A manufaturer based in Chesterfield has triumphed in the penultimate regional
heat as the Bank of Scotland Corporate £35m Entrepreneur Challenge nears its
climax. The winning team at Fusion Group punched the air in delight as they
collected the award from Adrian Grace, managing director of Bank of Scotland
Corporate, at a packed award event held among the steam locomotives inside
York’s National Railway Museum. The company wins a £5m, three-year,
interest-free loan and a place in the final on December 3.
Kevin Raine, managing director of Fusion, which makes and sells gas and water
pipe-jointing equipment all over the world, congratulated his rivals and
said: “To be involved in the kind of thing you see on TV award ceremonies
feels surreal, but I am very proud and honoured.”
Raine ascribed the group’s successful pitch to its export record and the
quality of its management. “I hope our passion came through. We proved we
are a successful private manufacturing company and exporter. We employ teams
of local people in local markets working 365 days a year, rather than a
UK-based sales team jumping on a plane for a few days a year. We are also a
great team and I think we managed to convey that this is a team effort.
“I walked away from the presentation thinking we had given it our best shot.
Although we had no idea what the competition was like, we knew we had a good
story and a good investment plan. It’s a big prize and I think we also
convinced the bank we could afford to take it on.
“There’s some serious business planning to do now. We know what we want to do
with the money, but we still think there’s a selling job to do with Bank of
Scotland Corporate. They need to know the money is safe.”
Fusion Group will spend the money in three areas to boost growth and help
secure the jobs of its 520 UK employees, said Raine. “We will invest in our
UK hire fleet. In this climate, contractors are nervous about investing in
new plant and the government wants to bring contracts forward so we think
there’s an opportunity there.
“The board also believes in international expansion and I have made that my
priority. Despite the doom and gloom in the news, in the gas and oil-rich
states there are significant opportunities to find new business. They are
building cities that will house millions of people. We are opening a new
factory in Egypt and we are using the money to invest there.
“We are also a big player in our sector in China and are planning to make an
acquisition with our joint-venture partner there. It is a great opportunity
right now. Without winning this prize we would not be able to do that. The
aim is to become the second-largest piping company in China.”
Raine paid tribute to the skill of Fusion’s founder and chairman, Eric
Bridgstock, in building up the business from its launch in 1971 into the
£70m group it is today. “I came from British Gas as a gas fitter and joined
Fusion Group as a sales rep,” he said. “Eric believes in investing in people
and always promoted me, perhaps before I was ready or before I thought I was
ready. I’ve always wanted to be a businessman. That was always my passion
and he helped me believe in myself. We’re very alike. We talk about business
as a sport and a way of life.”
The business was now primed to grow and exceed ambitious targets, said Raine.
“We are already a brand name but we want to be known throughout the world.
In the next three years we want the business to being doing in excess of
£120m.”
Fusion Group stood out in a strong and diverse field of finalists, which also
included the publishing and communication business Corporate Document
Services; garden-centre supplier Kelkay; drain-repair and pest-control
business Lanes Group; and hydraulic-equipment supplier Torque Tension
Systems.
The judging panel was impressed by Fusion Group’s ambition, said one of the
judges, David Jackson, chairman and chief executive of the engineering
services business Redhall Group. “They had a good business plan and they
knew what they were going to do with the money. We had confidence in the
management team. It’sa good business.
“We also felt confident they would be able to repay the money. It does have to
be repaid, even if it is interest-free, and I thought their covenant was a
good one. After all, £5m is a lot of money and maybe one or two of the other
finalists would not have been able to handle it.”
