Lakehouse buys maintenance firm for £6.5m

Lakehouse has bought Sure Maintenance Group for £6.5m.

The asset and energy support services group has splashed out for Sure, which provides gas servicing, maintenance and installations to social housing clients in the North and Midlands.

The acquisition will see Sure become part of Lakehouse Group’s compliance division.

Based in Speke, Liverpool, Sure employs 370 staff, of which some two thirds are engineers and reported an annual turnover of £23.2m generating £0.5m profit in 2014. The acquisition will see Lakehouse’s total headcount rise to approximately 1,800.

Lakehouse has made a series of acquisitions since floating on the London stock exchange in March. The firm bought smart meter firm Providor in May for £6.8m and broker and energy management provider Orchard for £7m in July.

In its first set of results as a listed company in May the firm posted a tripling of pre-tax profit to £1.2m in half-year results to March 2015.

Stuart Black, executive chairman of Lakehouse, said: “Sure’s specialist skills, client base and business infrastructure give us a platform to capitalise on the growth opportunities from within the UK compliance services industry. As stated at the time of Admission, Lakehouse has a proven track record of acquiring and integrating businesses which complement and enhance our strong organic growth.

“Supporting the existing services of our compliance division, the acquisition will extend the geographical footprint of the Group’s gas business and give Lakehouse a solid platform in the North West for all its services.”