Tamworth-based Shire Leasing has halted the search for an equity investor and has announced senior management changes to its business.

Last October Shire announced it was testing the market with an Information Memorandum to interested parties in conjunction with their advisors, R.S.M. 

Mark Picken, chief executive of Shire Leasing, said: “Such a process is always distracting and we have heard from many interested parties. Having narrowed them down to a few, we have now closed the process as ultimately there were no investors we found compatible across all the key areas of our businesses. Our ambition is undaunted and we are delighted to remain independent and keen to grow from here. That growth strategy is both generic and acquisitional.”

Shire also announced structural changes to its leadership team.

Picken will become chief executive while Helen Lumb takes the chief financial officer role and Malcolm Workman becomes chief operations officer.

Shire said the structure will see the various business disciplines report through Lumb and Workman and provide a broader management spread and greater focus on the individual parts.

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Group chairmen John Worton and Martin Smith said: “The whole investor search process was interesting but if anything served to prove to us what a fabulous and profitable business we own. Remaining independent frees us to make the changes we have and pursue an aggressive growth strategy and we are excited about looking for acquisitions to accelerate that.”

In April of 2017 the funder obtained a credit line worth £37.4m (€40m) to Shire Leasing from the British Business Bank (BBB), part of the BBB’s Enable Funding programme for SMEs.

That transaction followed on from the £40m (€45m) block line funding provided by the British Business Bank’s commercial arm in late 2014.

In September 2017, Shire Leasing reported that its loan book had reached £100m (€113m).