Our Investment Portfolio

Washstation is a laundry services business with a focus on providing managed laundry services to the UK student accommodation market. Washstation is one of the leading UK laundry services business with a national coverage of customer contracts across a range of University as well as private commercial customers. Washstation manages laundry sites across more than 200 UK sites providing coverage to in excess of 60,000 bed spaces.

Solingen partnered up with Managing Director Katy Mitchell in 2019 to acquire the business from competitor JLA Group following a competitions and markets authority investigation into the businesses acquisition in 2017. Katy Mitchell had worked with the original founders of the Washstation business since the time of its formation. The acquisition by Katy will allow her to execute growth plans to expand the laundry services business into new market segments and geographic territories.

Sano is one of the leading physiotherapy businesses in the North of England. With a physio clinic network of 14 locations across Yorkshire & the North East, Sano has rapidly built an expansive coverage to provide first class physiotherapy services to its customers.

Founded by Entrepreneurial owner and Physiotherapist Matt Taylor in 2010, the business has rapidly become one of the largest physiotherapy businesses in the North of England. Investment by Solingen will support Matt in his plans to continue to build the Sano business and expand its range of services and customers.

Academic Appointments is a market leading, Yorkshire based educational recruitment business. Specialising in placement of long term temporary qualified teachers into schools, the business also provides for all the staffing requirements of its school customers from teachers through to support staff roles. Academic Appointments was founded by Mo Parkin in 2004 who has successfully grown the business to become one of the leading brands in the Yorkshire education marketplace.

Investment into Academic Appointments by Solingen was completed in May 2017 to back the management buy-out of the business led by Managing Director Pete Riley, working in partnership with the rest of the senior management team. Founder Mo Parkin remains a significant stakeholder and has taken on the role of Chairperson.

Academic Appointments has grown from a strong base in Yorkshire. The investment and the support of Solingen will help as the business continues to penetrate new geographic locations in Yorkshire and increase the number of schools it works with.

Northern Balance was acquired by Solingen portfolio business Gem Scientific Limited in November 2016. Northern Balance is a leading UK specialist in all types of weighing & balance equipment offering equipment supply, repair & servicing, calibration and certification services. Northern Balance is a UKAS accredited business which enables it to provide the ‘Gold Standard’ in UK weights and measures accreditation for its customers. Based in the North East of England, Northern Balance has an established reputation and long term relationship with a large number of the North East’s leading blue chip companies in the Pharmaceutical, Food Manufacturing and Chemical sectors. The opportunity to establish a greater presence in the North East combined with the cross-selling opportunities for the wider Gem Group make this an exciting next step in the growth plans for the combined businesses.

Burgess Diagnostics is the UK’s only dedicated provider of mobile imaging services to the veterinary sector. Burgess was founded in 2003 to take MRI and CT scanning services, previously reserved for human medicine, to veterinary surgeons and pet owners. Investment into Burgess Diagnostics by Solingen was completed in March 2016 to back the existing team led by Managing Director Mike Hadfield and the senior team to continue to grow and develop the business. Burgess has grown significantly over the past few years and currently has a network of 65 scanning sites across the UK & Ireland. The investment will allow Preston-based Burgess to invest further in new scanners and grow the number of veterinary establishments it services.

Gem Scientific became the Funds maiden investment when it was acquired in December 2014 from its founders in a retirement sale. Gem Scientific is a leading supplier of niche laboratory equipment. Gem supplies laboratory products for the food and non-food industries including repeat volume consumables through to high end testing machines and capital equipment items. The specialism of the business is in niche rapid microbiological testing methods. The business works with customers and suppliers to move away from traditional microbiology tests and develop processes that generate results in minutes rather than days. Gem focuses on products that require strong technical knowledge with a premium price which are providing solutions and improved processes to the markets they supply.