Scottish independent optical chain Duncan & Todd has secured £3.5m in funding and confirmed a new acquisition.
The company has purchased 20:20 Opticians, a six branch retail group consisting of four sites in Edinburgh and two in Glasgow. It increased Duncan & Todd’s retail footprint to 30 branches across Scotland.
A follow-on investment from Business Growth Fund (BGF) and additional senior debt facilities from RBS enabled the firm ‘to continue its growth and facilitate future acquisitions’. This follows on from a £5.6m investment from the BGF in late 2013, when it took a minority stake, giving rise to a practice acquisition and manufacturing upgrade since.
Duncan & Todd managing director Frances Duncan said: ‘The funding from BGF has helped us to grow our business and the follow-on investment is now boosting our expansion across Scotland. There is good strategic rationale for this latest acquisition as 20:20 Opticians has a similar model to Duncan & Todd because it offers excellent service and great brands at competitive prices.’
