Case Study: International Technology Veterans acquire Wray Castle, Telecoms Training Firm
Cumbria-based, international telecoms training business, Wray Castle Training, has been sold to international telecommunications and technology experts Fraser Curley and Andrew White, for an undisclosed sum.
Established in 1958 on the shores of Lake Windermere, Wray Castle Training operates on a global scale, training engineers in cutting-edge communications technology across industries including mobile and fixed network operators, transport, defence, energy and emergency services. Wray Castle’s customers include: Vodafone, BT, Orange, T-Mobile, BAE Systems, government agencies, energy and transportation utilities (Network Rail, E.on), and regulators (OFCOM).
Justin Ray, Darcie Rae and Kate Neilson from the corporate finance team at Armstrong Watson, acted as lead advisers to the vendor on the deal, ensuring that the business was sold on to buyers who would continue Wray Castle’s evolution and position at the forefront of its specialism. Andrew Hill of Baines Wilson also provided legal advice for the sale.
Commenting on the sale decision, Laura Jones, former owner said,
“It was a huge decision for us to put Wray Castle to market and was important that we passed the business on to those who would continue its growth and development, ensuring it remains an industry leader, and I am positive that Fraser, Andrew and their team will do exactly that.
“Having the right people help us throughout this process was incredibly significant and Armstrong Watson provided the knowledge, advice and reassurance we needed to make this huge step.
“The existing Wray Castle team have been phenomenal in their support of the company (and myself) over recent years and I am certain that they will all continue to thrive under Wray Castle’s new ownership.”
Darcie Rae, Armstrong Watson Corporate Finance Manager, commented,
“It has been a pleasure working with the team at Wray Castle in securing the right deal for the vendors and the existing business. Fraser and Andrew bring with them a wealth of expertise which will take the business on to a new level, ultimately securing a long and prosperous future.”
New owners Fraser Curley, former executive at Saudi Telecom (STC) and Andrew White, former executive at Zain Saudi Arabia, have ambitious plans for the business, and have already announced intentions to expand the newly formed Wray Castle Group within the Middle East and North Africa region.
Commenting on their plans for the business, Fraser Curley said,
“The telecommunications industry globally faces the unprecedented challenges of needing to deploy 5G in an environment of relentless pressure to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and the ever present threat of cyberattack, both to their operations and their customer base. Wray Castle is the pre-eminent source of telecoms training and knowledge transfer within the industry and we aim to become the professional services provider of choice for addressing the ever-broader knowledge-based challenges our clients face. Given our 5G track record with clients such as Vodafone and BT, we know that Wray Castle can add tremendous value across the MENA region.”
Andrew White, Chief Executive Officer of Wray Castle Group added,
“Wray Castle Training has an impressive track record of providing industry-leading training solutions to the largest global telecommunications companies in relationships that span decades. Our clients use our learning solutions to ensure that their technical staff lead the industry, and these solutions have a proven track record of delivering tangible learning outcomes. It is very easy and straightforward for new clients to deploy our proven solutions and gain access to the full range of our training material.
Wray Castle Group now consists of three divisions: the Telecommunications Training division; the Consulting division, serving telecommunications service providers on matters including: strategy, regulation, MVNO, Internet of Things (IoT), network deployment, planning and optimisation, including 5G; and the Business Transformation division, who have successfully tackled some of the most difficult corporate transformations in the telecommunications sector.”
