Fox Group is active in haulage, plant hire and aggregates supply primarily across the northwest but has recently spread across the country via acquisitions.

The business has now received a £70m asset-based lending (ABL) facility from NatWest with syndicate bank HSBC UK to support fleet growth and renewal as well as pursue more acquisition opportunities.

Chief executive Paul Fox said: “This ABL funding from NatWest and HSBC is a welcome development to our business, as we embark on our next phase of our journey. We are keen to enhance our long-standing position within our industry.”

Fox Brothers was founded in 1932 by Jack Fox; his great grandson Paul Fox took over the business in 2007 at the aged of 23. In 2020 he recruited John Flood, who had previously been commercial director of utilities contractor Enterprise, where he helped grow the business from £30m annual turnover to £1.1bn. In 2013 Ferrovial paid 3i £385m for Enterprise.

Since 2020 Fox Brothers, as it then was, has acquired Clive Hurt Plant Hire and sister company CMP Plant Hire, JJ O’Grady, Blackledge Plant Hire, Cotswold Roller Hire, Woods Waste and Tipworx.

Last December it added B&W Plant Hire & Sales, with depots in Blackburn, Keighley, Northwich and Southampton.

Turnover grew from £16m to nearly £100m in just two years.

Last month Fox Group set up an equipment sales division and signed a dealership with a LiuGong, a Chinese manufacturer of earthmoving machinery.

Jason Gledhill at HSBC UK said: “Fox Brothers is a great business in the northwest and a key player for the UK construction industry. We’re excited to see how Paul and the team will continue to build the business for many generations to come.”

Andrew Barraclough, head of ABL origination at NatWest, added: “We look forward to seeing this family-led business to go from strength to strength as it continues its growth journey.”

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