Specialist telecoms engineering firm Virtua UK is planning significant growth after securing £4.6m from a group of private investors and acquiring a smaller rival.
The funding will help Virtua accelerate growth by enabling it to bid for more and larger contracts and fund targeted acquisitions, while the acquisition of Warwickshire-based telecommunication engineering and rigging company Astral Specialist Contracts is expected to trigger rapid growth as 4G and broadcast networks expand. 
The enlarged business will now employ more than 170 staff with more jobs likely to be created.
The investment deal, structured and managed by private equity firm Connection Capital, brought in more than 70 of its clients who each contributed at least £25,000.
Virtua, based in Brinkworth, near Royal Wootton Bassett, provides a full range of engineering services on behalf of many of the major UK mobile networks, including expanding and upgrading 3G/4G and wireless network infrastructure – from design, installation and project management to testing and optimisation.
It also works with in-build projects for commercial estate owners of major developments such as Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2, Wembley Stadium and the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ skyscraper in the City of London.
Established in 2000, Virtua’s turnover has more than trebled since 2012 to £11m, in part through the acquisition of Hertfordshire-based telecoms consultant and telecom services provider Custom Communications.
Managing director Andy Watts, pictured, who joined Virtua in 2008, said: “The acquisition of Astral and the investment capital are two great pieces of news, two deals which will help us serve our customers and our staff better through growth.
“For a while, many of our biggest customers have said they would love to give us more business if we had the resources to take it on. Now we have the capability to do so.
“We’re growing our company and hiring great people. We are pretty picky, we only want people who share our commitment to serving customers well through hard work and great skills.”
Astral was formed six years ago to provide a mixture of rigging and specialist access teams.
Founding director Andy Gates said: “The general management of the company will stay the same, although it’s natural that there will be some integration between the new companies.
“Overall, this is great news for us at Astral and it’s an exciting time for all of our staff. It’s going to be a pretty powerful company with lots of great people in, which customers will love to do business with.”
Connection Capital partner Miles Otway said: “Virtua is a well-established, high-quality business operating in an exciting and expanding sector, with a blue chip customer base, a well-invested platform for growth and an experienced, forward-thinking management team behind it – all of which made it a very attractive opportunity for Connection Capital’s clients.
“Demand for Virtua’s services is expected to increase in the short and medium term, as 3G and 4G continue to roll out and with 5G on the horizon.
“Strong consumer demand is driving market growth, while the business is well-placed to capitalise on industry developments such as the consolidation in the sector and rationalisation of supply chains to higher quality providers like Virtua.”
