Spray drying tollers

Reference

S11497

Turnover

£1m to £2m

Sector(s)

Manufacturing

Region(s)

South East England, UK Wide, Outside UK

Added

28 March 2024

Business description

Established in the 1980s, the company provides contract spray drying services to a wide range of industries, including the food manufacturing sector, the fragrance, chemical and industrial sectors, and the clinical, cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors. Based in the South of England, the company services clients who do not have sufficient volumes or funding to warrant the installation of their own spray dryer(s), serving a customer base that extends across the UK, Europe and beyond.

The company receives the raw materials from their customers either in component form or ready-made liquid slurries; they are then processed through one of the company’s three commercial spray dryers, changing the liquid materials into a dry powder. At this point, the resulting product is shipped back to clients for further processing or sale. 

A highly specialist company, the company has several distinctive capabilities that differentiate it from its competitors, namely: 

• The company has a range of dryers, enabling it to process different products simultaneously and to serve businesses from many different markets and sectors; 
• It can use all three dryers in the service of a single order, thereby increasing output capacity for larger orders or for those customers needing a fast turnaround; 
• It services customers at the early stages of product development, whereas other larger spray drying companies would reject such small order sizes; 
• The company offers a comprehensive R&D service with an in-house laboratory and dedicated pilot plant spray dryer;
• It is able to offer spray drying of fragrance and odorous materials by use of one of its Regenerative Thermal Oxidisers;
• The company was originally incorporated as a manufacturer of spray drying equipment and, for that reason, has dryers of its own design that can be customized for different customer requirements; few other competitors are able to offer this level of flexibility or expertise. 

Due to the highly specialised nature of the company’s services, competitors often refer clients to the business when they are unable to meet the client’s requirements. 

Indeed, the company has a number of important assets to offer the prospective purchaser, including: 

• A diverse client base across a number of market sectors, thereby reducing risk; 
• An experienced and highly competent management team; 
• Focus on offering a highly flexible and professional service;
• Well-equipped business premises; 
• Short lead times; 
• Strict compliance to a number of industry quality standards (FDA, ISO9001 – 2015, etc.); 
• A healthy financial profile, with a turnover £1,989,339 in 2023;
• Significant scope for growth, with a operating profit of £237,092 for the group in 2023. 

Figures for the financial year 2023:

Turnover - £1,989,339.

Gross profit - £1,764,206.

Operating Profit - £237,092.

The company may well be an ideal acquisition for an existing customer who wishes to ensure that their products will continue to be made by a UK toller, another spray drying toller looking to either expand into a UK sales territory or increase capacity, a business from a similar industry looking to expand their portfolio of products and services, or perhaps an investor who has the expertise and funding to build upon the growth that the current shareholders have set in motion. 

Highlights

• Highly specialist spray drying toller, offering services to a diverse range of industries and companies;
• Profit-making, with an experienced management team in place; 
• A number of bankable USPs – capacity to cater to different industries and companies, large output capacity and short lead times, and own-design spray dryers; 
• Well-equipped business premises; 
• Excellent customer service record, with strict compliance to a number of industry quality standards; 
• Significant growth potential. 

Opportunities

• Potential to significantly increase output and turnover;
• Potential to implement a more concerted marketing strategy;
• Opportunity to introduce the company’s own manufacturing arm.

Prospective purchasers

• 100% share sale
• Prospective purchasers will be required to sign an NDA

Reason for sale

Retirement