Gresham Trust backs Dimensions deal

Dimensions Corporatewear of Hinckley in Leicestershire, the UK's leading supplier of corporate clothing to the staff of supermarkets, banks, shops, and hotels, has been acquired in a £14.6m management buy-out. The Birmingham office of Gresham Trust, the private equity house, originated and funded the transaction. Additional finance was provided by Fortis.

Johnson Service Group PLC, which acquired Dimensions as part of Semara Holdings PLC in February this year, is selling the Dimensions' business to a management team led by managing director Simon Hughes. The company's annual turnover was £2m a year when Hughes arrived six years ago and has grown rapidly to £25m in the last financial year.

Dimensions, which employs 135 people, acts as the managing agent for organisations that outsource their supply of staff clothing - a market known as "corporatewear". The company's customers include Sainsbury, Tesco, Asda, Boots, Argos, Woolworths, Granada and WH Smith. Dimensions buys fabrics in the UK, France, and Taiwan, and sub-contracts garment-making to Asian and Far East companies.

The UK corporatewear market is currently worth over £200m a year. Simon Hughes, aged 42, says, "Dimensions' turnover is running at more than £30m this year and we are very optimistic about our future prospects."

Michael Fetherston-Dilke has been appointed chairman of Dimensions. He was chairman of Compass Cleaning which was sold to Pall Mall Support Services in June 2000. Bob Foster, aged 49, has joined the Dimensions management team as finance director. He was formerly finance director of several Davis Service Group subsidiaries.

Simon Inchley of Gresham Trust says, "Dimensions is in a strong position in an attractive market. Gresham Trust is backing the company's prospects for future growth in both turnover and profits."

The principal advisers to the deal were KPMG Corporate Finance in Birmingham. Legal advisers to Gresham were Gateley Wareing, financial and commercial due diligence were completed by Arthur Andersen Birmingham and Burlington respectively. Fortis Bank's legal advisers were Dibb Lupton Alsop.