Mobile telecoms service provider Mono Consultants set to expand with £7m BGF investment

Mono Consultants, one of the largest providers of network support services to the UK mobile telecoms sector, is set to expand its operations thanks to a financial injection of £7m of growth capital investment from BGF (Business Growth Fund). This is BGF’s third investment in Scotland so far this year.

Headquartered in Glasgow with more than 200 employees operating from eight locations across the UK and Ireland, Mono offers a complete range of end-to-end support services to its network operator clients. Services provided include acquisition and planning; design, build and rigging; integration and commissioning of radio equipment; site maintenance; site decommissioning and, increasingly, programme and project management.

Mono’s clients include the UK’s leading network operators, network operators’ consolidation entities and the main equipment vendors. The business has grown significantly over the past five years and is seeking to continue on this path with turnover of £40m forecast in 2014.

BGF has taken a minority stake and BGF Investment Director, Duncan Macrae, has joined the board.

Created in its present form in 2002, but with its origins dating back to the deregulation of the telecoms market in the mid-1980s, Mono has, over the past decade, significantly increased the range of services offered, has evolved from a regional supplier to a national supplier of these services and has been involved in the delivery of many large, multi discipline projects for its clients.

CEO of Mono, Brian Dougherty, who joined the business when it was formed in 2002 and who has been the CEO since 2007, explained:

“The mobile telecoms market is currently experiencing a period of unprecedented activity driven by a combination of the introduction of 4g services and the consolidation of the operators’ radio networks as they strive to improve customer experience through both coverage and quality of service whilst controlling and minimising their future operating expenditure.

“Mono has to provide the entire range of services needed by our customers in order that they can obtain the maximum operational, time and cost efficiencies that come from having an end to end service provider.

“Technology change is one of the key drivers for our business and we see this growth continuing through 4g and, in due course, with the introduction of 5g.

“Mono continues to have an excellent and supportive relationship with its bank, HSBC, but the longer-term predictability that is provided by BGF’s growth capital enables us to accommodate the mobilisation and working capital requirements of the growth and development opportunities that are available to us.

“The BGF team have, since the outset, shown an enthusiasm for our business and we look forward to working with them. “

Duncan Macrae, BGF’s Investment Director who has joined the Mono board, said:

“Mono is a market leader that has maintained long standing relationships with its customers thanks to its reliable service and its ability to react quickly and adapt to change in the telecoms market. We look forward to working with Brian Dougherty and his experienced management.”