yorkshire Bank joined the Group in 1990.
 
Financial Solutions Centres
Yorkshire Bank Financial Solutions Centres (FSC) offer Members a tailored range of business and private banking services under one roof. A team of specialist partners, each with considerable local experience, work together to provide Members with end to end solutions for their business and private banking needs. In addition to banking services, the FSCs also operate as a hub for local business, with a range of networking opportunities and meeting facilities available as a benefit of membership.

Over 70 FSCs are located around the UK and in 2006 represented over half of the National Australia Bank Group's UK income.