Professional Construction Design Services acquired by Goldberg Engineering

An “extremely positive” outlook is in store for Professional Construction Design Services (“PCDS”) Ltd after the company’s sale to Goldberg Engineering.

PCDS founder John Paul Murphy is confident the business, which he set up in 1989 and was incorporated in 2003, can go from strength to strength following the deal coordinated by Charles Needham, KBS Corporate Transaction Adviser.

Based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, PCDS comprises a team of building and structural engineering consultants who offer a comprehensive range of solutions, including in-house design and project management.

With a strong reputation for offering a high-quality and reliable service to a range of prestigious clients, PCDS was ideally placed to achieve considerable further growth – and the timing was right to initiate a sale process.

“The business had two directors both nearing retirement age,” explained John Paul Murphy, Managing Director of PCDS. “Unfortunately, one of the directors suffered an illness which resulted in his retirement, leaving one director to continue the company with the ongoing responsibilities to staff and clients.

“The sale of the business became more important at that stage, both to secure a future for the current staff and to ensure continued service to existing and new clients.

“A sale would also potentially allow for some form of retirement payment to the directors.” KBS Corporate was instructed to oversee the sale and with the help of marketing material created by Sara Fletcher, Senior Corporate Document Writer, PCDS understandably attracted plenty of interest.

“It was an extremely attractive opportunity for any buyer, especially if they were already in the trade,” said Charles Needham.

“There were 40 enquiries, including a good proportion of trade buyers and interest from overseas and PLCs.”

The successful offer came from Goldberg Engineering, a Kent-based structural engineering company which operates in the residential, commercial, power plant and pharmaceutical sectors.

“The outlook for PCDS is extremely positive based on the level of current workload and ability to increase this with the new staff being introduced to the company,” said John Paul Murphy, who also offered some words of encouragement to business owners that may be tentative about embarking upon an exit process.

“When I was considering the sale of the company it was difficult to appreciate there was a value to it,” added John Paul. “I’m sure this would be similar for other small companies who feel the only value is themselves, and to try to sell the business therefore seems impossible.

“Charles was very positive about the company and was confident it had a value and would sell, which was very encouraging – and ultimately resulted in the sale.”