Roy Frost Acquires The Assets Of Lister Trade Frames

Some good industry news has broken late on Wednesday evening as it was announced that Roy Frost, not too long off the back of his GJB acquisition has purchased the assets of Lister Trade Frames. This secures the continued bright future of the company, and sees Roy expand his market reach and the beginnings of a group.

This is the official statement:

The assets including the 70,000 sqft manufacturing facility of well known trade fabricator Lister Trade Frames have been acquired from administrators by Roy Frost and his group GJB Holdings and backed by North West based entrepreneur Alan Rothwell, the deal has secured around 70 jobs.

The £12m turnover company made a number of investment decisions that failed to deliver expected business improvements and it was placed into administration while new financing was sought on the 29th of August.

The Joint Administrators, Andy McGill of Smith & Williamson and Ian Gould of Baldwins received over 20 enquiries from interested parties, but the business assets were finally acquired by GJB Holdings Ltd in a deal that sees two of its existing directors, Phil Warren and Darren Pusey, retained in the new management team.

The deal was spearheaded by well known industry figure Roy Frost, who recently led the acquisition of GJB Developments Ltd, a major Eurocell fabricator in Essex. Roy first rose to prominence as a main board director of Everest during a ten year period of growth. In 2012 he joined PVC-U systems company Deceuninck UK where, as Managing Director, he led their business transformation.

Roy commented;

“Lister Trade Frames was one of the industry’s most respected manufacturers with a pedigree dating back 40 years. We will continue to supply market leading, innovative products including VEKO/HALO, The superb Residence Collection and the full range of ALUK Aluminium. Listers had strong marketing support with their Elitis brand which continues and will get stronger, we will give our 900 customers the edge they need in this competitive market. I’m really looking forward to working with Phil and Darren to bring some fresh new ideas and new energy into the business. This acquisition fits perfectly with our long term strategy for GJB Holdings.”

Stability and a bright future

Administrations don’t always end that well for the companies in trouble. Especially in our industry. But, I think everyone felt the situation was different with Listers. A high quality company both in timers of the products they sold but also in the way they ran their business. They are one of the good guys, and the industry would do well to replicate. I was confident that this would be a business that most certainly would be saved, and indeed that has come to pass.

Roy Frost is another genuinely nice, honest and hard working guy. A rarity in an industry full of egos and personality. His experience and skills will work very well at a company like Listers, and although there will be some rebuilding to do in the initial stages, you can count on Roy, Alan, Phil and Darren to have the impetus to kick on a do more than just recover.

The most important thing to consider here is the stability this acquisition has now brought to Listers. They did have to make some redundancies during the administration, but a crew remains, and for those people they have a future at the company. From here, the new team at the top will work towards making Listers strong again, and I am sure will seek to push forward with growth strategies at a time where the biggest volume focused companies are starting to fall away, and niche/high end companies like Listers have a great opportunity to take advantage of the changing market trends.

I want to wish Roy, Alan, Phil and Darren all the very best as they look to take Listers forward, and to say that I am glad a positive outcome has been found for a company with one of the best reputations in the industry and that commands respect up and down the sector.