Leeds FF&E group announces new acquisition and further investment

Southerns Group, the Leeds-based furniture, fixtures and equipment specialist, has announced the acquisition of fit-out specialists, Bowman Projects.

A £45m group made up of four businesses and employing more than 220 staff in Leeds, Bolton, Macclesfield, Manchester and London, the Southerns Groupworks with blue chip companies including Microsoft, GE Capital, Lexmark International and BUPA.

Andy Kendall-Jones, Southerns Group CEO, said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Bowmans Projects to our family of companies. We worked with the firm in the past and have always been impressed with the company’s professionalism and output.

“It is a business that not only shares our values, in particular a determination to be ‘best in class’, but also adds to our offering through the provision of specialist fit-out services, essentially giving our clients the choice of a full end-to-end provision.”

He added: “We’ve seen an immediate impact – this is a shrewd addition to the Group. Leading the Group’s new offering will be Michaela Walker and Steve Bowman, who together have more than 20 years’ combined experience in the fit-out industry.

Michaela commented: “We’re already working with the Group on some exciting projects for major companies, and we’re confident our fast-growing pipeline of new business will continue.”

The Southerns Group has also purchased and expanded two new 11,000 sq ft units space in Leeds, which will create more than 20 new jobs.

Andy Kendall-Jones added: “This development will allow us greater freedom to design bespoke offerings for clients, providing better value for them while simultaneously making us more competitive to our client base.”