Business Summary

Leased Site

Asking price includes:

Turnover circa £1,100,000 per annum
Gross margins of almost 35%
Adjusted net profits of £65,000
Hire revenue of between £12,000 - £14,000 per month
Long established trading record
Ideally located on a large retail site
Purpose built site 12K square foot showsite and 1200 square feet of office accommodation
Additional 6,000 square foot of hire stock storage
Reputation for quality products and after sales service
Excellent directly employed installation team
Extensive inventory of hire stock
Excellent growth opportunities
Complete turnkey operation
Training and handover
Plant and equipment
Goodwill
Business profile:
Well established, and re-located by the present owners to this purpose built site, this is one of the leading independent suppliers of portable buildings in the south east – serving both the domestic and commercial sectors – with a design, supply and installation service as well as a significant volume of hire, mainly to large building contractors.
Located on an extensive site shared with other synergistic retailers, this business is the place to visit to add valuable accommodation to any home, office complex, works or building site. As well as wood sheds, this business offers a wide range of greenhouses, Steel buildings, playhouses, workshops, mess-rooms, summerhouses, carports, garages, pavilions, classrooms, offices and even toilets. In fact there's probably no kind of purpose-built timber, plywood, steel or concrete construction this business hasn’t at some stage been involved in providing. You name it and this business either has it readily available through its strong network of manufacturers and suppliers – or can source it.
Attracting customers from miles around, this is a veritable one stop shop for anyone wishing to acquire a portable building. As well as sales and hire – this business has its own construction and installation teams, the business also offers a detailed design service for a fully fitted project - able to arrange manufacture of almost any purpose-built construction of any shape, size or type of building to the specific requirements of the customer, managing the project from start to finish. It is however equally happy operating on a supply only basis for which it supplies base plans and an installation guide or to install on an already prepared base.
This business works to the most exacting of standards. It has excellent relationships with all of its suppliers. Only top quality components go into the units ensuring comfort, safety and security but above all longevity of its products. Its after sales service is no less impressive including lining, insulation, painting, plumbing, concreting, bricklaying, transportation and more, ensuring that even the most complicated jobs can be undertaken and contracted out with confidence.

This business operates right across the south eastern corner of England. With a large volume of properties within easy striking distance including many sizeable country homes – and a high volume of demand from the commercial sector, this company is very much the first choice in its catchment area. With turnover for the financial year ending December 2010 of almost £1m, this represents an excellent acquisition opportunity for an existing operator looking to increase their presence in the sector. It may also be particularly attractive to a builder or installer of conservatories and garden buildings looking to secure a retail base on a prominent and well known site with very high levels of footfall.

Key Strengths:

This is a very well established business which has operated for over seventy years having successfully relocated to its current purpose built site approximately two years ago. Prominently situated on a site adjoining synergistic retailers with extensive parking and with easy access via the south east’s major motorway network, the business benefits from very high levels of awareness and footfall from domestic customers. On the commercial side this business is particularly renowned for its demountable units which can be craned onto site and installed in the tightest of locations.

The outlet itself is ideally situated between central London and the Kent countryside – generating an affluent Clientele and an area of very high demand for outdoor buildings and conservatories. As a result – and particularly because of its wide range of structures it is able to display, and mix of retail and hire appealing to both the domestic and commercial sectors, the business is busy all year round.

This business has an excellent reputation for good quality products from an ideal combination of major manufacturers and local suppliers. It is one of the largest agents in the UK for at least one of the biggest manufacturers. It has extensive construction knowledge and offers very high levels of workmanship provided by a highly skilled and experienced, directly employed installation team. Able to manage an entire project and working on a ‘supply and fit’, ‘supply only’ and ‘supply and fit to a base already provided by the customer’ basis, as well as hire, the business accommodates all options and budgets.

Key Opportunities:

There is a tremendous opportunity to build on the existing base of this business. With a strong demand for the products offered, there is the capacity for a new owner contributing fresh ideas and outside influence to increase turnover and profitability and to build on an excellent base.

With the huge construction and development activity currently underway in the Thames Gateway and the Olympic development for 2012, this business is ideally located to take full advantage of increased demand arising as a result of these major projects. It could certainly adopt a more aggressive approach to sales and marketing – pricing at the time of survey, for example, investing more heavily in Internet marketing and even the possibility of setting up a telesales operation, particularly for garages, as some of the leading home improvement businesses do.

There is also the possibility of leveraging the excellent reputation the business has by opening satellite operations throughout the south east to capitalize on its brand awareness. And there is no doubt that operating at the high end of the marketplace as this business does and focusing on high levels of customer and after sales service, this business loses customers who feel the products are overpriced. The introduction of a cheaper range would enable this business to capture this market with an undoubted impact on turnover and profitability.

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