Southern Communications has secured new investment from private equity firm Livingbridge (which has taken a minority stake in the company) along with a £36m loan facility from Santander and HSBC in support of its expansion strategy. The Basingstoke-based comms firm has boosted revenues from £10m to £32m in five years driven by organic growth and acquisitions and plans to double revenues within 3-5 years now it has the 'acquisition fire power' to match its ambitions. In other news former TalkTalk CEO David Goldie has joined the board as Group Chairman. The appointment reunites Goldie with Southern's Commercial Director Mat Kirk. They worked together previously at Carphone Warehouse/TalkTalk where they acquired 40-plus businesses over a five year period. Paul Bradford, CEO, commented: "With the investment from Livingbridge and the appointment of David we have secured the perfect team to drive our growth." So far Southern Communications has made eight acquisitions and has recurring revenues of more than 90%. Matthew Caffrey, Livingbridge Director, added: "Southern Communications has a strong track record of organic and acquisitive growth and a well positioned product portfolio to service the IT and telecommunications needs of SMEs." Southern Communications has 6,600 business customers and a workforce of 160-plus employees operating from four locations in the UK.
Former TalkTalk CEO, David Goldie, has joined Southern Communication's board as Group Chairman. The company said it would be "reviewing the strategic direction of its business and will make a decision in due course". /TalkTalk where they bought more than 40 businesses over five years.