The Vinci code

The UK Independence Party wouldn’t approve, but Berkshire-based MESL Group is the latest British m&e contracting firm to fall into European control following a buy-out by Vinci Energies for a seven figure sum.

MESL will continue to be run from its hq in Maidenhead by the current team, including managing director Peter Hughes, and will keep the MESL name.

This strategy is very much in line with Vinci Energies UK’s decentralised structure of business units being managed from within. Other businesses in the stable include Lee Beesley, bought by Vinci back in 1991 and still trading under that moniker.

Peter Rooney, managing director of Vinci Energies UK, explains the rationale: “This is a significant deal for both Vinci Energies and MESL. It represents an important step forward in our strategy for growth, as it increases our presence in London and the South East as well as broadening the range of services we provide. From MESL’s perspective, it can benefit from the support that comes from being part of a major group.”

The MESL Group was founded 27 years ago by Guy and Joyce Kosinski. The business has evolved from an electrical contracting firm into mechanical building services and maintenance. Today, the company has a turnover of around £11 million and employs over 100 people.

With Guy and Joyce looking to sell up, the return of Peter Hughes as MESL managing director is timely. Hughes was contracts director in the early 1980s before leaving to set up his own business Ace (Ascot) after five years. Hughes has recently sold Ace to Johnson Services Group.

The MESL deal is an important step forward in our strategy for growth, as it increases our presence in London and the South East

Peter Rooney

“The synergy between Vinci Energies and MESL also extends to the culture,” says Peter Rooney. “Both companies share similar values, having a passion for employee development and training, a strong customer service ethic, a directly employed workforce and a track record of investing in the future.”

MESL will be hoping to build on the long-term relationships it has with the likes of Eton College, where maintenance and small works packages account for a tidy £2 million per year. Thames Water, VISA, Thames Valley Police, Alcatel, GSK and Unisys are all big name clients that point to the reputation of the firm.

Rooney says that MESL’s name in the marketplace is such that Vinci will rebrand Lee Beesley’s London branch under the MESL banner. Lee Beesley also includes the Ford Group of Nottingham, bought out of administration back in 2004.

“We will have a quiet period of looking where we are and taking stock before formulating a plan to take the business forward in a sensible manner with the current people in place,” said Rooney. Certainly, MESL will now be able to take on larger contracts with a global backer behind it.

Parent company Vinci recently offloaded the contracting arm of Rosser & Russell to Emcor but kept the maintenance division. There will presumably be synergies there given MESL’s portfolio in m&e maintenance.

French-owned Vinci and the Dutch Imtech Group are typical of European m&e businesses on the lookout for further acquisitions in the UK as well as organic growth. Vinci’s Lee Beesley, Ford Group and MESL, and Imtech’s Meica and Goodmarriott & Hursthouse, are likely to be the first firms to be bought, not the last.