Scott Group, the aggressively acquisitive Scottish timber and packaging firm, has bought Manchester-based rival Henry Sutcliffe, giving it its eighteenth UK site.
The Rosyth-based company, formerly known as Scott Timber, declined to reveal the value of the deal, but said that Henry Sutcliffe's strategic position in the north of England will play a key role in helping the group achieve packaging revenues of £50m within the next three years.
The company's packaging division currently turns over £6m.
As well as giving the company its latest UK site, the acquisition of Henry Sutcliffe - which has been owned by the Sutcliffe family since being founded in 1817 - also adds to the Scottish group's packaging offering.
Scott Group said that links with the founding family will remain strong, and that Mark Sutcliffe, the current managing director , will continue to run the business.
Scott Timber, which claims to be Europe's largest pallet and packaging company, has made at least 26 acquisitions since 1998.
Managing director John Scott has said previously that he wants to take the group from a current turnover of around £85m to £150m by 2009.
Scott said: "We see packaging as a major growth area and we have set a target of reaching a (packaging division) turnover of £50m through organic growth and further acquisition. In growing the packaging side of the business we are giving our customers the convenience of dealing with one supplier for a complete logistics solution."
Scott was only 18 when he took over the company after his father died. Scott Timber, which then made fencing, consisted of just four employees and a sawmill. Scott immediately shifted the focus to pallets, made a major sale to BP and began expanding the firm.
He brought his brother, Norman, into the company in 1995 and the firm made its first acquisition in 1997. It now employs 700 staff across the UK, including Airlie in Angus, Wigan and Newton Abbot.
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