Foresight in £1.5m BIMBO of Crowle Wharfe Engineers

Amy King
16 May 2014

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Foresight has committed ТЃ1.5m from the Foresight Nottingham Fund to Crowle Wharfe Engineers (CWE), a UK-based engineering solutions firm, to support the buy-in management buyout (BIMBO) of the firm.

CWE's existing directors Ian Siddle and Mark Lifsey, new chairman John Wood and managing director Chris Brown will manage the company.

CWE will use some of the funds to support its relocation of part of its business to Nottinghamshire. The investment will also support further hires.

Foresight Nottingham Fund is a £40m vehicle that backs regional growth in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. LPs include the Nottinghamshire local government pension scheme and a number of high-net-worth individuals with ties to the region.

The fund commits £100,000-2m to SMEs based in the region, or those relocating post-investment. The vehicle's maiden investment occurred in late 2013 when the fund committed £1.75m to support the management buyout of Positive Outcomes.

Last week, the vehicle led a £350,000 round for Idle Projects, which trades as online fashion retailer TheIdleMan.com, with the support of business angels.

Company
Founded more than 50 years ago and based in Crowle, Lincolnshire, and Staveley, Derbyshire, CWE provides engineering solutions for the rail, energy and steel industries. It specialises in turn-key services, from design and manufacture to installation and maintenance.

The company employs 50 staff.

People
Seb Saywood is investment manager of the Foresight Nottingham Fund. Ian Siddle and Mark Lifsey are directors at CWE, John Wood is chairman and Chris Brown is managing director.

Advisers
Equity – Gateley (Legal); Mazars (Financial due diligence); CIL (Commercial due diligence).
Management – Mackenzie Spencer (Corporate finance); HLW Keeble Hawson (Legal).
Vendor – Wightmans (Legal); Sterling Corporate Finance (Corporate finance).