Founded in 1994, Sala International is a leader in records management, a fast-growing sector expanding at over 10% annually. In the UK the market is estimated to be worth around £6 billion, with the document storage market being worth circa £500 million in annual revenues.
Over 200 public and private sector organisations trust the care and management of over 30 million documents to Sala, which also manages over 10 million 'live' records (open files where documents can be inserted/removed).
Sala International operates in a wide range of sectors, including Financial Services, Public Sector, Healthcare Support Services and Retail. In the private sector it has a number of blue-chip corporate clients, while in the broad public sector it acts for major councils, NHS Trusts and broadcast organisations.
As part of the deal, a new CEO, Tomas Gronager, will join to lead the senior management team. He has over 15 years senior executive experience internationally across facility services, serviced offices, real estate, hotels, and records management and was previously a Senior VP at ISS Facilities Services, one of the world’s largest facility services providers.
Under his leadership the company plans more ambitious growth. His strategic vision, backed by LDC, is to develop an Integrated Records Management (“IRM”) outsourcing solution consisting of three main activities: Archiving (storage), Scan-on-demand / Software as a Service and Destruction. Gronager will be supported by the existing mangement team comprising Michael Davies, Trevor Cook, and Trevor Basset.
The customer benefits from an IRM solution are derived by bringing together a selection of interrelated services, that have traditionally been sourced and provided by a number of different suppliers to form a ‘one stop shop’ solution, which delivers customer advantages from cost savings and increased efficiencies gained by integrating the services, and the continued innovation of new services.
Sala provides a strong platform, excellent infrastructure and a very scalable business model with which to pursue this strategy. As well as growing organically, Sala plans acquisitions, with LDC helping to secure funding, to bolster its destruction services, increase scale as well as to establish a greater national footprint for the full IRM offer in the UK.
The focus for Sala’s buy and build strategy will be to grow organically and to identify and undertake strategic acquisitions as a means of enhancing its existing position in the market.
LDC brings strong sector knowledge from having looked at several competing businesses and LDC Director Yann Souillard, who led the transaction will sit on the Sala board.
LDC’s Value Enhancement Group will also help with streamlining efficiencies and acquisition integrations. The team champion best practice techniques involved in sales improvement, working capital reduction, lean manufacturing, service/operational efficiencies plus business integration and is focused on assisting management teams deliver operational and commercial improvements that really add value to a business.
Sala operates from Shoeburyness, Essex, and has recently opened a new state of the art facility close to Leeds.
Records management exhibits strong resilience in a downturn as increased legislation requires companies to store information for longer and more effectively. In addition, businesses continually require improved efficiency through better optimisation of premises, which is achieved by outsourcing these services to Sala.
As the economic recovery takes hold in UK and in the EU, prospects for the sector look strong. CIL, a leading European strategic management consultancy, for instance, projects that the UK storage market will grow at 6-9% over the next 10 years, with the wider European document management market expected to grow at 15% per annum.
Tomas Gronager, new CEO of Sala International, commented:
“Sala is an excellent company and provides a great platform for the growth strategy I am keen to pursue. With the backing provided by LDC and the help of its excellent Value Enhancement Group to deliver operational efficiencies and bed down acquisitions, I am confident that we can deliver on the vision of developing a one stop shop, integrated records management offering, that will help transform Sala into a truly national and potentially international player and deliver great benefits for clients.”
Yann Souillard, Director, LDC, commented:
“Our philosophy is to back great management and focus very clearly on creating shareholder value. I think our investment strategy on this transaction of maximising cross sell opportunities from the provision of wider services and acquiring additional businesse to deliver an integrated offer and boost scale will prove very successful. Tomas Gronager and his team have an exciting vision for Sala that can transform the company into a major player and bring considerable benefits for clients.”
For further information please contact:
Richard Evans/Lucy Grimble
The Communication Group plc
Tel: 0207 630 3821