Vehicle Preparation Services Group Ltd has been acquired for £5m by entrepreneur Jordan Daykin, who as CEO has plans to raise significant funds and capitalise on the booming number plate market.
Founded in 2004, Vehicle Preparations Services Group (VPS) was originally established to supply temporary labour to vehicle manufacturers.
Since making a name for itself as a leading contract supplier for the automotive sector, the business has expanded and now has five main revenue streams, including an already-successful number plate manufacturing arm.
The business, which operates from five industrial units with a presence in Bristol, Southampton, Swindon, Sheerness and Killingholme, employs over 200 people and turned over £5.1m in 2017.
In the last two years VPS Group has reinvested profits into driving growth, including a £1.5m investment in a streamline site which will manufacture up to 2.3m number plates per year, in what is a £300m market producing over 20m plates every year.
VPS Group already supplies 120,000 number plates to its current customer base, which includes Toyota, Isuzu Motors and GBA Group.
It is illegal to sell number plates online
With one in 12 cars cloned in the UK each year, and over 100,000 number plates stolen, a recent change in legislation means it is now illegal to sell number plates online.
While this has heavily impacted the online retail market, VPS Group has identified a unique way of selling plates online which meets the DVLA’s requirements, and in doing so, has created bespoke software to run checks and crack down on stolen number plates and car cloning.
Daykin, best known for his success on BBC’s Dragon’s Den in 2014 when he was just 18 – securing £80,000 investment from Deborah Meaden in his business GripIt Fixings – has been on the VPS Group board as a Non-Executive Director for two years, offering strategic advice to the company his father originally founded in 2004.
As well as aiming to sell 1 million number plates in 2018, Daykin has ambitions this year to grow VPS Group’s labour supply nationally and make use of its extensive staffing database to grow its recruitment offering.
CEO Jordan Daykin said: “There is such huge potential for Vehicle Preparation Services Group to build on its excellent industry reputation by branching into new markets and capitalise on the booming automotive industry.
“I’m extremely fortunate to have a strong management team in place, who have ensured the company has been profitable since day one. I’m very proud to take over as CEO of the company my father started in 2004, and I’m committed to getting the very best out of our talented team and taking VPS Group from strength to strength in the coming years.”
