Ever wondered how to turn an asset finance
company valued at just £2 into a successful business worth tens of
millions?
Ask Pelham Olive, the charismatic entrepreneur
and ex-leasing guru who has done exactly this with his business,
Brook Henderson Group, which he acquired for this paltry sum (when
it was then called Hastings Leasing) from the equally colourful
industry figure, Lord Mitchell, back in 1995.
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In a twist of fate, Olive recently appointed
Lord Mitchell, the chairman of the e-Learning Foundation and a
former principal shareholder of Syscap, as non-executive director
of his Reading-based business which, according to Olive, is best
summed up as “a provider of essential infrastructural services with
a green tinge”.
It is hard not to be impressed with Olive’s
achievements. Besides having turned around a failing business,
Olive also has a knack for choosing wisely which industries to
invest in.
One of his businesses, Asteral, part of the
Brook Henderson Group of companies, of which Olive is the principal
shareholder (although his equity has been marginally diluted with
the arrival of Lord Mitchell and other leasing luminaries),
provides managed equipment services to the National Health
Service.
With five contracts with four NHS trusts so
far under its belt, and future receivables worth £400 million,
Asteral this year is expected to make profits of £2 million on
turnover of £15 million, up on the £11.1 million it made in
2008.
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By GlobalDataAnother business, ADSL, a software company,
expects to have a record year in 2009 thanks to a contract for the
Fire Service it won two years ago and which came into operation at
the end of last month. Olive – who was a founder of the Paramount
Group, which later became Syscap – expects this business to make
profits this year of up to £2 million and turnover of £5
million.
On the surface there would appear to be a
leasing connection with these businesses – particularly Asteral as
it provides equipment. But Olive underlines the fact there are
major differences – Asteral decides what equipment its hospital
clients need, and contracts last several lifecycles, while asset
financiers lease only what the clients want. To finance the health
care equipment, Olive’s business uses term loans and “forms of
asset finance”.
Olive has not, however, turned his back
completely on his leasing past. On 1 April , Mike Dix, the former
managing director of BNP Paribas Lease Group, was appointed to the
newly created position of managing director of Brook Henderson,
while Sean Williams, a founder of Syscap, is now the company’s
business development manager. Jonathan Eddy, who formerly ran Asset
Advantage, was recently given the post of risk and asset
manager.
Also, as Olive drives forward his latest business
plan – investing in biomass, wind farms and sustainable homes –
he will be reliant on asset finance to fund his equipment. To
achieve this he will act as lessee and rely on the likes of The
Cooperative Bank, Barclays and also Triodos.
