Road-rail specialist Quattro acquired by management team

Quattro Group, which rents road-rail equipment to the UK railways industry, has been acquired by its management team.

Finance director David Callé leads the MBO from founder and former CEO John Murphy. Mr Callé becomes the new chief executive officer, while Mr Murphy will retain a stake in the business and assume the position of executive chairman.

Based in London and with 14 depots throughout the UK, Quattro Group was founded in 1989 and has grown into a £40 million revenue business. It rents operated road rail plant – including excavators, aerial platforms, cranes and dumpers – as well as general construction plant and environmental equipment such as snow ploughs and road sweepers.

Mr Murphy said that after 24 years building the business the time was right to pass it on to the management group; “Over the past five years, this team have helped develop the business into the leading RRV [road rail vehicles] provider in the country and they are perfectly placed to continue driving it forward.

“The buyout is all about maintaining the momentum of the organisation, and my new role as executive chairman means I will remain involved as the management team take Quattro Group on to the next phase of its development.”

The new CEO, David Callé, has been involved with Quattro Group since helping arrange Quattro’s acquisition of BCL Rail Plant in July 2008, a move that doubled the size of the company. In May 2009 he joined the board as finance director.

“This buyout is about continuity", said Mr Callé, "The evolution of Quattro Group began five years ago with the acquisition of BCL Rail Plant and the business has developed every year since. We are delighted that John is remaining involved with the business and excited by the opportunities that we have to build on the strong platforms he has created.

“We have some very interesting ideas for the future. We plan to continue to grow the organisation, developing and improving existing services and maintaining our position as a leading provider of transport infrastructure support services.”