Green Spark

Growth Fund - Loans & Equity Case Study

The company

Doncaster-based Green Spark is an environmental consultancy that helps businesses to avoid costly oil and chemical spillages.

Green Spark advises companies how to respond in the event of a spillage and provides regular monitoring and inspection services to help prevent such occurrences.

The firm was founded in 2009 and employs 20 people. It recorded turnover of £650,000 for the year to January 2017.

Mike Flanagan, managing director, said: “Rigorous management of environmental risk has become a critical business issue. Even a small spillage can prove costly, once you have factored the environmental damage, clean-up and fines into the equation.

“Our services cover not only planned, preventative measures but also internal audits and management information so companies can monitor how they are performing against their environmental objectives.”

The challenge

Mike said: “We have never had to aggressively market our services because we have benefited from referrals and word of mouth. We now need to reach out to a wider audience.

“We need to improve our internal systems and our training. With a bigger and more experienced management team we can address this.”

Finance Yorkshire involvement

Finance Yorkshire provided a £450,000 investment from our Equity-Linked fund.

The investment enables Green Spark to boost its senior management team and invest in marketing and business development, as well as providing training and audit services to clients.

The Investment Rationale

Finance Yorkshire chief executive Alex McWhirter said: “Green Spark provides invaluable information that helps companies to maintain high environmental standards. Our investment will help Mike and his team to accelerate their growth plans and reach out to new industry sectors.”

Future Expectations

Green Spark recently hired a new financial controller as it looks to expand its client base from logistics into sectors including manufacturing and retail.

Mike said: “We intend to double our turnover in each of the next two years.”