SOUTH Lanarkshire company Crawford Scientific has secured a further £2.2 million of funding from clients of Glasgow private equity house Maven Capital Partners to support its acquisition of a Manchester-based contract research firm.

The further investment in Strathaven-based Crawford Scientific, to back the acquisition of Hall Analytical Laboratories, was announced by Maven yesterday.

Sam Crawford, managing director of the Scottish scientific products and services supplier, highlighted the fact that his company had worked successfully with Hall Analytical Laboratories over a period of years.

Maven, which originally completed a £3.9m investment in Crawford last August, said that it had from the outset pinpointed the provision of analytical services as a key element of Crawford's long-term growth strategy.

Crawford provides scientific products, including chromatography supplies, and technical services to a broad range of industries, including the pharmaceutical and industrial sectors. It was established in 1985.

Maven said that Crawford's range of "value-add technical support services", which include training and consultancy, had helped to differentiate the firm from its competitors.

Crawford supplies laboratories across the UK, mainland Europe, and the US. The Scottish company's customer base includes blue-chip clients such as pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, and oil major BP.

Hall, led by Malcolm Kimber, provides a range of analytical services. It has a focus on mass spectrometry detection technologies.

Maven said that virtually all of the Manchester company's services were driven by stringent national and international regulations.

The private equity house declared that only a handful of laboratories globally were able to perform the specialised services provided by "Hall's highly-trained and experienced team".

Maven added: "This has resulted in Hall building up a loyal and growing client base in the pharmaceutical, industrial and environmental sectors."

Mr Crawford said: "We are delighted to welcome Malcolm Kimber and his team at Hall into the Crawford group. The two companies have worked successfully together over a number of years to create a growing and exciting analytical services business, and with additional resource we believe we can grow this business significantly."

David Milroy, investment director at Maven, said: "There are compelling reasons for Crawford's acquisition of the Hall business, not least of which is the strong customer loyalty that Hall enjoys.

"Since August we have developed a strong partnership with Crawford, and we look forward to supporting Sam and his team further as they integrate the Hall business."

Maven last month highlighted its own appetite for further expansion and acquisitions, and revealed it had invested nearly £100m of client funds over the last two years in private equity, mezzanine finance, and property transactions.

Managing partner Bill Nixon said in late December: "We are on the look-out for acquisitions for Maven, of other fund management businesses or relevant contracts. We are in early discussions with other managers, with a view to taking on non-core parts of their business."