Automotive Training Provider in £24 Million Acquisition

Carter & Carter, the training provider for the automotive industry, has announced the acquisition of Assa Training and Learning for the sum of £24.2 million, it emerged today.

The Peterborough ““ based firm is a major training provider for outsourced training to a number of “blue chip” firms, and with this move is firmly establishing itself as one of the country’s leading work ““ based learning providers, complimentary to its extant expertise in apprenticeship learning.

Assa Today and Tomorrow

The future of Assa’s business seems secure, with Managing Director Peter Marples expected to be retained in the new organisation as group business development director. Assa has offices in Tyne and Wear, the South East and Lichfield, and specialises in training – using government funding through NVQ qualifications / apprenticeships – in sectors such as automotive, general manufacturing, transport, logistics, food and drink, sport and aerospace.

Mr. Marples led a management buy ““ out of Assa in 2003, and has since seen business expand at a fantastic rate. “Since the management buy-out, the business has grown very rapidly and gone from being worth about £9 million to £25 million,” he said. The number of staff employed at Assa has also grown in this period, from some 100 to the current workforce of 230.

And As for Carter & Carter”¦

The purchase, however, forms part of a grander picture. Carter & Carter hope that, with this takeover, they will be in a prime position to penetrate the Government ““ funded training and learning market, which they estimate is worth approximately £1.3 billion. The move will allow for access to a broader range of Government – funded programmes, such as Learndirect and adult NVQs, to go alongside Apprenticeship Learning.

Philip Carter, Director of Carter & Carter, heralded this acquisition as an important step forward, saying: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition, and we look forward to working with Assas strong and experienced management team to drive forward the enlarged groups business.”

He spoke of the necessity for this expansion in light of Government targets, saying: “This acquisition will allow the group to provide a broader range of learning solutions and value to our extended client base, and meet the Governments agenda for delivering productivity improvement programmes, in partnership with corporate organisations.” He also pointed out that Assa were the logical choice for Carter & Carter due to the quality of their training provision, as demonstrated by their Triple Grade 1 in a recent ALI inspection.

Jethro Marsh

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