Austin Barcley, CEO and founder of home improvement finance provider Improveasy, has completed an MBO to take a controlling stake in the 11-year-old business.
He has now bought out his fellow shareholders to gain a majority share with the backing of investment and Michael Berger now joins the board as investor representative director.
Austin told The Glazine: “I was one of four shareholders in the business all with an equal shareholding but I ran the business as the MD so felt it made sense to buy the other three out.”
He added that he, along with key personnel Chris Antrobus – ECO Funding Division, and Jeff Poole – Consumer Finance, are aiming for continued growth following the move.
Michael Berger said: “It’s a pleasure to support Austin and the team on the Improveasy Group journey as they look to tackle the UK’s rising energy costs.
Their solutions across both ECO grant funding and consumer loans will make a key difference in the improvement of average UK EPC ratings, with the government currently aiming for as many homes as possible to be rated band C or above by 2035. The entire team is committed to making a difference whilst also being one of the standout high growth companies in the ESG space.”
Improveasy’s offering enables homeowners to make home improvements in a cost-effective way, by accessing various forms of government funding and/or flexible payment options.
It is a managing agent providing nationwide funding via the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), designed to help homeowners install energy efficient heating and insulation measures into their homes at little or no cost, New investment means Improveasy are now able to provide super-fast 48 hour payment terms to installers, which is attracting lots of new business to the company.
It also provides a range of consumer finance options across a panel of lenders to hundreds of installation companies looking to offer their customers flexible ways to pay. Installers don’t have to be FCA authorised, which means they can focus on installing, whilst Improveasy takes care of the rest via their bespoke online tech platform.
The company is soon to launch a new product later this year aimed at helping homeowners not only reduce their energy bills, but also improve the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of their property.
Improveasy has been included in various high growth lists such as the Financial Times FT1000 in 2021 and 2022 and was previously included in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 in 2019 and 2020.
Fieldfisher, provided Regulatory DD, Legal DD and Corporate Advice. Tom Ward, one of Fieldfisher’s Corporate Partners added: “Improveasy has built a robust business with strong revenues and has good potential to scale significantly in light of the renewed ECO4 scheme and the UK Government’s commitment to fund a £1billion per annum budget. We wish the team all the best with the future growth of the group following this buyout.”
