Wales Environmental receives £2m BGF investment

Wales Environmental, a liquid waste management and drainage company headquartered in South Wales, received a £2m investment from BGF alongside an additional £1.75m of funding from HSBC. The capital will be used to support the continued geographical expansion of the business across Wales and England.

Founded in 1980, Wales Environmental provides liquid waste removal and drainage services to commercial and domestic customers across Wales and the South West of England. The business generates revenues close to £7m and employs more than 80 people.

In the past two years and under the leadership of Chief Executive Llyr Williams and Chairman Owen Sennitt, the business has expanded its footprint with the acquisition of Cardiff Drain Cleaning Company, Drainology in Devon and Drains Direct in Deeside.

To date, the management team’s acquisition strategy has been supported by funding from Finance Wales, which first backed the business in 2011, and HSBC which has been working with the company for 15 years. Wales Environmental will now benefit from BGF’s financial firepower as well as the continued support from Finance Wales and HSBC as it pursues further organic and acquisitive growth.

This is BGF’s third investment in a company headquartered in Wales and its first equity partnership with a business backed by Finance Wales. The investment was completed by Ned Dorbin and Dan Tapson from BGF’s South West & South Wales team, while Simon Williams led the deal for HSBC. BGF’s Paul Oldham joins the board of the company as part of the investment and Owen Sennitt will continue as Chairman.

Set up in 2011 with £2.5bn to invest, BGF has provided long-term business funding to close to 150 companies. Previous BGF investments in Wales include multichannel retailer BVG Airflo, which is based in Brecon and Barry-headquartered SHS Integrated Services, a provider of scaffolding services.