£4.3m Mice deal will help protect 46 jobs

Oct 31 2007 By Iain Laing, The Journal

BANKING professionals from The Royal Bank of Scotland in Newcastle helped managers buy out an Essex shopfitting company. The Tyneside bankers advised the management team of one of the divisions of Mice Group, a Harlow-based company, undertake an MBO to create a new company called ID ESS (Retail) Ltd.

The £4.3m deal helped to safeguard the jobs of the 46 staff at the company and was completed in just two weeks.

The MBO was led by Dane Wilder, who becomes the group’s new managing director, along with fellow directors, Ian Cater, Michael Dillon and Jeremy Ellis, and is the result of former parent group Mice Group going into administration.

John Dryden from RBS Corporate Banking in Newcastle arranged funding for the deal.

He said: “Dane and his team have a wealth of experience within this sector. They have an excellent understanding of the market in which they operate and are committed to meeting their client and employees needs.”

ID ESS will continue to provide a range of interior solutions for blue chip companies within the retail, commercial and leisure markets.

Its services encompass shopfitting, interior contracting, project and cost management, joinery, metalwork, interior design and product design and clients include
John Lewis, Tesco, Monsoon & Marks & Spencer.

The new company will continue to be based in Harlow and expects to employ 61 full time staff and predicts an annual turnover of £25m.

Dane Wilde, managing director of ID ESS, said: “The most important considerations for us were timescale, ensuring we saved jobs and that our customers continued to receive and excellent service.

“This is a good business model and we feel that under our ownership we can utilise this potential and grow the business over the coming years. RBS understood this and provided excellent advice, support and reacted to our timescales which enabled us to conclude a timely purchase from the administrators in two weeks.

“This deal provides the business with an opportunity to build upon the successes previously achieved and ensures that our clients will continue to have access to the company’s knowledge and expertise.”