NorthEdge Capital, the private equity firm focused on investing in businesses in the north of England, has invested in Stoke-based Solidor.
Founded in 2004 and led by Gareth Mobley, Solidor is a hardwood core composite door manufacturer with more than 130 employees. Mr Mobley was recently voted EN’s North West Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 for his outstanding achievement to date in growing Solidor.
The investment from NorthEdge will allow the business to expand its senior management team, continue investing in operations, capacity and IT, while providing the support for a buy-and-build strategy.
Ray Stenton, partner and head of new business at NorthEdge, director Jon Pickering and investment executive George Potts, all led the deal. Mr Stenton and Mr Pickering will join the board as non-executive directors, with Mr Potts joining as an observer.
“This is an exciting moment for everybody at the Solidor Group,” said Mr Mobley. “The investment that we have received from NorthEdge will help to catapult us to be a true market leader. We can accelerate all of our growth plans and launch our new products faster. This will be a game changer for our industry.
“Ray, Jon and all of the team at NorthEdge were very commercial in their approach and are people that we will continue to build a successful relationship with.”
Mr Stenton added: “Solidor has established a strong market position in a growing niche of the home improvement market. Under Gareth’s leadership, sales have grown more than 10-fold in the last five years.
“We join the company at a time when further executive support and financial backing will allow Gareth to build a group of niche manufacturing businesses. We are excited to begin working alongside the whole management team to deliver on the clear growth potential at Solidor.”
The deal is the fifth this year for NorthEdge, representing nearly £70m of investment into Northern businesses.
