Our client sells, installs and maintains electronic fire and security equipment for businesses and residents within a catchment area containing 5.5 million people.

Trading since 1983, the company’s turnover passed £1m in 21/22 for the first time. Under the current ownership, turnover is increasing by around 15% per annum with the 22/23 forecast suggesting this rise will continue.

Highlights

• Residential and business electronic security equipment installation and monitoring
• Turnover £1.1m, up from £887,480 in 2020 (24% increase)
• High gross profit of 38.82% on sales and maintenance contracts
• Impressive 10.3% net margin before tax and after addbacks
• Approx £500,000 per annum in recurring maintenance and monitoring fees
• Management team currently being trained to handle the day-to-day running of the firm
• Approved to NSI Gold, NSI Quality Schedule SSQS 101 & ISO 9001:2015
• Company established in 1983
• Six different sources of income
• Focused on higher-end commercial and residential installations

Range of products

Our client offers the following systems:

• INTRUDER ALARMS: A range of high-quality, wired and wireless alarm systems from different suppliers ranging from basic audible-only alarms to 24-hour monitored systems for real-time alerting.
• CCTV SYSTEMS: Our client installs brand new or upgrades existing residential and business CCTV systems. The camera technology is high definition making footage suitable for evidential purposes. Our client offers live monitoring meaning that, if an intruder is detected, they are issued with a live audio challenge. If they remain on site, the police are called.
• DOOR AND GATE ENTRY SYSTEMS: A range of access control and gate entry solutions ranging from simple audio systems for two-way communication to advanced audio/video solutions.
• FIRE SYSTEMS: A range of systems to alert clients of a potential fire from smoke detectors to alarms and monitoring services.

Revenue streams

The split of sales is as follows:

• Commercial installations: 41%
• Commercial monitoring: 12%
• Commercial maintenance: 12%
• Residential installation: 14%
• Residential monitoring: 4%
• Residential maintenance: 17%

Annually, the company receives around £500,000 in maintenance and monitoring fees from existing clients.

Internal management

The managing director has daily meetings with the following staff members who can be considered the most senior in the business:

• General manager: Responsible for most day-to-day activities including ensuring other managers hit KPIs and other deliverables, health and safety compliance, PAT testing, insurance, customer satisfaction management. The general manager also coordinates procurement activities with the managing director.
• Finance manager: Handles all external invoices, credit control, deals with payroll agency and produces management reports.

There is a surveyor whose job it is, using software specially adapted for the company, to quote on jobs when meeting potential clients. The surveyor has high closing rates but has not been trained in professional selling. If a quote is accepted, the information generated by the software contained in the quote is passed onto the engineering supervisor and installers on orders so they can devise job plans.

The heads of installation and maintenance ensure that all necessary equipment, job instructions and vehicles are available for their team. They are assisted in this by another administrator who also assists the finance manager with her responsibilities.

There is a part-time storesperson who, together with the general manager and managing director, can order in supplies for jobs. His main responsibility is making sure that the tools and other equipment needed by installers and maintenance engineers are ready at the start of the day.

There is also a freelance quality manager to ensure ongoing compliance with ISO9001 requirements and to ready the company for its annual NSI inspection.

Find out more

This is a well-established and profitable business that’s been trading for 34 years with a superb reputation in its catchment areas. Under a new owner, we expect revenue and profitability to increase even further.

To find out more about this opportunity, please contact Swan Corporate Brokers.