Ainscough sells out to management

The Ainscough family has sold its stake in Ainscough Crane Hire to the existing management team for £255m.

The deal, funded by a debt and equity package from Bank of Scotland, sees chief operating officer Neil Partridge become chief executive.

All three Ainscough brothers are exiting the crane hire business to concentrate on Ainscough Training, the machinery moving division (Ainscough Vanguard) and the property business.

Ainscough chairman Martin Ainscough told CJ the new owners have effectively been running the business for the past two to three years and for customers it is very much business as usual. "They won't notice the difference," he said.

Partridge said: "The buy-out has come at an extremely exciting time for the company, market conditions are buoyant and with the bank behind us we will be able to continue to grow and enhance our market leadership position."

He confirmed the entire management team will remain in place.

The Ainscough crane hire business employs 1,000 people and has 500 mobile cranes offering a nationwide service from 25 depots.