Industrial Battery and Charger Services

Business Loans Case Study

Left to right: Melanie Reynolds of Finance Yorkshire and Jonathan Jones of IBCS.

Industrial Battery and Charger Services Limited (IBCS) is the UK’s largest independent service provider for forklift batteries. It supplies batteries, chargers and service to the entire distribution chain, from original equipment manufacturers through forklift truck dealers to the end users.

The Company

Jonathan Jones bought IBCS with Glynn Woon in 2001 and together with sales director Paul Hewson they employ more than 20 staff. Turnover has grown from £2.6m in 2012 to more than £4m in 2014.

The Challenge

IBCS has enjoyed significant growth in the hire of its forklift truck batteries and chargers where there is demand from companies moving large amounts of stock, particularly in peak seasons. It required investment to enable the company to move to larger premises to meet the growth in customer demand.

Finance Yorkshire Involvement

A £120,000 Business Loan from Finance Yorkshire enabled the company to move from its original base in Darnall, Sheffield, to premises at Hellaby. The business then moved again to premises twice the size at the same location.

Jonathan Jones said: “The investment from Finance Yorkshire was crucial to our first move and then giving us the springboard to move again.”

IBCS is also investing in training and development. “We are bringing apprentices through the business as well as investing in the development of our engineers,” said Jonathan. “We have got an excellent group of people and their customer service, the quality of our product and our modern warehouse allows us to operate efficiently and achieve growth.”

The Investment Rationale

Melanie Reynolds, Portfolio Executive at Finance Yorkshire, said: “IBCS is a great example of a company that has significantly grown as a result of investment from Finance Yorkshire. It is a well-established company which has shown consistent growth and profitability.”

Future Expectations

IBCS is planning for strong growth in 2015-2016 through new and existing customers with ambition to further cement its leading position in the UK market.

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

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