Writech seals deal to buy major UK firm

A Mullingar firm that last August unveiled major expansion plans has this week announced the acquisition of a major UK firm.

Wtech Fire Group – owner of the fire protection firm Writech – is the new owner of Compco Fire Systems, a leading UK provider of automatic fire suppression systems founded in 1988 and employing over 200 people.

Compco, which is headquartered in Worcester, is the UK’s largest privately owned fire-engineering company.

The acquisition will add £50 million to Writech’s revenues, cementing its position as one of Europe’s largest fire protection companies.

Writech already has an office and staff in the UK, in Manchester, and had worked alongside Compco on a number of jobs, which is how the acquisition talks began, Ted Wright, Wtech CEO told the Westmeath Examiner this week.

“They do the same as we do, just a bit differently,” Mr Wright said.

The most significant difference is that unlike Writech, Compco doesn’t actually manufacture the systems it designs and installs. Writech will now manufacture for Compco as well, and to that end will now increase its staff numbers in Mullingar: “That’s going to bring in about eight to 10 new jobs,” Mr Wright said, adding that these will be on top of the 40 new jobs announced last year for Writech’s design and innovation section.

The acquisition of Compco brings its current staff numbers to a total of around 350.

“We will be bringing that to around 400 by the end of this year,” said Mr Wright.

The CEO of Compco, Matt Baker, who is remaining on in that role, said this week that Wtech Fire Group is a great partner for Compco, committed to long-term growth and development of the company.

“With a reputation for high-standards, innovation and trust-based relationships with clients, their values and approach are highly complementary to our business and we look forward to working with them to continue delivering quality service standards to our clients,” he stated.

Writech is 40 years old this year. It was founded by Ted’s father Tom in a shed in the family’s back garden, and as the business grew, Ted’s mother Mary came on board.

Ted and his brother Alan, who now run the business, in August announced they had agreed on an investment arrangement with Waterland, one of Europe’s largest private equity firms. They are anticipating that their turnover will grow to €115m over the next three years. Already, the firm undertakes a lot of business abroad: “We do a lot of work in the Nordics and we have work in Frankfurt as well. So at the moment, we’re working in about four different countries – UK, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Germany – and we’re working in three sites in Sweden, and we have more business coming in Norway and Germany,” says Mr Wright, explaining that all the systems are both designed and manufactured in Mullingar.

Writech is already recruiting the 40 staff it plans to engage by December, mainly civil and electrical engineers, architects, service technicians, electricians, mechanics, installation operatives.

“We try to choose people with the right attitude first. That’s very important for me,” he states.