Expansion follows £3.5m BGF investment
10th February 2015

One of The VEKA UK Group's leading Scottish fabricators - Stevenswood - will be expanding its production capacity and network of trade counters across the country thanks to a £3.5m investment of growth capital from BGF (Business Growth Fund).

The £11m turnover business, which manufactures more than 1,000 windows and doors per week, currently sells its bespoke manufactured products through its trade counters in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Dundee and at its headquarters in Livingston.

The £3.5m investment from BGF, the independent company established to help the UK’s growing businesses, will see Stevenswood open additional trade counters across Scotland, as well as expanding its kitchen operations to meet the growing demand for its quality products.

BGF has taken a minority stake in Stevenswood with Patrick Graham joining the board as Investor Director. The board has been bolstered with the appointment of David Pearson as Chairman and Murray McGarvie as Finance Director.

Pearson brings extensive experience of working with institutionally-backed manufacturing businesses. He is the current Chairman of Nenplas Ltd and DPP Ltd. In his earlier career, David was the Group Commercial Director of Focus Wickes.

McGarvie is an experienced Finance Director with a proven track record in both manufacturing and retail businesses.

The Livingston-based business was founded in 1997 by the current Managing Director Ron Hepburn and his now retired business partner Dave Flynn, initially focussing on the installation of windows and doors. It was the first company in Scotland to offer VEK's 70mm Fully Sculptured frames, which are now the industry standard.

The strategic recruitment of Director Duncan Murray in the year 2000 moved the direction of the business to focus on manufacturing its own products. During the last decade it has invested more than £1.6m in a new site and state-of-the-art machinery. All manufacturing now takes place at its industrial facilities on a five-acre site in Houston Industrial Estates in Livingston.

Ron Hepburn, Managing Director of Stevenswood, explained: “We have been reinvigorated about the future prospects of our business thanks to BGF’s growth capital investment. The period around Dave’s retirement made us all reflect on the journey we had taken and what we had achieved and a sale was seriously considered. But an introduction to BGF allowed us to see more immediate opportunities to grow the business we had worked so hard to create.

“The BGF team could see the commitment to investment we had already undertaken with our new site and advanced manufacturing equipment at Livingston so they knew that their investment would be focused on avenues of growth rather than capital expenditure. As a business that trebled its turnover during the recession we are confident that our quality products and our established reputation will allow us to experience rapid growth.”

Patrick Graham of BGF said: “Ron is a talented and very personable businessman with a great team around him that have continually invested in the business, diversified and evolved when many in the sector collapsed. We’re excited about expanding awareness of its product range to new trade audiences.

“BGF has backed 23 British manufacturing businesses in the past three years, from laser specialists in Glasgow to carpet makers in Kidderminster. Stevenswood is a brilliant example of a strong, established business that has immediate potential and assists our goal of supporting sustainable growth in British manufacturing while creating local employment.”

www.stevenswood.co.uk
www.bgf.co.uk