Darwin has yet to disclose how much of the company has been acquired, or for how much. It said only that it needed money to support investment in manufacturing facilities and maintain the company’s growth trajectory.

The money has come from Kartesia, a European private equity firm that specialises in providing liquidity to small/mid-market companies.

Under ownership of the Pierce family, Darwin Group grew turnover from £30m in 2019 to £63m in 2020, with pre-tax profit growing from £1m to £10m.

Darwin has recently been re-appointed to the NHS Shared Business Services modular building framework and has secured a place on the Department of Education schools construction framework.  Recent projects include a 10,000 sqm, three-storey building for University Hospital Wales, a £33m project completed in just 20 weeks from initial client instruction.

Darwin Group chief executive Richard Pierce said: “Our team have put in a huge amount of effort to build this business and lay the platform for future growth.  As a result, it was critical for us to find a partner like Kartesia, who share our ambition, enthusiasm and values and have the same level of excitement in our vision for the future. Their funding will allow us to invest heavily in the business, further increasing our capacity to deliver the industry-leading product and service NHS trusts can expect from a Darwin solution.”

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