Banner

The business

Leading independent supplier of school wear in the UK.

The deal

Banner had delivered strong but patient growth historically with an approach suited to its passive family ownership.  However, management saw the opportunity to deliver a step change in scale and profitability via value creation opportunities and strategic acquisitions. MML invested for a majority stake in 2015 helping the family to realise their investment and creating growth headroom for management. We worked side by side with the team helping to establish a retail offering alongside the existing wholesale offering, deliver strategic acquisitions and drive other initiatives across sales and marketing, brand positioning, product evolution, procurement and online.

The exit

MML helped Banner to establish a multi-channel approach across wholesale, retail and online, and broaden its product offering, particularly within sportswear.  These core strategic initiatives were supported by the recruitment of a high quality leadership team, as well as the delivery of two strategic acquisitions and ten bolt-on acquisitions.  Over the course of our investment, Banner more than doubled its revenue and profit having grown its school relationships (>1,100 schools), increased its retail footprint (32 stores) and significantly expanded its online presence (40% of sales).  In 2021 MML exited its investment via a secondary buyout led by CBPE.