Auxilium’s Triumph: From Commodity to Solutions

Two initial businesses were acquired and new organic business lines launched to transform the positioning of the group.

Initial acquisitions

A specialist outdoor Audio-visual and sound business was acquired alongside a business that specialised in floral displays.  Both were commodity suppliers competing on price and availability.  A focus was on building revenue outside the traditional sports-heavy summer months.

Investment in People, Systems & Processes

The journey was marked by substantial investment in people, processes and systems:

People: key senior appointments included COO, Sales Director, Finance Director and Marketing Director.

Systems: the businesses were relocated to one new modern site and investment made in modernising equipment.  An ERP system was implemented and investment made in new business sectors – including overlay (for amongst others Ryder Cup) and themed attractions (with Merlin becoming a significant customer).

Processes: an operational structure was introduced that provide the business the scale and credibility to rapidly grow revenue.

Successful Exit

After 5 years of investment, the final stage was to fuse the business with an exhibition company – a highly complementary sector in respect of seasonality.