Entrepreneur buys Tyneside engineering business

Jul 7 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

A LONGSTANDING specialist engineering firm is under new ownership after a six-figure management buy-in.

Newcastle’s Smiles Engineering has specialised in engine remanufacture and reconditioning for more than 30 years, since being founded by former owner Brian Smiles and his father Fred.

It is now under the ownership of Gordon Mockett, an engineer who has held senior positions in a number of North East engineering businesses in the past two decades. Major names amongst Smiles’s customer base include Stagecoach, Arriva, Go Ahead, Travel West Midland, Cleveland Potash, National Express Group, Travel London, Corus and a number of councils.

Brian Smiles will continue to work in the business for the next year, to help ensure a smooth transition of ownership.

Gordon Mockett, who received a £150,000 investment from NEL Fund Managers to fund the acquisition, said: “I identified Smiles Engineering as a well-run firm with an excellent employee skills set and potential for expansion.

“With Brian looking to sell the business on and retire, the MBI provided an excellent way to safeguard the jobs of his workforce, and now gives me with the opportunity to take it forward with their help.

“We have a strong order book filled with a number of high-quality contracts, and provide the sort of long-term service which cements client relationships over a long period of time, so we’re very confident about the company’s future prospects.” Smiles employs about a dozen people, a number which the new owner is hoping to increase eventually, and works in different sectors of the commercial transport industry, including buses, agricultural vehicles, industrial, marine and specialist automotive.

Grant Thornton and Sterling Corporate Finance acted as corporate finance advisers on the transaction and Crutes and Schofield Sweeney Solicitors provided legal advice.