Arbuthnot Commercial ABL structures £5.5m facility for PCML to fund further growth and investment

Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending (“ABL”) has completed a financing deal for Precise Component Manufacture Ltd (“PCML”) to support the next exciting stage of its development. The £5.5m facility will be used to fund CapEx investment and growth, enabling the business to achieve its strategic aim to become the UK’s leading biomedical science manufacturing hub.

Headquartered in Cambridge, the home of Europe’s largest technology cluster, PCML provides rapid-turnaround manufacturing of complex custom components and assemblies to clients in R&D intensive industries. The business, which is focused on the biotech and medical sectors, has doubled in size in the last four years with turnover increasing from £6.5m in 2016 to £13m in 2020.

Importantly, PCML played a leading role in the ventilator project during the first wave of the pandemic. The company also manufactures and assembles components for biomedical customers that are developing coronavirus and other diagnostic testing equipment.

Total Capital Partners backed the existing management team at PCML in a management buyout in January 2021.

Paul Brown, Partner at Total Capital who led the transaction, said:

"It was important for us to establish a relationship with a flexible funding partner who would be able to support the growth ambitions and CapEx requirements of the business. Having completed several transactions recently with precision engineering companies and with vast experience in working with debt and equity funds, Arbuthnot Commercial ABL was ideally placed to support PCML.

Arbuthnot Commercial ABL did not come to us with a cookie-cutter approach. Instead, they took the time to understand PCML and its requirements in detail before conducting a smooth and unobtrusive process without any disruption to the business. Their team has been very responsive and adaptive as well as a pleasure to work with. PCML has already deployed £500k to invest in new automated robotic manufacturing capabilities and we look forward to scaling the business through both organic growth and targeted acquisitions with Arbuthnot’s support.”

Andrew Rutherford, Commercial Director at Arbuthnot Commercial ABL, said:

“The UK market for high precision engineering is estimated to be c. £5.9bn per annum. With the shift towards smart manufacturing, the global demand for rapid turnaround and customised machined components is rising significantly. We are delighted to be working with Total Capital and the management team at PCML to support this fast-growth industry 4.0 manufacturing business as it realises its ambitions to scale and rapidly build its market share.”