Epsilon Test Services merges with PHS Group

07 April 2008

Electrical safety testing experts, Epsilon Test Services, has been sold to workplace service providers, the PHS Group. The deal was completed on 4th April 2008 for an undisclosed sum.

Award winning Epsilon specialises in portable appliance testing (PAT), periodic fixed installation testing and thermal imaging. The company was formed in 1993 and has experienced year-on-year growth, recording a profit increase last year of over 300 per cent.

The PHS Group acquired Epsilon as part of its strategy to broaden its range of services. The group has a strong track record of acquiring successful specialists in the facilities market and now has divisions that offer a range of services that include washroom services, drinking water dispensers, confidential waste destruction, waste management and interior and exterior landscaping.

Both parties cite synergy as their motivation for the sale. Epsilon’s managing director Mark Blanchfield commented, “We are delighted that Epsilon will be joining the PHS Group and see this as the right foundation for future growth. As a company we have invested heavily in technology and have strived to set the benchmark for quality of service in our industry. Our approach of focusing on the customer and exceeding their expectations is very much in line with the PHS ethos. As a parent group PHS offers a great deal of support and has an established customer base of over 200,000. We look forward to offering electrical testing services to those existing customers whilst continuing to win new business.”

Peter Cohen, chief executive of the PHS Group, said “Epsilon Test Services is a very successful business with a track record of development and growth. Their electrical safety services complement the existing PHS portfolio and will be an asset to the Group.”

Epsilon will continue to be run by the existing management team.

Gloucester based Epsilon Test Services was formed in 1993. The company specialises in electrical safety test services; portable appliance testing (PAT), periodic fixed installation testing and thermal imaging. The company employs over 140 engineers across the UK, all qualified to City & Guilds 2377 or 2391. Epsilon’s clients include many of the UK’s largest facilities management organisations and blue chip companies. The business invests heavily in technology and has lead innovation in the development of specialist software for electrical testing, leading to advanced reporting plus efficiency savings that create a service/price proposition that Epsilon claim is unbeaten. Epsilon holds Beacon status: an award given to those companies who can demonstrate outstanding achievement across a range of criteria, including significant improvements in productivity and performance, profitability, work culture and innovation. Beacon South West members play an important role in cultivating enterprise excellence in the region.
www.epsilontest.com

The PHS Group is one of the UK’s leading workplace service providers, and has traded since 1963. It has a diverse portfolio of services, all aimed at improving people’s experience of work and leisure time, while making life easier for facilities, building and people managers and assisting them with legal compliance. These include washroom services, serviced floor mats, interior and exterior landscaping, drinking water dispensers, waste management and recycling services, balers and compactors, confidential waste disposal, workwear and workwear laundering, commercial laundry equipment, personal protective equipment, crate rental and playground safety servicing. PHS employs over 3,500 personnel, operates from a network of over 70 regional service branches, and takes care of over 200,000 customers at over 250,000 locations throughout the UK.
www.phs.co.uk