Yeomans acquires camping business
Chesterfield outdoor goods retailer Yeomans has acquired North Wales camping brand Gelert.
Yeomans, which was founded in 1904 and operates about 80 stores, is owned by dealmaker Jason Granite after he bought the company in July 2011. It is understood he plans to merge the businesses after wrapping up a deal for Gelert.
Granite, who originally made his name as a distressed debt trader at Deutsche Bank, acquired Gelert for an undisclosed sum.
Gelert was founded in 1975 but last year decided to shut its Gwynedd distribution plant after losing a contract with its largest customer. Its most recent accounts, for the year to 31 December 2009, reveal it made a pre-tax profit of £410,020 on turnover of £33.7m. The company supplies goods to retailers including Argos, Halford and Tesco.
Set up in the village of Beddgelert by Alastair and Jane Langdon, Gelert grew to employ more than 150 people with a network of about 2,000 stockists.
