Leading UK business products operator evo has said its focus will now be on driving forward its trading strategy and service to customers after making significant progress on reducing its debt following last year’s management buyout.
Since the MBO in March 2025, evo has repaid £13.7 million of the £17.8 million original debt funding, saying it has achieved this through a combination of trading, new investment and projects. It is on track to have repaid £17.1 million by the end of the year, with the final £0.7 million due to be settled in the first quarter of 2027.
“This clearly represents a material debt reduction in a relatively short period of time, which positions evo strongly moving forward,” the group said in a statement.
It added: “The evo Board is thus very pleased with the progress on the debt front, which has been our FY26 priority. Our focus will now move to driving forward our trading strategy and the service to our customers.”
One project implemented by evo shortly after the MBO was enabling outside parties – including employees, customers and suppliers – to invest in the company. This process is now closed and, once the final investments are completed, more than 15 million shares will have been sold. CEO Andrew Gale remains the group’s majority shareholder.
In terms of trading, evo pointed to several material customer contracts that were subject to tender exercises. While these important customers were retained, it did result in a loss of margin which – evo noted – will be rebuilt over the new contract cycle.
In addition, UK government increases in the minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions had a negative impact on margins in the 2025 results. It called group EBITDA of £10 million for the year an “acceptable result” given the business context and in line with historical norms.
These extra costs have now been passed through in pricing; for the first nine months of 2026, the group has been trading ahead of the prior year at a profit-before-tax (PBT) level. The improvement also reflects what evo said was the successful onboarding of the Exertis trade onboard between March and May this year as well as pricing actions and ongoing tight controls of the cost base.
PBT will be used as a key profit metric going forward. Under the new shareholder structure, the focus is on driving bottom-line profit improvements, with every pound of cost being managed: trading, exceptional and interest.
The company concluded: “Thus, with the MBO debt challenge a receding issue, evo is well placed moving forward. We are confident in our belief that our multi-sales channel and multi-product approach – with a mix of brand/own label – is the right way forward.
“The diversification into new products and categories continues and we are excited to be working with many new suppliers, but we are equally keen to bring new products from our existing suppliers to our customers.
“Finally, we would like to thank and acknowledge the support from our employees, customers and suppliers since the MBO, and we look forward to working with those who have supported us for our mutual benefit in the months ahead.”
