Mitchell Charlesworth secures CCTV company acquisition

Date: 20 September 2006

NORTH West Chartered Accountants Mitchell Charlesworth has acted on the acquisition of a Queensferry-based security solutions provider, which has unveiled ambitious expansion plans.

The firm’s Chester office advised Jonathan Turner on his acquisition of AGS Security Systems from founder and owner, Allan Salkeld, for an undisclosed sum.

Jonathan, who until recently was a data solutions manager at Orange and previously a major acquisitions manager for Vodafone, aims to increase the business’ by at least 10 per cent in the next 12 months.

The 36-year-old’s blueprint for growth also comprise recruiting new staff, including introducing a sales team, and relocating to new headquarters in Mold, which are three times bigger than the existing premises.

He said: “I have known Allan Salkeld for several years and he decided he had taken the business as far as he wanted to and was looking to increase his leisure time.

“I realised Allan had put a great platform in place to develop the business. He will still be involved as a technical consultant but I will take over the day-to-day running of the company.”

AGS Security Systems, which is National Security Inspectorate (NSI) accredited, was founded in 1987. It provides CCTV, intruder alarms, access control, including retina and fingerprint recognition, and fire alarm systems across the North West.

The company currently employs 11 staff and it has fitted security systems to more than 1,000 corporate and domestic clients across the region. AGS recently completed significant contracts at Moneysupermarket.com’s head offices near Chester and Conwy Land Rover and Conwy Jaguar.

Jonathan, who started his career as an installation engineer 17 years ago, added: “There are lots of opportunities to take the business forward. Mitchell Charlesworth has played a massive part in the acquisition of the business and without them I would have struggled to get the deal done – Paul McGerty’s advice was critical to the completion of the deal.”

Mitchell Charlesworth assisted in the acquisition negotiations, put together a finance package, set-up in-house accounting systems and has since been retained as advisors. The firm also worked with Venture Wales to produce business plans and projections for the acquisition.

HSBC and Finance Wales also provided financial backing for the deal, while Chester-based law firm Jolliffe & Co provided legal advice.

Paul McGerty, from Mitchell Charlesworth, added: “AGS Security Systems is a well established and well run business and I am confident that with Jonathan’s expertise and ambition he can take the business onto the next level.”

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