Transcending the transactional

Sometimes, a little patience can make all the difference.

So too can good advice.

Just ask Mick Buston.

Keen to find financial backing to expand part-eponymous social housing regeneration services provider Buston & Maughan beyond its North East heartland, he spent seven years searching for a partner that understood the business’ commercial and cultural composition.

There were offers along the way – some more than tempting – but under the wise counsel of Abu Ali, partner at business advisory firm FRP Corporate Finance, Mick held firm.

That was until Abu introduced him to regional private equity and infrastructure investment manager Foresight Group.

Its approach immediately resonated with Mick’s philosophy for the 20-year-old County Durham- headquartered firm’s future.

With its backing – provided via the Foresight North East Fund, supported by £18 million from Durham County Council’s Pension Fund – Willington-based Buston & Maughan, which specialises in heating installation, boiler and gas repairs, void works and bathroom and kitchen refurbishments, is now rolling out Yorkshire and North West expansion plans.

Central to the blueprint is a doubling of the company’s revenue and its existing 11,500-plus property service portfolio – which covers 11 housing associations providing homes from Berwick down to Loftus, in east Cleveland, and across to County Durham market town Barnard Castle – over the next two years.

Those ambitions will be reached by Foresight Group’s support to strengthen Buston & Maughan’s senior leadership team, introduce greater procurement efficiency and boost talent development and apprenticeship programmes.

It will also help launch carbon reduction strategies and fuel the firm’s ability to install more sustainability-focused apparatus such as solar panels and air source heat pumps across clients’ properties.

Co-founder and chief executive Mick, who runs the 90-plus-staff business alongside fellow former gas engineer Mick Maughan, says: “I wanted financial backing to open up a larger picture for the business.

“My ultimate goal is to leave a legacy; I want to hand part of the company to my children.

“But I also want to create a hub in the North East that will create jobs and support the supply chain in this region.”

While the power of perseverance was pivotal to the deal’s realisation, so too was a relationship that transcended the transactional, with Mick and Abu fostering a personal connection that went far beyond just commercial considerations.

Mick says: “I’ve had a lot of offers over the years, but Abu has advised me not to go with them.

“He could have easily pitched me deals, but he knew what I was looking for and that I was in no rush.

“It’s taken some time to get to this point, and we’ve become very good friends along the way.

“When he recommended I speak to Foresight Group, it felt like the right move.

“Not only does it represent a very good fit morally for Buston & Maughan, but it understands what we’re trying to achieve too.

“Plus, the investment is coming from a local fund, which means a lot.”

For Abu, who leads FRP Corporate Finance’s Newcastle office alongside fellow partner Phil Williams, the promise of homegrown capital engendering further economic growth in the region was a fundamental factor in the deal.

He says: “The guys have built a great business, which will become a national brand, and one of the key reasons we selected Foresight Group to support its growth plans was that it has raised local money.

“The two Micks are very proud County Durham lads, and by using the County Durham Pension Fund it means that even when Buston & Maughan becomes a national business, it will always retain its home region focus.

“That is important to the business, and it’s also important to me.

“I’m passionate about doing the right thing, and I too want to leave a legacy that benefits the people and businesses of the North East.”

Such heritage, says Mick, will run deep thanks to Foresight Group’s backing, with Buston & Maughan’s expansion primed to reverberate – in the first instance – across the North East and its many supply chain partners.

And central to it all will remain Abu’s valued counsel.

Mick says: “This investment will be good for our customers and everyone we work with.

“As well as creating jobs in the hub area, our supply chain will grow as we grow, because we’ll be buying more materials and using more sub-contractors.

“It will have a massive effect on the region.

“And Abu will continue to support us as we move forward, helping us identify potential acquisitions in Yorkshire and the North West that align with our models.

“I’ve got no plans to stop growing.”

 

Buston & Maughan

For more information about Buston & Maughan and its work across the social housing sector, visit www.bustonmaughan.co.uk

LinkedIn: Buston & Maughan Group

FRP Corporate Finance

For more information about FRP Corporate Finance and the services it provides, visit www.frpadvisory.com/what-we-do/corporate-finance/

LinkedIn: FRP Corporate Finance