MML Capital Partners has invested in Premier Modular Group alongside the incumbent Cabot Square Capital, positioning Premier to accelerate its growth and give best-in-class service to its customer base.
Having grown from a business established in the 1950s, Premier Modular now leads the UK market for premium, customised, modular rental, leasing and permanent buildings solutions. It’s also set to be carbon zero by 2035 – further evidenced by it being the first non-financial company in Europe to gain ESG accreditation.
The sectors served by Premier Modular – in the UK and northern European – include: healthcare, education, defence, justice, life science, welfare buildings, data centres, offices, retail and many other commercial applications. True to the company’s customer-centric approach, each client has bespoke needs for which Premier designs and builds a tailored specification.
This market-leading position has translated into decades of significant growth. Premier’s rental fleet has grown – approximately 50% over the last four years – culminating in another record year for the business. MML’s new investment will now further fuel Premier Modular’s ambitions to make world-class facilities more widely available in its domestic and European markets.
Investor, Cabot Square Capital acquired Premier Modular in 2021 and has seen a robust return on its investment, driven by turnover growth from both public and private sectors.
“Premier Modular is already a well-run company, as seen in the great performance in recent years,” says Andrew Honan, managing partner (infrastructure) at MML. “But it’s Premier Modular’s long-term growth that we are really excited about. Fundamentally, we are seeing a big societal change in how we build our infrastructure in the UK and globally – a focus on being closer to the user and dealing with shorter term changes in societal needs. In that context, Premier is at the vanguard of enabling this change in sustainable and affordable ways.”
Keith Maddin, partner, Cabot Square Capital said: “Premier is a highly successful business and has built a first-class track record of providing sustainable infrastructure solutions. Working with the Premier Modular team for two years now, it’s their culture of delivering excellence in tight timeframes which keeps them competitive. That’s playing its part in the company’s expansion both at home and in Europe with the launch of Premier Modular BV. We look forward to continuing to be involved in the next stage of their growth alongside management and MML Capital Partners.”
Endorsed by the UK government’s directive to presume in favour of modular construction, the movement is gaining momentum. Modular is now widely recognised as the future of building because it solves several challenges which the traditional building industry is facing: sustainability, skills shortages, safety and building quality. These factors are even more important for clients who have temporary space needs as opposed to the 60-year plus lifetime of our permanent modular solutions or indeed traditional construction.
“There has been ample demonstration over the last 30 years that manufacturing a building using lean techniques, with precision, in a factory and then transporting it to site, makes for a higher quality building. That also translates to more sustainable buildings because they’re designed and built using a more efficient, faster and safer process compared with how traditional building sites operate. We now understand the true benefits of modular manufacture and rental within the circular economy, demonstrating that offsite manufacture is a more sustainable construction methodology,” says David Harris, Premier Modular Group’s CEO.
Premier Modular’s capability to operate at scale and pace is already unrivalled and increases year on year. No other company compares with Premier Modular’s balance sheet strength, the quality, depth and breadth of its rental fleet and its technical expertise.
“Our state-of-the-art factories – which allow us to respond to each customer’s particular needs – sustain our new business pipeline. However, without doubt, it’s our people who make this business what it is,” says David Harris. “One of the reasons why we’re able to continue our strong growth is because we anticipated the skilled trades market tightening so we invested in our apprenticeship and training programmes. Many people prefer to invest in their skills with the long-term prospect of working close-to-home rather than away on building sites.
“MML’s investment means we now continue to grow our best-in-class fleet, expand the range of funding structures we offer our clients, and accelerate our expansion into Europe following client demand,” says David Harris. “The combination of financial firepower and infrastructure expertise will be invaluable as we continue to drive Premier forward.
“And it’s particularly satisfying to know that every day, we’re enabling a better tomorrow, for generations to come.”
