Phil and Miri look at the investment in a holiday home management firm in the North East, two deal completions in Kent and some Insider Dealmakers Awards news.
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00:00An investment in a holiday home management firm in the North East, two deal completions
00:07in Kent, and some insider DealMakers Awards news. Welcome to this morning's business briefing.
00:18Hello, good morning to you. I'm Phil Cunliffe.
00:21I'm Mary Thomas.
00:22And we're here just to take a look at some of the stories coming out of our newsletters
00:26this morning. And I want to start in the North East, if I could, Mary, a region I know well
00:33and do a lot of work in.
00:35This story is from a company called Host & Stay, which is a holiday home management company.
00:43It's secured a £10.5 million investment from private equity firm Growth Partner. So Host
00:51& Stay was founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Dale Smith, and it handles the full end-to-end
00:58process, which includes booking generation, marketing, housekeeping, maintenance and compliance.
01:04Basically, the company was set up to capitalise on the £2.5 billion staycation market in
01:11the UK. The business has achieved strong growth year-on-year, and the investment from Growth
01:18Partner will ensure the business continues on its growth trajectory through organic customer
01:25acquisition. Host & Stay has already made a lot of acquisitions throughout this year,
01:35including the Norfolk Holiday Properties and Airhost for you.
01:40So I think you've got some news coming out of Kent, Mary.
01:43That's right. So the other side of the country to the North East, over in the South East.
01:47In Kent, a vehicle repair specialist is targeting further growth after an acquisition. So Zeus
01:54Accident Repair, which is owned by Kent-based Cousins, has bought a Dartford-based counterpart
01:59called A-Pile & Son. That deal was supported by PMD Business Finance, who provided a seven-figure
02:06funding package to Zeus. That also included a commercial mortgage as well, which enabled
02:12the Cousins to buy the site over in Dartford.
02:16The other deal has got a slightly different flavour. So this one is an investment deal.
02:19So Amtevo, a certification and quality assurance company, that's received growth funding from
02:27Audax Strategic Capital. Now, Amtevo has been on the acquisition trail for quite a while
02:32now. So since 2022, it has bought nine different businesses, which is added to its stable.
02:38That business continues to be owned by Charterhouse Capital Partners and ASC, which is Audax Strategic
02:44Capital. They've come in alongside them. For ASC, this represents their second deal
02:49in Europe and their fifth in just 12 months. So acquisition trail, both in Kent and also
02:56in the North East?
02:57Yes. There's obviously a lot going on as we move into this next quarter of the year. And
03:04due to the summer break, we've all come back to – and it feels a little bit autumnal,
03:08I have to say. But because of the summer break, one of our Dealmakers Awards in the Central
03:14and East Dealmakers Awards, lots of people have been requesting extensions. So we've
03:18listened and we've granted an extension to four online submissions into the Central and
03:26East Dealmakers Awards. So it gives a little bit more time until the 12th of September
03:33when the new deadline is, just for firms to tell us all about the deals they completed
03:40in the year and what the individuals within those companies do and how well they're doing.
03:45So we're looking forward to that. And excitingly – and we have been trading this quite a
03:49bit this year, so some of you hopefully will know about it – all the winners from all
03:53the regional Dealmakers Awards, including the Central and East, of course, will be going
03:59forward automatically to the inaugural Insider UK Dealmakers Awards, which are going to be
04:06taking place, I think, on the 6th of February next year in Birmingham. So very exciting.
04:12We're crowning the champion of champions. So it's a very exciting night. We're very
04:18much looking forward to that. And we'll tell you lots more about that in the months to come.
04:24So before we go, Phil, a final good luck to everyone shortlisted tonight at the East Midlands
04:28Property Dinner. That event has already sold out, so dynamic pricing is not going to help
04:33you here either. But yes, so huge, huge good luck to everyone shortlisted. And I'm sure
04:39even if you don't come away with a trophy tonight, it will be a fantastic night to remember.
04:43I'm sure. Yeah, absolutely. Well, have a great day and we'll see you soon.