Press release
North Yorkshire firm takes off with £multi-million buyout
Yorkshire manufacturing firm, Slingsby Aviation, has been bought by its management team in a multi-million pounds deal.
Employing 120 people at its 131,000 sq ft base in Kirbymoorside, Slingsby is one of the UK's leading suppliers of components used by the aviation and defence industries.
Best known for its military pilot training and aerobatics T67 Firefly aircraft, Slingsby also designs and manufactures a variety of high technology original equipment including submarine rudders, fighter pilot helmets, emergency train doors and stealth compliant warship gun shields.
The management team of Stuart Brown, Dave Doran and Steven Boyd bought the business from international aerospace company, Cobham Plc.
Cobham, which turns over £1billion and employs 11,000 people has owned the 70-year old company since 1996. The group has sold Slingsby as part of its strategy to streamline its portfolio of smaller composite companies.
The deal has been funded privately, with ongoing working capital provided by Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.
Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance will lend against the business' sales ledger to improve cash flow and free up funds to ensure it has the capital required to hunt out and fulfill contracts quickly.
Mick Jagger, at Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, said: "Slingsby is looking to expand and take on an increasing number of larger orders, so having sufficient working capital is of paramount importance.
"Greater financial freedom, fantastic product diversity and a healthy order book means the firm's prospects are very bright."
Steven Boyd, sales director, said: "We will develop our vertical markets and significantly increase Slingsby's current turnover of £7 million. Our customers, which include BAE Systems, Siemens, Rolls-Royce, Lockheed Martin and Honeywell, fully support this MBO and in return we will continue to supply high quality, technologically leading products competitively priced and backed by excellent service."
Stuart Brown, finance director, said: "The deal has been funded privately, with ongoing working capital provided by Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance. The flexibility and independence we now have will give us a huge boost and certainly help us grow sales domestically and internationally.
"The directors discussed asset based lending as a potential option to increase cash flow post deal but we weren't sure we'd find a suitable provider due to the complexities within our sales ledger. Almost half of our customers are based overseas and there can be a significant time lag between the point when projects start and when invoices are paid."
Dave Doran, production director, added: "Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance was one of the organisations we assessed and they exceeded our expectations. Their understanding of our requirements and the speed with which they acted impressed us. With their support in place we can now accelerate our mission and with our expert, dedicated workforce, take Slingsby into an exciting period of high achievement and growth."
Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance is part of the Lloyds TSB Group plc.
