Greater Manchester retailer Clubhouse Golf drives growth with £4m investment

Golf retailer Clubhouse Golf Limited has secured a seven-figure investment from private equity firm Foresight Group.

The Greater Manchester-based company will use the £4m boost to strengthen key brand relationships and explore new international commerce opportunities by developing its online platform at Clubhousegolf.co.uk.

Following the deal, the founder of e-retailer Kitbag, Richard Styles, has been made non-executive chairman to support the business’ online growth.

Clubhouse Golf was founded as an on-course shop by Paul Reeves, who went on to establish a high street store in Salford and an accompanying e-commerce platform.

The retailer then moved to a 17,000 sq ft facility in Irlam to accommodate further expansion.

Today, Clubhouse Golf is led by Paul Reeves’ son, Ben.

Ben Reeves, managing director at Clubhouse Golf, commented: “It is great to see Foresight’s commitment to boosting smaller businesses in the Manchester area, as the city establishes itself as a national infrastructure and commerce centre.

“Clubhouse Golf has really taken off as a business since launch to become a leading golf equipment retailer, and this investment will enable us to achieve the possibilities that the current rate of growth presents.”

Foresight Group made the investment from the Foresight Regional Investment Fund (FRIF), which launched 12 months ago and targets businesses across the North West, North Wales and South Yorkshire.

To date it has backed five companies and deployed a third of its funds.

Foresight Group investment manager Matthew Pomroy said: “Clubhouse Golf is a good example of the kind of growing SME we seek to invest in.

“It has an exciting young management team who have grown the business over 30% in the last couple of years and built a great brand in the sport.”

He added: “The deal presents an exciting opportunity for business expansion through its new website both in the UK and internationally. We’re looking forward to working alongside Ben and the team to support the future growth.”

Jeremy Thompson and Giles Chesher led a team from law firm Squire Patton Boggs in advising Foresight on the investment. Financial due diligence was provided by Catriona Lang from Dow Schofield Watts.

Roger Penney at RPL carried out commercial due diligence, while Andy Airey from Catalysis performed management due diligence and Intuitus provided IT due diligence.

Yorkshire Bank’s specialist and acquisition finance team, headed up by Neil McLoughlin, Michelle Heptinstall and Craig Cheetham, supported the transaction with funding.

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