Member Article

Cussins investment: BGF out and Northumberland Estates in

The Business Growth Fund has announced the exit of its investment in Cussins, a family-owned house builder based in the North East.

Northumberland Estates has acquired a minority stake in the business, for an undisclosed sum, which sees the Cussins family remain as majority owners.

Minority shareholder BGF invested £5m in Cussins in December 2014 to support new site acquisition and housing developments including sites at Longframlington, Warkworth and Longhorsely.

In this time, turnover has more than trebled, with expected sales in excess of £15m for 2016 and further growth forecast for 2017.

During the past 100 years, three generations of the Cussins family have built more than 50,000 homes in North East.

Mike Stansfield, the former CEO of David Wilson Homes who was introduced to the business by BGF, and Richard Taylor, who led the original investment for BGF and served as non-executive director, will both step down from the Board following the exit.

Jabin Cussins, Cussins CEO said: “We enjoyed tremendous support from BGF over the past two years and we could have happily continued our growth plans with their backing.

“At the same time, they have wholly supported our decision to progress to the next stage of our development alongside Northumberland Estates.

“BGF’s original equity funding immediately helped us to secure a significantly larger bank facility, which helped us accelerate our development plans.

“The growth we have demonstrated since, and the prospects for Cussins today, are testament to impact that BGF has had. I would like to thank Richard and the team at BGF for all their support.”