Acquisition extends AA Access reach into Scottish market

AA Access Ltd – part of the BGF-backed High Access Maintenance Group – has acquired Outreach Access to expand its reach into Scotland.

Outreach Access is a well-established platform hire company based in Falkirk working across Scotland and the North East of England.

This purchase follows the High Access acquisition of premium truck-mounted platform business AA Access last year.

The deal bolsters the company’s fleet, meaning it has the equipment meet any ‘working at height’ customer requirements across the UK. All thirteen employees, including an operations manager, sales manager and in-house engineer, will transfer over to the AA Access division.

High Access, established in 2005 by CEO Niel Bethell, offers a maintenance and cleaning service to the commercial, industrial and high-end or high-level residential property sectors, counting the likes of Allied London, Savills and CBRE among its clients. Following an initial investment of £3.3m in July 2016, BGF provided further investment for this latest acquisition and the purchase of AA Access last year.

AA Access offers hire of a wide range of machinery from the smallest 10m machines through to the highest platform available in the world, the Ruthmann TTS 100m.

A large portion of the firm’s work comes from the supply of access platforms to the film industry and for the set-up of large-scale events.

Group CEO, Niel Bethell said: “We set out with ambitious plans to grow our business through strategic acquisitions. Outreach Access is the ideal addition for the High Access group of companies. The highly complementary acquisition provides us with significantly increased geographic coverage, which will enhance our market-leading offering.

“We stand apart from the rest of the industry because we directly employ our teams and own our machinery. This deal grows our fleet and capabilities, perfectly positioning us for further growth.”

High Access will consider further acquisitions of businesses with complementary clients or locations.

Andrew O’Mahony of Brabners provided legal advice for BGF.

Ian Gillis and James Down from Hill Dickinson advised management and High Access.