Arran Aromatics secured £2.8m investment

Candle and soap maker Arran Aromatics took a major step forward in its revival today by securing a £2.8 million investment from the Business Growth Fund (BGF).

Turnaround expert Iain Pittman was brought on board as chairman in 2009 when the company was just three days away from being wound up by the tax man over an unpaid £180,000 bill.

Pittman will be replaced by Alastair Kerr, a former head of Body Shop’s European, Middle East and African unit and a non-executive director at Alliance Trust, Fuller Smith & Turner and White Stuff.

Pittman told The Scotsman: “This is the start of part two of the story.

“We’ve saved the business, now we want to grow sales from £5m to £15m within five years.”

BGF investment director Duncan Macrae will also join the board of the firm, which supplies businesses including Cameron House, Macdonald Hotels and the DeVere Group.

The deal is the sixth in Scotland for the BGF, the £2.5 billion investment vehicle set up in 2011 by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered.

The fund will inject between £2m and £10m into companies that turnover between £5m and £100m in return for a minority equity stake and a seat on the board.