Maintenance and consultancy firm Wakebourne Group Ltd has added another maintenance firm to its portfolio – Switch Computing Ltd of East London. Hanworth-based Wakebourne, which is the main subsidiary of Maddox Group Plc, bought the on-site hardware maintenance firm for approximately UKP950,000, paying UKP624,000 in cash with the balance deferred over 12 months. The money was raised from the Wakebourne Group’s own coffers. Switch has approximately 40 staff, all of whom will be retained. It made an operating profit of UKP200,000 last year on an approximate turnover of UKP1.2m. The firm will be relocated to Wakebourne’s City-based operation in North London where it will become part of the Site Services organisation – one of five operations within Wakebourne. The others include Express Computer Services, which handles Wide Area Network support, Network Services, a networking consultancy firm and network cabling company Connect Data. The other arm, Computer Profiles, is a custom software development outfit. Switch loses its operations and sales directors, who were brothers, in an amicable departure to pursue interests in the leisure industry (sounds like they’re off to play golf), although managing director Lee Allwood stays with the company. The Switch purchase is part of an ongoing acquisition strategy for Wakebourne, which bought Computer Profiles and sister company Software Profiles earlier this year. The consultancy side of the two businesses became the separate arm of the same name within Wakebourne while the maintenance side, like Switch, was digested by the group’s Site Services company. Wakebourne’s chief executive Ray Emerson said the company had enough cash in the bank to support further acqusitions which would expand core business, although not necessarily within maintenance. He agreed that the maintenance market was competitive but dismissed moves by other maintenance firms away from the market and into consultancy – They’re getting into consultancy because it’s fashionable he said: You have to have experience and depth of knowledge.
