Endless backs buyout of DavyMarkham

Endless LLP, the Yorkshire-based buyout and turnaround fund, has backed a management buyout of the heavy engineering business DavyMarkham Ltd. The investment will underpin the Company’s turnaround and enable DavyMarkham to re-establish itself as a world-leading brand in the heavy engineering market.

Endless has supported Kevin Parkin and Duncan Hay who have been acting as interim Managing Director and interim Financial Director respectively and who now take permanent positions on the Board.

Kevin Parkin, Managing Director of DavyMarkham Ltd, commented: “DavyMarkham has been through a significant turnaround over the last 18 months and we have been supported all the way by our skilled and dedicated workforce. The investment and strategic support from Endless will allow the business to grow from strength to strength. This is great news for both the employees of Davy Markham and South Yorkshire in general, and Duncan and I are pleased to be part of it.”

In recent years recent years the combined group has supplied large infrastructure products to prestigious projects such as the Thames Barrier, the Channel Tunnel boring machine, the Millennium Bridge and Heathrow’s Terminal Five Control Tower. Davy and Markham have a strong history in the South Yorkshire area, with both companies originating in the 1830s. They came together in a merger in 1997. DavyMarkham now benefits from a worldwide customer base, working closely with its neighbours Sheffield Forgemasters and Siemens VAI to ensure Sheffield remains at the centre of global heavy engineering expertise.

The £14 million-turnover Company employs 170 people in Sheffield and there are plans both to recruit more employees and launch an apprenticeship scheme to protect and develop skill levels for the future of the business and the region.

 Endless is in the early stages of plans to complement its investment, injecting additional funding into the DavyMarkham site by developing a new industrial park, a further boost to the Sheffield area.

Christopher Clegg, Investment Director at Endless, who led the deal, commented: “We are delighted to back such a talented management team in Kevin and Duncan and a workforce which has shown real commitment in a difficult phase for the company. DavyMarkham represents a huge opportunity with demand for heavy engineering excellence growing by the day. This investment highlights our commitment to South Yorkshire and to traditional industries that often find raising finance difficult.”

Endless was advised by Ingram Forrest and Addleshaw Goddard. Management was advised by Nabarro. Bank of Scotland provided banking facilities.