Pump firm bought by financiers

ONE of Henley’s biggest and longest-established employers has been bought by a private equity firm.

Pump manufacturer Stuart Turner, whose factory and offices are in Greys Road, has been acquired by Epiris with the aim of expanding its product range.

The company, which is known locally as the “Pump People” was founded in 1906 and employs more than 125 people.

Stuart Turner recorded a turnover of £40 million for the last financial year and was named manufacturer of the year at the Pump Industry Awards 2021.

Epiris, which was established in the Seventies, was originally known as Electra Partners but was named Epiris Iris, Electra’s daughter, in Greek mythology.

A statement on its website said: “Stuart Turner designs pumps and other products that manage water pressure in residential and commercial buildings, principally in the UK.

“It is the clear market leader in residential shower pumps with its flagship Monsoon brass shower pump and has built on this position in adjacent commercial product markets with individual products such as circulators, as well as larger systems for commercial plantrooms.

“We acquired Stuart Turner with a strategy to transform it into a broad water pressure boosting solutions provider, offering a complete range of residential and commercial products and maintenance services in the UK and select international markets.”

In 2017, Stuart Turner was subject of a £50 million management buyout led by the firm’s managing director Mark Williams, who has been in charge since September 2008.

It was backed by private equity investor LDC, an arm of Lloyds Banking Group, and said the move was to support the company’s “targeted buy-and-build strategy” and drive international growth.

Since then, Stuart Turner has grown by more than 66 per cent and acquired
several businesses, the most recent being Mikrofill Systems in March 2021.

It also bought out the cold water booster system Fluid Water Solutions in 2019 and renewable energy solutions company GAH Heating in 2018.

Stuart Turner was founded by the engineer Sydney Marmaduke Stuart Turner, who was originally based at Shiplake. He rented premises at Market Place, Henley, before moving to Duke Street in 1911 and to Greys Road six years later.

The company made model steam engines and gas engines for domestic equipment but then moved into two-stroke engines for light motorcycles. After the First World War, it began producing marine engines and model steam boats.

The company stopped producing marine engines in the late Seventies and sold its model-making division to focus on water pumps about a decade later. The old models and engines are popular with collectors.

In 2012, Stuart Turner took over neighbouring property business Walden & Son, which it relaunched as Henley Enterprise Park. In the same year it also launched the Stuart Turner Foundation, which gives regular grants to good causes in the RG9 postcode area.