FIFE-based Scott Group has acquired HLC (Wood Products) in a multi-million deal, paving the way for the Scottish firm to expand further into England.
Family-owned Scott Group said the acquisition would strengthen its pallets division’s position in the south east of England, as well as improve its access to the European supply chain.
Scott Pallets and HLC will continue to trade “side by side” under the Scott Group umbrella further to the deal, which will see HLC’s joint managing directors, Ryan and Paul Lewis, remain with the business, along with their senior management team.
Meanwhile, Scott Group directors Norman Scott, Alan Gibson, Tracy Trotter and Robert Mclean will join the HLC board.
HLC operates from three automated sites in the Midlands and south east of England, in Burton-on-Trent, Needham and Peterborough. The sites are equipped with biomass and killing facilities, boosting the service capacity and capabilities already in place at Scott Pallets.
Scott Group now employs more than 1,000 staff across the UK and turns over in the region of £120 million. The most recent accounts for HLC show that it made pre-tax profits of £1.38 million on turnover of £24.9m in the year ended July 31, while employing an average of 172 staff.
Alan Gibson, managing director of Scott Pallets, said: “Scott Pallets and HLC will trade side by side as part of Scott Group and together offer an unrivalled national network of multi-faceted manufacturing sites, operating to the highest manufacturing standards with particular focus on quality, health and safety, customer service and account management.
“Together, we are ideally positioned to support customers in a diverse range of industry sectors nationwide. The deal improves our geographical penetration of the large south east market and increases our potential access to European supply.”
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