A North-East based building services consultancy which recently celebrated its 40^th anniversary has been sold to an employee ownership trust (EOT) in a transaction led by WilliamsAli.

Humphrey M&E Consultants (HME) was founded in Gosforth in 1983 before relocating to Durham and then making the move in February 2023 to its current head office in Boldon.

The consultancy offers specialist mechanical and electrical building services nationally across a broad range of sectors to both corporate and public sector customers. Recent successes have included leading on the design of ULEV charging point installations to provide the MoD with a national electric vehicle charging network.

As part of the company’s long term succession strategy, a decision was made to transition to employee ownership with 50% of the business now placed in the hands of HME’s 20 employees. Day to day management of the company will continue under the directors, headed by managing director Michael Bainbridge. The specialist Newcastle boutique, WilliamsAli Corporate Finance acted as the lead corporate finance adviser for the transaction.

Michael Bainbridge said: “The transition of the company to become employee-owned is part of a long-term succession plan. High quality, hard working, and talented people have always been at the heart of HME. The move reinforces our commitment to our employees and customers and allows our staff to share in the company’s success and actively participate in its future direction.”

Phil Williams, managing director of WilliamsAli, commented: “HME is built upon the excellence and commitment of a highly qualified and loyal workforce. Employee ownership therefore represents the ideal ownership structure to ensure the business thrives long into the future. We were delighted to work closely with the HME team to help put that structure in place.”