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Pif Invests £450,000 In Vehicle Services Business

Investment provides working capital for Scarborough-based Bluebird Vehicles

Partnership Investment Finance, the £37m investment fund aimed at supporting growing businesses in the region, is investing £450,000 from its mezzanine and equity funds to support the future development of an expanding vehicle services business.

The investment in Bluebird Vehicles of Scarborough provides the 18-month-old company with development capital and funding for future growth.
The company operates in 50,000 sq ft premises at the former Plaxtons coach building site at Cayton Low Road, Scarborough and provides a range of vehicle design, conversion and support services.

These include modifying low floor accessible vehicles to enable operators to comply with new disability discrimination legislation and the conversion of specialist vehicles to create mobile libraries and medical units.

Other activities include painting, repair and refurbishment of coaches and buses for local and regional operators along with vehicle engineering, design and technical assistance. Bluebird Vehicles, which employs 39 staff, is run by its founding directors Rob Miller, managing director; Gary Robinson, operations director, and David Moore, service support director.

Rob Miller said: “The investment by PIF provides us with an injection of capital that will enable us to continue developing the business and expanding our operations.  In the short time since setting up Bluebird we have quickly established a good reputation for innovation, reliability and excellence and I’m confident that we can continue to build on our success to date.”

Dr Jon Harris, Chief Executive of The Partnership Investment Fund Ltd, said:” Bluebird Vehicles is breathing new life into a site that was once famous for coach building.  I’m delighted that this injection of capital will enable the business to grow further.

“This deal is the first for PIF from the Mezzanine and Equity Funds and shows that the fund is achieving what it was set up to do – plugging the gap for equity requirements for businesses in the Objective 2 areas like Scarborough.”

PIF is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund programmes. PIF’s resources are a mixture of private and public finance from key partners including the European Union; the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward; Barclays PLC and YFM Group. PIF investments and loans are made via four sub-funds: a micro loan fund; a small loan fund; a mezzanine fund and an equity fund.

Commenting on the deal Investment Manager Ondrej Okeke said: ”The business operates within an attractive niche segment of the community transport market, in which its reputation for high quality product and service is growing rapidly. 

“The management team at Bluebird is impressive, and has assembled a highly skilled team of design engineers and operatives working within a well-run operation.”

Alex McWhirter, Head of Enterprise for Yorkshire Forward said: “Bluebird Vehicles of Scarborough is an excellent example of a company operating in a niche market. As legislation becomes more stringent the demand for specially designed and modified access vehicles is set to grow. This investment by PIF will provide them with the means to expand to meet future market needs.”