24.06.2022

Charles Wilson acquires M&J

UK rental company Charles Wilson Engineers has acquired rental company M&J Hire Centres/M&J Engineers.

M & J was established in 1955 and operates from 12 locations serving the house building and construction market with a range or general equipment, including access equipment and telehandlers. It was also an early entrant into the powered access market, mostly with small scissor lifts.

M&J had revenues of £17.5 million in the year to April 2022, with a pre-tax profit of £933.5 million. Total assets were £11 million, with a net worth of £8.8 million. The merger creates a company with revenues in the region of £80 million with 30 locations and 400 employees.

Chief executive David Gallagher said: “By bringing together Charles Wilson with M&J Hire Centres, this will give us the opportunity, through the mix and size of the depots, to reconfigure our fleet to better serve our customers, with different products available from various locations. We have ongoing plans to invest around £50 million a year over the next three years on plant and machinery.”

“We have one of the largest telescopic handler fleets in the country and have recently been building the number of Roto machines. We will continue to expand the fleet in many equipment sectors, to meet the rapidly changing needs of our customers.”

“We will be pushing towards £90 million of revenues in year one and the target will be more than £100 million in year two. We have recently expanded the size of our depot in Nottingham, and I’ve got several acquisition targets on the horizon.”

Charles Wilson Engineers was established in 1978 as the result of a partnership between Charles Gallagher and David Wilson, using an unusual blend of their two names. The company has built a brand using the CW initials – CW Access Rental, CW Tools Hire, CW Event hire etc… The company offers a wide range of self-propelled platforms, scaffold towers and is one of the UKs’ largest telehandler rental companies. It also services the building industry.