North East managed service provider ITC Service has secured a £7m private equity investment from BGF, one of the largest capital investors in the UK and Ireland.
Founded in 2016 by Christopher Potts and Peter Anderson, the Hebburn-based company delivers business-critical outsourced IT services to more than 400 SMEs across the North East of England. Services include managed IT support, cyber security, Microsoft 365 cloud services, voice, communication, consulting and digital transformation.
The funding from BGF will allow the business to continue to scale through a combination of organic growth and the “acquisition of complementary providers in neighbouring regions”, said the new partners.
Christopher Potts, founder and director, said: “Over the last 18 years, we have built a highly successful, respected business that has developed a strong and valued client base. With the ongoing support of my co-founder Peter, I am excited to lead ITC forward.
“We want to continue to grow and support our region, to help more local businesses achieve their goals, and complete a carefully executed mergers and acquisitions strategy.”
The deal was led by John Healey and Christian Pollard, investors in BGF’s Newcastle team. As part of the investment, Lee Shorten will join the board as non-executive chair.
Healey said: “ITC is a real success story in the North East, where it has a long-established track record of delivering exceptional client outcomes. With an appetite to accelerate growth, through a leading service offering combined with a client focused approach, ITC is well positioned to expand its footprint in the regional market.”
BGF was set up in 2011 and has invested £4 billion in over 600 companies, making it the most active investor in the UK, it claims. It is a minority, non-controlling equity partner, with a “patient outlook on investments”, based on “shared long-term goals” with the management teams it backs, said the equity firm.
This August, we reported that UK-based Evolve Business Group had secured a multi-million-pound investment from BGF, to drive its domestic and international growth plans. Evolve grew its sales from £6.8m to over £20m this year, and now expects to double its revenue and increase its workforce by 40% in three years.
