GSH secures funds for continued growth

GSH, a leading provider of energy and facility management solutions which has its head office in Stoke-on-Trent, has secured an £8m finance package from Yorkshire Bank’s Corporate & Structured Finance team.

The facility will provide funding for the company to continue to invest in the business, maximising growth opportunities and enabling the management team to develop the long-term strategy of the business.

GSH was founded in 1895 by George Scarr-Hall as an engineering business serving the pottery industry. It specialises in delivering integrated facilities solutions including building engineering services (mechanical and electrical and air conditioning), building fabric maintenance, environmental services and integrated facilities management. Its industry-leading energy management solution, energyplus, has to date saved customers £9.6 million in energy costs.

The group, which has a turnover of £239m and employs around 1,900 people, primarily operates in the UK and Eire but has operations in Europe and the US. Its blue chip customer base includes National Australia Bank, Vodafone, Ericsson and the Department for Work & Pensions.

After four years on AIM, the majority shareholder Ian Scarr-Hall, grandson of the original founder, decided to delist the business last year in order to provide a stable environment in which to continue to nurture the values that have proved so successful for GSH over its 115-year history - professionalism, respect, integrity, dedication and employee development.

Ian Davidson, group finance director at GSH, said: “The ongoing success of GSH over the past 115 years and the strength of its client base is testament to the success of its approach which marries innovation with traditional family values. This means that the company in an unrivalled position moving forward to meet the challenges of the next century.”

The Yorkshire Bank team was led by Steve Drury and Meg Thomson from the Corporate & Structured Finance team in the Midlands.  Steve Drury, director, said: “We are delighted to welcome this latest addition to our growing portfolio of large corporate clients. GSH is a well-established, profitable, trading business operating in a sector on which the downturn has had limited impact.

“The company’s core facilities management expertise combined with its niche energy efficiency offering will help to drive its future growth and there is also potential for it to expand into other areas by acquisition. This funding will help it to fulfil its long-term strategy.”