Gloucestershire-headquartered Watkins Hire has secured £10.1 million of growth capital to help expand its rental fleet.
The business, which provides industrial and commercial heating and cooling equipment rental services, has been backed by Baird Capital’s UK private equity team.
Watkins Hire’s capital will reportedly be put to use investing in engineering, operation and service infrastructure – as well as boosting its rental fleet to help with business growth.
Paul O’Kelly, new CEO at Watkins Hire following the investment, comments, ‘We are excited to work with Baird Capital to build on our position as a national leader in the heating and cooling rental space.
‘Their global operational expertise and sector experience will be valuable as we focus on driving growth.’
Set up in 1998, Watkins Hire recently provided services for the 2012 Olympics hosted in London. Its rental equipment includes heaters, steam and water boilers and chillers.
James Benfield, managing director at Baird in the UK, says that the firm’s ‘strong’ sector knowledge and resources will help Watkins Hire to build on its reputation in the market it operates in.
More on Baird Capital:
Baird Capital’s last UK deal came when it bought a majority stake in Alpha Financial Markets through a deal which valued the London-based business at £28 million.
The venture capital, growth equity and private equity investment firm backs lower middle-market companies in the business services, industrial/consumer products and healthcare sectors through its dealmaking in Britain.
