NVM Private Equity (NVM) says it has completed an £18m management buy-out (MBO) of rapidly growing facilities management business, Pareto FM. Funds from the deal will be used to buy out two founder shareholders and invest in technology to support the firm’s continued growth.

Oxfordshire-based Pareto FM has built a strong reputation in the industry as a people business, upgrading the traditional delivery of facilities management services with a focus on customer service, diversity and staff engagement. The team has focused its business model on the delivery of more specialised engineering services and provides broader FM solutions in a blend of operated and outsourced models, in a sector estimated to be worth £120bn. 

Pareto FM, founded by Andrew Hulbert in 2014, was set up as an antidote to large, inflexible service providers, delivering a tech-enabled suite of customer-focused solutions. The management team has been highly successful at building a blue chip customer base and boasts a market-leading Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 75 and was also recently featured in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100. The business has performed strongly during the COVID-19 pandemic and has recently secured several high profile contract wins with global technology, media and software firms. 

David Rolfe and Peter Hodson led the investment for NVM and both will be joining the Board to support Andrew as he continues to lead the firm’s impressive growth plans.

Andrew Hulbert, Managing Director of Pareto said “We are thrilled to announce this deal which is the next major step for Pareto as an ambitious, driven and disruptive facilities service provider. This will not only enable us to further support our client base, but also create significant opportunities for growth within our team members. 

“The investment will enable Pareto to maintain its growth story and continue to disrupt the market. We have built the foundations of a great business model that we can now take to a much wider platform. I’m as excited as ever to lead this organisation into this new era. Our mission is to continue to change the face of facilities management and demonstrate why innovative, progressive, social value lead organisations like ourselves are critical to UK plc.”

David Rolfe, Investment Partner at NVM said: “Pareto is unique in the market. It is a dynamic and energetic FM business with a highly engaged and differentiated workforce which is completely disrupting the traditional FM sector. We are very much looking forward to supporting Andrew and his team as he continues to lead the business through the next phase of growth. This is yet another example of a high quality, founder led, regional business that has exactly the kind of dynamics which NVM seeks to invest in.”