Business Set To Expand Fleet And Hire Staff

Law firm Irwin Mitchell has advised BGF, the independent company established to help Britain's growing businesses, on its £3m growth capital investment in Nationwide Window Cleaning (NWC).
 
NWC directly employs and centrally manages 200 staff from around the UK, providing complex and simple cleaning services to universities, hospitals, large retailers and other commercial businesses. Set up in 2009 by Managing Director Thornton Tasker, the company has an annual turnover approaching £10m and manages several major window cleaning contracts including with Royal Bank of Scotland, ASDA and the British Museum. NWC is headquartered in Harrogate, Yorkshire.  
 
The £3m investment will allow the company to expand its fleet and equipment, and hire new staff within its abseiling and specialist cleaning divisions where the company continues to experience growing demand. It plans to use part of the capital investment to increase its workforce in these business areas, with the aim of achieving a fivefold growth in revenue over the next seven years.
 
Stuart Lees, Managing Director at Altium Capital and former Chief Executive of Latium Group, a manufacturer and retailer of windows, has been appointed Non-Executive Chairman at NWC. Neil Inskip, Senior Investment Manager at BGF joins the board of the company. 
 
Thornton Tasker, Managing Director, NWC commented: “The NWC approach is to recruit skilled and committed employees, who we can offer ongoing training and development with excellent potential for career progression, actively promoting from within. We have committed to the government apprentice scheme nurturing new talent who can support the business going forward, resulting in higher productivity, quality of work, staff retention and employee satisfaction.
 
“NWC is a truly national service provider offering a managed quality service with high visibility through leading edge IT. This is the right time to expand. Demand for our range of national specialist services continues to gain momentum and we are in a strong position to grow this part of the business. We are delighted to be partnering with BGF. In addition to the investment, we value the insight and experience of its investment team as well as our newly appointed Chairman, Stuart Lees.”
 
The investment was managed for BGF by Neil Inskip, Sam Davies and Andy Gregory.
 
Irwin Mitchell Corporate Associate James Foster, along with colleagues Andrea Cropley and Liam Freeman, advised BGF.
 
James Foster, Corporate Associate at Irwin Mitchell said: 

Neil Inskip, Senior Investment Manager, BGF commented: “We’ve tracked NWC over the past two years and are impressed by its progress and development under the leadership of Thornton Tasker. There is an extremely strong management team in place, with a clear business strategy and sound operating model. 
 
“In a relatively short amount of time, NWC has become an industry leader in a market with significant opportunities, making the business well placed to build on the number of existing contracts it manages.”
 
Andy Gregory, Regional Director, North of England & Northern Ireland, BGF commented: “This is the 63rd growth capital investment made by BGF in UK companies, and the 12th investment made in companies headquartered in the north of England. Our aim is to work with enterprises that span a diverse range of industry sectors, and as such, we are delighted to be working with NWC.”