BGF Exits Successful Kitchen Manufacturer

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EyeonNews

18/03/2022 12:12

BGF SUCCESSFULLY EXITS SPECIALIST KITCHEN MANUFACTURER UFORM

BGF – the UK and Ireland’s most active growth capital investor – has announced a highly successful exit of its investment in Uform, the market–leading Toomebridge-based manufacturer of kitchen doors and equipment.

Founded in 1993 by Eamon and Paul Donnelly, alongside their late father Eddie, Uform employs 415 people at facilities in Co. Antrim and Co. Donegal and delivers more than 1,500 kitchens per week to a growing, loyal and diverse customer base throughout the UK and Ireland.

Cardinal Ireland Partners, the Irish private equity growth fund managed by Cardinal Capital Group (“Cardinal”), has invested in Uform, with plans to scale the business. As part of the deal, BGF will re-invest alongside Cardinal and will continue to back the company as a minority shareholder.

BGF first partnered with Uform in 2019, when it made a multi-million equity investment in the business to enable founders Eamon and Paul Donnelly to accelerate the growth of the business. Following the investment by Cardinal, Eamon and Paul will remain on the Board of Uform and as significant shareholders alongside BGF.

As a result of BGF’s investment Uform has, over the last three years, invested in its production facilities and new state-of-the-art equipment, as well as significantly expanding its product range. This has enabled the business to achieve an annual growth rate of 40% and significantly expand its market share in the UK, Northern Irish and Republic of Ireland markets.

Beyond growth capital, BGF’s Talent Network – one of the largest groups of board-level non-executives in the UK and Ireland – also introduced Uform to non-executive chair Jim Meredith to provide additional strategic support.

Uform’s strong performance has continued this year as consumers continue to place increased value on kitchens post pandemic, with buyers favouring personalised, premium fitouts and replacing kitchens more quickly – all which Uform is ideally positioned to capitalise on.

Graham Clarke, investor at BGF, said: “It is fantastic to see Uform attracting new funding to support its ambitious future growth plans. Over the last three years, we have developed a strong relationship with the business and have worked together to deliver an impressive rate of year-on-year growth. Moving forward, we’re excited to be re-investing in the business and continuing our association with the company as it enters this next phase in its growth journey.

“We are also really pleased to be able to report our first significant exit in Northern Ireland. BGF was set up to back brilliant businesses that are looking to scale and that is exactly what Uform has done. The exit of our original investment has generated a return of greater than 2x with a strong IRR of 25%, which clearly demonstrates the high quality of entrepreneurs and businesses we are backing.”

Eamon Donnelly, co-founder of Uform, said: “We have built a very strong relationship with the BGF team, who from day one bought into our vision and strategy of where we want to take the business and provided invaluable support. The network BGF brings has opened many opportunities for us across the UK and Ireland and we are delighted that they will continue to remain invested in the company.”

Simon Oliphant, Group Managing Director of Uform, said: “Uform has always had the ambition and the ability to grow. We see very considerable opportunity in both the Irish and UK markets. We are really pleased that BGF will continue to be an investor as we strive to achieve those objectives.”

BGF has invested in six companies from Northern Ireland to date: Braidwater, RiverRidge, Audit Comply, Uform, Bob & Berts and Mzuri.

(L-R) Simon Oliphant, Group Managing Director of Uform with Paul Donnelly and Eamon Donnelly Co-Founders of Uform.

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Fibrus awards £55k to help address digital poverty

Telecommunications and broadband provider Fibrus has announced the latest recipients of its £55,000 community fund.

The Fibrus Community Fund, which aims to address digital poverty in rural Northern Ireland, is managed in partnership with the Community Foundation Northern Ireland, awarding grants that enable local groups and organisations access to digital technology.

The fund has a particular focus on supporting grassroots organisations that support older people and young people aged 18 and under. 19 organisations received funding through the latest tranche.

Sensory Kids is one of the recipients and will use their £2,000 award to integrate technology into its learning programmes. The Broughshane charity provides children and young adults with a safe and secure environment aimed at reducing anxieties and promoting their development, as well supporting parents to understand and support their children’s needs.

Sensory Kids Youth worker, Kathryn Davidson, said:

“Sensory Kids aims to enhance children’s development through play by offering early intervention to those who may or may not have a diagnosis.

