Holdings
Thurston Holdings Limited (‘Thurston’) was founded in 1970 to provide temporary steel portable buildings for construction sites. In the intervening fifty years the business has grown to be one of the leading manufacturers and designers of modular and portable buildings in the UK. With a depth of design and manufacturing capabilities unequalled by its competition, it offers the broadest portfolio of modular buildings in the UK. The business designs and delivers buildings across multiple sectors including construction, healthcare, educational, residential and custodial as well as the commercial and industrial sectors. It has also developed a range of specialist building products designed to meet the demanding standards of offshore, blast risk, fire risk and nuclear environments.
Thurston operates and manufactures across three sites in the North of England and employs over 350 people.
Founded in 1946 and located in the heart of the UK, just outside Birmingham, Heartbeat UK Limited (‘Heartbeat’) deliver brand experiences, physically designing, producing and installing creatively intelligent retail environments for a broad range of household name businesses including M&S, Whitbread, Tesco, B&M bargains and Morrisons Supermarkets.
The business delivers inspired retail display solutions, from original window schemes, to volume fixture production or uniquely tailored retail display concepts. In the post covid landscape Heartbeat works closely with valued clients to deliver products that protect their customers whilst optimising their potential sales.
With over 100,000 sq. foot of in house zero carbon manufacturing space, state of the art machinery and a global production network, Heartbeat have the capabilities, expertise and vision to both design and produce profile elevating retail experiences from concept to completion.
Qatar Metal Industries (QMI) was founded in the UAE in 2007 to meet the growing demand for steel and wooden products in the commercial market such as doors, windows, curtain walls, cabinets, wardrobes and access panels. The business is well known for its high quality products in and around the gulf region particularly in the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Its bespoke door specifications are developed in-house by a team of experienced design engineers and manufactured in state-of-the-art production facilities to the highest quality standards. Since 2007 the business has manufactured tens of thousands of doors and frames for many prestigious projects in the MENA region. It currently employs over 400 employees.
Clugston Distribution Services (‘CDSL’) is a leading transport service provider and one of the UK’s most recognised and respected road tanker and general distribution brands. Operating throughout the UK and Europe they provide general distribution and road tanker transport solutions to the bulk powder and bulk fuel sectors. CDSL started trading as a timber and builders merchant from Carlton Street, Scunthorpe in 1922. The original business was mainly commercial, dealing with and delivering a range of goods within the construction industry. With a varied and diverse customer base from SME’s to large multinationals they offer all their customers increased flexibility, effective demand management, first-class customer service and clear communications and visibility.
Wallace McDowall was established over 50 years ago in April 1969, as a sheet metal fabricator. Based in Prestwick, Scotland they have grown into one of the UK’s leading sub-contract engineering companies supplying multiple blue chip customers. The 11500 square meter facility has the ability to handle the biggest and smallest of projects. Their capabilities as a leader in the sub-contract engineering field span from CNC punching to Laser cutting to precision machining of complex fabrications. Wallace McDowall have the experience and expertise to turn project needs into solutions, quickly and continuously invests in their staff and technology to ensure they match the needs of clients.
One of the UK’s leading fabricators and manufacturers in Granite, Quartz and Marble, providing kitchen and bathroom work surfaces and bespoke architectural projects. Supplying counter tops to over 8000 kitchens a year the business also works with Ultra-Compact surfaces such as Dekton and Silestone. With its own fleets of installers covering the UK, the business uses state of the art holographic laser scanning and CNC machining to accelerate response times and accuracy.
A leading designer and manufacturer of cold rolled steel Mezzanine floors. This national business also designs, manufactures and installs shelving, racking and steel staircases as standalone projects or to complement the architectural mezzanine floors it provides. With purpose built premises located in Yorkshire close to the motorway network and teams of certified installers, the business is capable of servicing and delivering to sites across the country.
Rackline is a British Storage manufacturer specialising in Office, Archive and Industrial Storage Systems. The storage systems are steel based and are a specialist product in utilising high density storage concepts. The increased cost of storage space in the south of the UK, the business is enjoying a significant growth phase capitalising on the current demand. Prestigious customers include the Victorian Albert Museum and the natural History Museum and professional firms such as Clifford Chance and KPMG (all the new shelving in their new offices in Canary Wharf).
- Glenfield Storage
Glenfield Storage is a logistics and warehousing specialist based in Leicester. Operating across three sites with covered areas of over half a million square feet, the business offers long term storage as well as operational and packing services to a portfolio of over thirty clients. The business was spun out of a loss making logistics business acquired by the HLD Group who introduced a new management team to turn the business around, remove loss making divisions and restore profitability.
Acquisitions related to divestment programs
- Home Products
Home Products Group, Primarily through its Astracast and Stainless Steel Products’ was the UK’s largest independent Kitchen Sink manufacturer and one of the UK’s largest acrylic bath manufacturing companies. Headquartered in Bradford, the Company primarily manufactured Steel and Composite Sinks for onward sale on a worldwide basis. HLD group acquired the business from Jacuzzi PLC an American listed business in 2013 after it was identified as non core and loss making impacting on the companies results and strategic direction. HLD Group introduced a management team to reduce costs at the Astracast business in the UK and relocated the Stainless Steel Products business to new premises in Malta. The business was sold on from HLD in September 2017 to the incumbent management team.
- Eurosigns UK Limited
Eurosigns is one of the leading signs manufacturers in the UK providing innovative product solutions to meet individual client needs. Experience, knowledge and resources ensure they deliver at a price, service and quality that to exceed expectations.The product range includes: permanent and temporary traffic signage, commercial and car park signage, together with powered (mains or solar) variable message signs, LED and rotating prism VMS signs and bespoke signage. The business was acquired by HLD Group in 2018 from its parent company Eurovia plc who had identified Eurosigns as outside their core offering.
- Clamonta Aerospace.
Clamonta Aerospace based in Nuneaton manufactured engine parts for Rolls Royce engines. It was owned by Symmetry Medical an American parent who specialised in medical devices. HLD Group stepped in to ensure the business fulfilled its contract to Rolls Royce after it was identified as non core, loss making and had lost the contract with it’s core customer. Chief executive of Symmetry, Thomas Sullivan said: “While Clamonta had a challenging 2013 and continued to negatively impact our overall profitability, I am proud of the progress made by the local team and believe they and their customers will be best served as part of a new entity. HLD group introduced an industry specialist and recovered quality levels allowing the business to see out the remaining part of its contact successfully.
Minority Shareholdings
HLD group additionally has minority shareholdings in numerous trading businesses. Whilst the group target the purchase of all equity, in particular circumstances they will consider a reduced stake for strategic reasons.