Lifetime secures investment for further growth
Bristol-based company, Lifetime, today announces that it has partnered with Sovereign Capital, the UK private equity Buy & Build specialist. This partnership is great news for the market-leading training company and for the Bristol area, as the new investment will support the company's growth plans and bring new employment opportunities to the Bristol area.
David Foster, Chief Executive Officer at Lifetime, said: "The partnership with Sovereign is an exciting step in Lifetime's development and will help support and finance Lifetime's objective of growing the business through strategic acquisition. Over the last four years Lifetime has successfully grown and diversified its range of services, but with the government looking to work with larger, providers, and our clients looking for expertise in many areas, we now believe it is the right time to bring on a strategic partner."
Sovereign has a great deal of expertise working in the education and training sector, backing companies involved in UK and overseas schools, further education and higher education. This expertise, together with their experience in business acquisition provides a great added value proposition that will strengthen Lifetime's position as a top 10 provider of Apprenticeships.
Set up by Keynsham-born entrepreneur Heather Frankham, Lifetime now employs over 350 people, over 100 of whom are based in their Clifton head office. With further growth, Lifetime expects to recruit another 100 staff in the next twelve months.
Lifetime's ethos is to support individuals and businesses to perform better through the delivery of outstanding training programmes. It trains over 15,000 people a year, offering pre-employment training, Apprenticeship programme delivery and training courses to the fitness and leisure, retail, care and hospitality sectors. Lifetime's clients include David Lloyd Leisure, Fitness First, Nuffield, Moto and Hilton Hotels.
Lifetime has experienced strong growth in recent years, tripling sales in the last three years to £24m last year. This growth wascelebrated in December 2010 in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 where Lifetime was ranked 33rd, moving up 36 places in just one year in this league table which ranks Britain's fastest growing private companies, based on sales growth over three years.
Various other accolades have helped Lifetime become one of the UK's top ten Apprenticeship providers. It achieved the matrix and Training Quality Standards, holds Investors in People and is OFSTED grade 2. The company also has high achievement rates for its learners, with Apprenticeship success rates significantly above the national average.
Sovereign is backing the experienced incumbent management team, led by CEO David Foster and Chairman Heather Frankham. David was previously Customer Services Director at Virgin Mobile, where he led all aspects of the company's award-winning customer service, including training and development, call centre operations and customer retention. Heather established Lifetime in 1995 and has grown the business from its first Apprenticeship in the leisure sector to a national provider. Combining business and teaching experience, Heather continues to oversee the strategic aspects of the business.
Jose Rodriguez-Cesenas, Investment Director at Sovereign Capital, commented: "Lifetime has an outstanding reputation for providing role-relevant, industry-endorsed training, with demand increasing from both individual learners and companies. We are delighted to be working with Lifetime's experienced management team to further expand the business using our proven Buy & Build model."
