Arctic Hayes

Growth Fund - Loans & Equity Case Study

Left to right: Arctic Hayes chairman Steve Sutherland and finance director Andrew Clarkson with Stephen Cardwell of Finance Yorkshire and Arctic Hayes CEO Lee Parsons and managing director Karl Dallimore.

The company

Arctic Hayes was launched in 2014 after Hayes UK acquired Arctic Products. In that time it has increased its workforce from 20 to 25 and is further recruiting for positions as its Beeston headquarters.

Managing Director Karl Dallimore and CEO Lee Parsons have appointed Steve Sutherland as chairman. He has a wealth of experience in the UK construction and plumbing and heating industries.

The business is set for turnover growth as it targets new markets including the electrical, building and DIY sectors - with its portfolio of plumbing and heating products.

Finance Yorkshire involvement

The merger of the two businesses to create Arctic Hayes was financed by £1.2m of development capital from Finance Yorkshire’s Equity Linked Fund in partnership with Santander’s Breakthrough Growth Capital Fund.

The Investment Rationale

Stephen Cardwell, Portfolio Manager at Finance Yorkshire, said: “Our investment provided the catalyst for Arctic Hayes to establish the business in a single location in Yorkshire from where is has delivered new jobs and impressive growth in just two years.”

Future Expectations

Managing Director Karl Dallimore said: “In addition to targeting new markets, product development is also a big focus for us in the next 12 months. We have employed a product development manager to develop products which we can add to our portfolio and take to existing customers.”

Arctic Hayes is also developing its international sales strategy, growing a network of distributors for its products in the US, Canada and Australia as well as Europe. Supplying privately branded products to key customers is also generating revenue growth for the company.

Stephen Cardwell added: “The Arctic Hayes management team is ambitious for further growth and its strategy to penetrate new markets and target international sales indicates continued strong performance by the company.”

Note: this case study is from Finance Yorkshire’s previous fund. Read more about Finance Yorkshire

Latest Case Studies