“This a very welcome boost from the Fibrus Community Fund will help enhance our services and resources for the young people we work with.

“We plan to incorporate technology into our youth group with iPads to help young people learn life skills, such as communication and interpersonal skills, with a view to learning how to cook and boost their own personal care.”

Linda McMillan, Chief People Officer, Fibrus, said:

“Fibrus is committed to supporting the communities in which we operate. By investing through our Fibrus Community Fund, we are able to give back to some of the organisations like the outstanding Sensory Kids, doing wonderful work to enhance and support our thriving towns and villages across Northern Ireland.

“It is embedded in our culture that we continue to support projects which are specifically aimed at young people who have a need for increased access to technology or connectivity, as well as initiatives that combat digital exclusion amongst the elderly or those more vulnerable in our society. We wish Sensory Kids, and all of the other successful applicants every best wish for the future.”

Marcus Cooper, Fund Development Manager at Community Foundation NI, said:

“We are delighted with the awarding of this funding, growing the ability of rural communities to stay connected.

“Addressing digital exclusion is a priority for the Community Foundation NI and this fund is tackling this head on.

“Many groups and charities working directly with isolated or vulnerable members of our communities in rural areas are telling us that strong and sustainable broadband in their area is vital. The access now provided through the Fibrus Community Fund to purchase devices to get online and to build computer skills is an opportunity that will only boost the ability to stay connected.”

L-R Marcus Cooper, Comunity Foundation NI, Linda McMillan,Fibrus & Mary Connor, Sensory Kids at Sensory Kids in Broughshane)

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Northern Ireland’s largest ferry operator, Stena Line, has opened the doors of its new passenger terminal at Victoria Terminal 2 (VT2) in Belfast Harbour. The new-look passenger terminal has been expanded and refurbished to provide new facilities to cater for the increased passenger levels on the busy Birkenhead route, with a further £3m investment by Belfast Harbour.

The significant upgrade to facilities has transformed and extended the original terminal building with new check-in booths for passenger vehicles and includes a full refurbishment of the interior of the terminal. The development includes a new departure lounge with an increased capacity for approximately 200 people, as well as a new Barista café area and passenger waiting area. Externally, there are three new vehicle check in booths and an extended queueing area for passengers in vehicles and coaches.

Paul Grant, Stena Line’s Irish Sea Trade Director said: “It is

Belfast Harbour and Stena Line open new passenger terminal

great to see the next stage of the investment in our Belfast operations come to fruition. In partnership with Belfast Harbour, we have taken our old and dated building, with limited space, and totally modernised the design with a great new range of improved facilities. Customers using our new modern vessels needed a new modern terminal to serve them and now they have that, to ensure they get the best travel experience from departure to arrival. Over the past 26 years we have grown our Belfast hub into the biggest within the Stena group across all of our European routes, and we will continue to invest and improve our services in Belfast and Northern Ireland.”

Michael Robinson, Port Director at Belfast Harbour, said: “We are really pleased to see the newly refurbished VT2 open to passengers after a significant investment from both Stena Line and Belfast Harbour. We believe that providing modern facilities for our customers and investing in the Port’s core infrastructure is essential to supporting our partners’ ambitions, and to achieving our goal of becoming one of the world’s leading regional ports. As passenger traffic levels on Stena Line’s services continues to grow, we are committed to supporting our partners at Stena Line, as they meet increasing customer demand.”

The VT2 upgrade project took more than a year to complete and was undertaken while maintaining current ferry services. It follows significant investment in recent years by Stena Line in its Belfast operations, with the recent the launches of two brand new ferries on the route, Stena Edda and Stena Embla, which increased passenger and freight capacity by over a third and has now led to record traffic volumes being carried on the Belfast-Birkenhead route.

MAXOL INVESTING £3.8M IN LOCAL SERVICE STATION DEVELOPMENTS

Maxol, Northern Ireland’s leading family-owned forecourt and convenience retailer, has begun work to redevelop Maxol Edenderry Service Station on Crumlin Road, Belfast and Maxol Downpatrick to meet the growing customer demand for contemporary forecourt services that include both retail grocery and a convenient food-to-go offering.

From design and construction, through to the sites’ ongoing operations, Maxol is using cutting-edge technology to help each site reduce its existing carbon footprint. These measures include the use of low energy CO2 refrigeration; installing LED lighting systems; heat recovery from refrigeration for use in the Delish Deli, and “on demand” fan controllers to reduce energy use.

