Fife laundry services company Fishers is planning further expansion in the north of England after receiving £5 million of new investment.
The deal with Caird Capital, which was already an investor in the textile services company, comes after the firm successfully completed a refinancing agreement with Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking which gives it £25m of new debt facilities.
Founded in 1900, the Cupar company provides linen rental, workwear hire and cleanroom garments to the hospitality, leisure, manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors in Scotland and the north of England.
The company cleans, irons and delivers more than two million items of linen every week to customers including Gleneagles Hotel, Premier Inn and the Caledonian Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
Fishers is the market leader in Scotland but has grown steadily in recent years and has expanded into the north of England, opening a state-of-the-art laundry in Newcastle and boosting its range of products for use in critical or controlled environments through the acquisition of Cleanroom Direct in 2012.
Now it plans further expansion on the back of the refinancing deal and the new investment, while also exploring potential bolt-on acquisition opportunities to gain greater coverage in its core markets.
The company also intends to expand its buoyant garments division, which provides rental and laundering services of uniform and workwear to a variety of industries, including niche cleanroom services to the research, pharmaceutical, biomedical and semiconductor sectors.
As a consequence of the refinancing, Fishers has put in place a new parent company, Fishers Topco Ltd, which replaces the previous parent company, Fishers Group Ltd.
Scott Inglis, finance director at Fishers, said: “This refinancing provides a platform for further growth for Fishers, and the management team is delighted with the support shown by both Caird Capital and Lloyds.
“Fishers has a renowned reputation for quality and service and this, together with the continued expansion of budget hotel chains and the upgrading of existing hotel estates, will support the growth of the company, both in Scotland and south of the border.”
Graham Arnold, associate director in the acquisition finance team at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking in Scotland, said: “Fishers has outperformed its wider market in recent years thanks to strong management and well-invested, highly efficient operations.
“This latest deal will act to drive the company’s expansion in the high-value cleanroom garment market, in which Fishers has become an important national player.”