Fit-out contractor Morris & Spottiswood has sought to make greater inroads into the northern England maintenance market with the acquisition of Cumbrian maintenance specialist LLED Construction for an undisclosed sum.

The £88 million turnover fit-out firm, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Warrington has completed a buy-out of the Carlisle business led by founding owner Dee Addison. Mr Addison will continue his role as the principal of LLED Construction which will be absorbed into Morris & Spottiswood’s maintenance division operating across the UK.

Morris & Spottiswood UK group managing director, Jon Dunwell, said the strategic acquisition comes after months of planning and will enable the firm to grow its the maintenance division across Northern England with greater force.

“We have worked with LLED Construction for more than 15 years and they have been a key partner throughout this period,” said Mr Dunwell. “This gives us confidence in the acquisition as we have built a strong relationship centred around trust. LLED have been involved in many of our projects including both reactive and planned maintenance works for clients around the Scottish border territory and North of England.”

LLED’s clients include Weatherspoon’s, Heineken, Spar and Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

Mr Addison said: “We have worked in partnership with Morris & Spottiswood for many years and I believe the firm is ideally placed to take ownership of LLED Construction. We share many core values and have developed a uniquely strong connection delivering reactive maintenance services side-by-side for more than a decade. It has a taken a huge amount of hard work, dedication and commitment from many people over many years to build the LLED brand. The acquisition pays testament to that immense effort and together we will be become an even more effective and responsive organisation.

“One of LLED Construction’s greatest assets is its highly experienced workforce which has played an instrumental role in making the business the success it is today,” said Mr Addison. “They will all be retained under the new ownership joining forces an equally talented and driven workforce at Morris & Spottiswood. We are of course indebted to our loyal client base who will now benefit from even greater resource from across the broader M&S group. We are revelling in the prospect of playing an integral role in the group’s ambitious expansion plans.”

Morris & Spottiswood recently revealed that turnover increased from £74m to £88m in the year to December 31 2015. This figure rises to £104m including inter-company trading.

Mr Dunwell said customers using Morris & Spottiswood’s maintenance and refurbishment divisions include banking, retail, housing and commercial sectors. Over the past 15 years the company has built up its reputation by providing reactive and planned maintenance services covering all core trades, including joinery, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, gas servicing, building, flooring, roofing and decoration works.

“There is major scope for expansion in the construction maintenance sector, particularly for reactive works,” said Mr Dunwell. “Our partnership with LLED places us in a terrific position to capitalise on the growth opportunities. We will be able to share best practice with LLED’s team of professionals and expand our range of services to give clients best value. Morris & Spottiswood is already established in the Glasgow – Edinburgh urban and industrial corridor, however, this move will enable us to make greater inroads into the maintenance market across northern England.

“Our maintenance division is growing fast and has both experience and resource to act swiftly to repair damage – as was seen during the flooding in Carlisle and Cumbria in 2015. The division was also recently boosted by the launch a ‘round the clock’ emergency repair service. This involves a centralised helpdesk which runs 24/7 and is managed by a dedicated well trained team. This means the team can handle emergency repair calls and each day schedule planned visits, keeping our customers updated at all times.”