Investment in Cramlington firms to spark electric car sales

Posted by The Journal on Jan 25, 10 03:44 PM in News

A substantial new investment by three venture capitalists will help propel joint sales at two of the region's low-carbon vehicle companies from ÃÂ£3.5m to almost ÃÂ£20m in the next three years.

An E-Warrior Electric Utility Vehicle at Comesys in Cramlington

Ryan Maughan helped establish vehicle control system ComeSys in 2003, before later establishing Avid electric vehicles, and the new capital injection will see the two Cramlington-based businesses now operate through umbrella company MSI Holdings.

Venture capitalists Chris Thompson, Chris Baylis and Dr Howard Forrest have all invested substantial amounts of capital which they believe will help MSI take its two companies to a new level.

ComeSys currently achieves annual sales of ÃÂ£1.2m with a staff of 15. It counts Volvo, Daimler, DAF and MAN among the customers for its electronic accelerator pedals and hand controls and recently won a ÃÂ£10m deal to sell its cooling systems to a Chinese bus company.

Avid, which is based next to ComeSys at Nelson Park, Cramlington, makes engines and gear boxes for electric vehicles, employs 10 staff and has annual revenues of ÃÂ£2m. Mr Maughan expects both companies to be employing 40 staff with ComeSys achieving a turnover of ÃÂ£9m and Avid ÃÂ£10m within three years.

Mr Maughan, MSI group managing director, said: "This investment comes at a crucial time for the businesses.

"The companies complement each other and are in fantastic places with the regulatory framework moving rapidly to low-emisison vehicles."

The venture captialists' investment came after conventional financing routes failed to deliver, with a deal with one of the banks collapsing at the 11th-hour, said Mr Maughan.

He added: "We wanted to invest in both companies and with the help of Steve Plaskitt from Tait Walker, we were put in touch with the consortium of investors."

Serial entrepreneur Chris Thompson, who has launched 40 firms, is chief executive of Gateshead- based engineering business Express Group; Chris Baylis is former head of engineering at Nissan Europe; and Dr Howard Forrest is the former managing director of the Cookson Group.

Mr Baylis said: "This investment will allow us to take the business forward and realise some key opportunities that exist in the growing electric vehicle business.

"The synergies between Avid and ComeSys are very strong and we can already see very rapid growth at Avid and the benefits of sister company ComeSys all being in the one group.

"The MSI group is now fully active in making the North of England a global hub of low-carbon vehicle innovation, product design and manufacture."

Newcastle law firm Watson Burton advised MSI Holdings. Its corporate finance partner and head of private equity Duncan Reid said: "This is an important deal which helps to propel the region to the forefront in the UK for electric car design and production."

An E-Warrior Electric Utility Vehicle at Comesys in Cramlington. Pictured: Duncan Reid of Watson Burton, Paul Wigham of Watson Burton, Jon Aitchison, Ryan Maughan, Steve Plaskitt, Mark Lazenby and Lucy Grant

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