Major changes have taken place ahead of schedule at LS Group Ltd on the back of consistently high sales and profit growth.
The Nottingham-based provider of performance doorsets for the construction industry now has a turnover approaching £40m, around 500 employees and three major manufacturing locations.
All this has been achieved since the 1999 management buy-out led by chief executive Roy Wakeman. He has now been joined by a new and younger team forming the main board, consisting of Ian Gooding, operations; Kevin Eaton, commercial; and Adam Butler, sales and marketing.
Under a recent initiative, a new corporate structure was created and LS Group now heads up five divisions. These include LS Leaderflush Shapland – flush engineered doors and doorsets with specified, replicable performance characteristics; LS Longden – traditional, panelled solid timber doors, doorsets and other joinery; and LS Multisecure – secure entrance doorset and screen systems for the social housing market.
The group’s financial success has enabled it to reduce the debt needed to finance the 1999 MBO earlier than usual. It has also been able to renegotiate its capital requirements in a new £30m deal with the ongoing backing of Graphite Capital.
The new funding arrangement will allow the company to continue with its investment plans to support the implementation of a fully integrated and straight through electronic process from design to delivery, as well as continued investment in productivity and flow-time processes in manufacture.
