Profitable after seven months
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• Bus Engineering Ltd's buyout team has pulled the lossmaking servicing and parts firm into profit after only seven months trading, and now it plans to expand.
Last month the team cleared the substantial debts it took over from previous owner Front Source, and now it is aiming for £6m worth of sales this year.
Managing director Shon Laird says much of the company's success is due to the team moving BEL to a more practical site at Willesden in North West London.
"When BEL was at Chiswick it looked like it was going to die on its feet. It was too large a site, with overheads too large to feed its costs. At the end it cost £2,055 per day to rent the site," he says.
By the end of the year Laird says the staff should increase from the existing 150 to 200. He estimates the trim workshop business — which accounts for 10% of turnover — will expand to a 25% contribution by the end of the year. And its £250,000 parts export business will bring in Sim next year.
He says more companies are realising the advantages of contracting out maintenance, and says BEL is reaping the benefits of operators holding on to vehicles for longer. About 50% of the PSV business is with London Buses.
Other plans include adding mezzanine flooring which will increase the 7,430m2 building by 1,860m2. And the team of four directors is seeking a site on the Willesden industrial estate to introduce paint work for PSVs and HGVs.
The company, founded in the 1920s, has also expanded into truck and van maintenance with the formation of BEL Trucks, its newly formed parts and servicing Leyland Daf dealer.
Since setting up in March BEL Trucks has attracted about 60 customers including Newsflow, Exel Logistics and Parcel Force. Laird predicts the business which is turning over about £50,000 a month Will bring in close to Elm by the end of the year. He adds that eventually BEL Trucks will take up about half of the firm's overall business.