The £2.3million development at Maxol Edenderry includes a brand-new retail store 70% larger than the former premises, built on new land adjoining the original site purchased in 2021. The grocery offer will more than double in size, while customers can expect larger dairy and chilled ranges for greater choice. A new Delish Deli will also be introduced along with a self-serve chicken bar.

Maxol’s Premium Fuel range will be introduced to enable customers to make greener choices and car parking facilities will be extended to twentyseven spaces giving more room to ease the flow of traffic on site.

Up to six additional jobs will be created in the Edenderry community when the refurbished site opens in mid-November.

In Maxol Downpatrick, the £1.5million investment will provide a large extension to the existing retail store from its current 105 sq. meters to 181 sq. meters. This will provide a new SPAR shop and the introduction of a new Delish Deli for fresh food-to-go.

The refurbished forecourt will see the introduction of Maxol’s Premium Fuel range and parking spaces will be extended to nineteen to provide more room and convenience for customers using the site.

Brian Donaldson, Chief Executive Officer of The

Maxol, Chief Executive Officer, Brian Donaldson on site as the work progresses at Maxol Edenderry.

Maxol Group said: “These are significant and important developments that will transform both service stations and ensure that when the projects are complete, our valued customers can shop locally for all their daily needs in a modern, vibrant, sustainable and welcoming environment.

“Both Maxol Edenderry and Maxol Downpatrick are very much part of the community, operated under licence by local people, John & Sharon Bailey and Pamela Turnbull along with their staff teams. As part of our investment plans, we are delighted to be upgrading each site with the latest food concepts and convenience goods ensuring we continue to meet the needs of our customers. We are thrilled to see the work at an advanced stage to make this happen.”

EyeonEnergy

Power NI marks one year anniversary with Ulster Wildlife NI’s largest energy provider, Power NI, part of Energia Group, has worked closely with Ulster Wildlife to regenerate peatland areas and restabilise habitats over the last 12 months and is proud to continue the partnership for another year.

Power NI volunteers set out to help Ulster Wildlife restore our native peatlands.

Ulster Wildlife is Northern Ireland’s largest nature conservation charity and over the last 12 months Power NI has facilitated vital restoration work and research on peatland sites extending almost 250 hectares, while helping to raise awareness of the significance of our precious peatlands.

As part of Energia Group, Power NI is committed to a number of specific UN Sustainable Development Goals and the first and foremost is Climate Action. As the information and research expands on how we can best prevent climate change without drastically interrupting the daily workings of households and businesses across the island, there has been an increased focus on peatlands. A vitally important and somewhat undervalued pillar of our environment, peatlands make up 12% of Northern Ireland’s land mass and are crucial not only for the maintenance of biodiversity, but for the reduction of carbon in our atmosphere.

When in a healthy state, peatlands can absorb up to three times more carbon than trees, but when in an unhealthy state, the stored carbon is released into the air resulting in the opposite effect. And so, last year, Power NI teamed up with Ulster Wildlife to help restore some of our precious peatlands to their natural glory and aid in the fight against climate change.

To date, Power NI has supported the repair of hundreds of dams installed at the charity’s Ballynahone Bog and Glenullin Nature Reserves which are essential to help hold back water on the bogs and block up historic drains, dug for peat extraction, which dry out the bogs.

Since the beginning of the partnership, Power NI staff have donated 240 volunteering hours to the charity with 120 of those specifically used to manually tend to peatlands in its care, such as Ballynahone Bog Nature Reserve where there are a several hundred thousand tonnes of carbon stored. The team removed invasive birch tree saplings from the bog which were then collected and could be replanted in a suitable alternative environment. They also tidied up the peatland in general and removed any litter in sight.

Alongside the physical restoration of the peatlands, Power NI has also facilitated several surveys, data collections and monitoring processes which assess the health of the peatlands and localised species, helping to make sure that the work carried out by the charity is truly beneficial.

Now on to the second year of the partnership, the two organisations are looking forward to continuing their work on the education and rejuvenation of the peatlands in Northern Ireland and to continue playing their part in tackling the climate and biodiversity crises.

For more information on how Power NI has supported Ulster Wildlife and how your business can get involved, please visit www.powerni.co.uk/ ulster-wildlife or www.ulsterwildlife. org/corporate-support