£10m to fly Banner. Gresham Trust backs business supplies buy-out

Gresham Trust, the private equity house, is backing a £10m deal for the management of Banner Business Supplies to buy the company from its current shareholders. The deal was introduced to Gresham by David Ascott of Grant Thornton.

Banner, with headquarters in Norwich, is a national distributor of office supplies and has a forecast turnover of £80m for the current year.

Banner was in the public sector as part of The Stationery Office (HMSO) until privatisation in 1996. It is the strongest company in public sector office supplies market and has won a number of prestigious private sector contracts in the last two years.

A new chief executive officer, Ray Peck, aged 43, will lead the Banner management team. Ray Peck has 18 years' experience in the office supplies and equipment business, having worked as a finance and commercial director and then as MD of two companies in the sector, Niceday and Corporate Express (UK).

Ray Peck says, "Banner has a strong history and, with the financial backing of Gresham Trust, we are confident that we can take advantage of the market opportunities that exist to achieve our expansion programme."

Banner operates with a 350-strong workforce including a national sales and distribution structure, with warehouses in Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast.

The deal was co-ordinated by Neil Scragg and Mike Henebery on behalf of Gresham. Neil Scragg, who becomes a non-executive director of Banner, says, "We are backing a strong management team to take Banner through its next stage of growth supported by a sound financial base."