43-year-old Edinburgh office equipment supplier sold following death of founder and 'incredibly emotional' meeting

One of Scotland’s longest-established office equipment suppliers has been acquired in a deal that was started by the firm’s founder prior to his death from cancer earlier this year.

Edinburgh-based Capital Document Solutions was launched in 1979 by Tom Flockhart, who built it into a business with some 150 staff and revenues of around £15 million.

After years of discussion on succession planning, and rebuffing potential acquirers, Flockhart finally found a match in UK-wide workplace technology specialist Agilico. However, takeover talks were cut short by the businessman’s death, at the age of 73, following a short battle with cancer.

Now, Flockhart’s family and closest business colleagues have revealed how they were able to see through the completion of his deal, which was signed during an emotional meeting in the Scottish capital. The deal creates a group with 475 staff, 13 UK offices and some £70m in annual revenues.

Andrew Aikman, who worked with Tom Flockhart for 41 years, Tom's daughter Pam, who is a director of the firm, and Agilico CEO Simon Davey, who persuaded Tom to sell.

Andrew Aikman, managing director of Capital Document Solutions, who worked with Flockhart for 41 years, said: “It means a lot to everyone who worked with Tom and given all the circumstances it was incredibly emotional. We knew this was what he wanted for the business that he had devoted almost his entire working life to growing and developing, and for all of the staff, for whom he felt a great duty of care.”

Pam Flockhart, the late businessman’s daughter who is also a director with the firm, said: “This is something that has taken a lot of consideration and planning over a number of years. Rather than a reaction to dad’s death, the impact of Covid or anything else, this is about all of us who were closest to him delivering on dad’s wishes. He had many approaches over the years but insisted that none of those potential acquirers were the right fit. That changed when he met Simon from Agilico. He was convinced this was the right deal for our staff, customers and suppliers.”

That first meeting with Simon Davey, the chief executive of Agilico, took place two years ago. Since 2018, Davey has overseen the successful acquisition of nine other family businesses across the UK. Capital Document Solutions is the biggest such deal to date.

Both Capital Document Solutions and its Inverness-based subsidiary, Highland Office Equipment, will retain their names and identities for as long as the staff want them. Capital will remain as an autonomous limited company and as a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of the Agilico Group and will be led by the existing management teams. Agilico’s existing Falkirk office will become part of the Capital infrastructure, meaning that in aggregate 25 per cent of the group’s UK-wide revenues will be north of the Border.

Davey said: “Tom was a straightforward character and larger than life. When we first spoke, I told him that Capital Document Solutions was the one business I wanted in the group more than any other. Fortunately, he knew of me and Agilico and was prepared to listen. But he also told me that there was absolutely no way he would let me into Scotland - he said I had to build his trust first. Our first face-to-face meeting was therefore in Berwick.”