The Conservatory Outlet Group has made its second acquisition of 2017 with a deal that welcomes North West retailer, Clearview Home Improvements, to the family, taking the Group’s combined revenue to more than £40million.
This latest deal is described as a ‘firm stake in the ground’ from Group CEO Greg Kane and Conservatory Outlet’s managing director, Michael Giscombe, reportedly bringing together the ‘best of regional’ with the ‘scale of national’.
The purchase of Clearview, combined with the recent acquisition of Pennine Home Improvements, is said to give the Group a ‘sizeable inroad’ to consumer sales. This in turn allows fabricator Conservatory Outlet to pick up valuable insight from two of the North’s leading retail and installation companies to bring the customer closer to the business than ever before.
Greg explained: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome our long-standing Network partners Clearview to the CO Group. With an unbeatable reputation for local excellence in the North West, the team at Clearview will continue to augment their unique approach to home improvement, imparting their innovative solutions with our Network to stimulate wider growth, we never thought possible a year ago.”
Clearview, with showrooms in Warrington, Preston and Nantwich, has reportedly seen its sales double to around £14million since joining the Network in 2009. The new combined turnover represents a six-fold growth for the Conservatory Outlet Group in just seven years.
Exiting as shareholders of Clearview, Chris Mitchell (managing director) and Andrew Ross (installations director) will remain in their day-to-day roles beyond the deal, together with sales director Gary Oakes, with a longer-term succession plan to follow.
Chris Mitchell said: “We’re thrilled to be part of the Conservatory Outlet Group and the opportunities that it brings for our company. Greg and Michael were the obvious choice to purchase our business, we trust them implicitly and know that they’re as passionate about our company as we are – this move is very much about accelerating our growth.”
Conservatory Outlet says it will remain a B2B company ‘with a strong understanding of the retail market’ – with both Clearview and Pennine running side by side as sister companies within the CO Group. As with Pennine, Clearview will retain exclusivity of its trading area within the network, so the deal does not conflict with any of the group’s 23 other retail partners around the UK.
Greg concluded: “Our existing network of retail installers should be truly motivated by this latest move – the opportunities for growth with CO are stronger and more real than ever before, with a unique culture emerging that sets aside our family as a cut above the rest.
“We’re continuing to actively seek new retailers in untapped areas of the UK – this is a really exciting time to become part of our Network.”
