CHANCE TAKEN (From Warrington Guardian)

CHANCE TAKEN

ANOTHER PART of ICI's Runcorn empire has left the fold with the sale of Chance and Hunt which was announced on Thursday.

A five-person management consortium bought the Alexander House-based business, which employs 46 people selling and marketing chemical products, with the help of venture capitalist company CIM - paying X for the privilege.

Negotiations only really began in February, so the sale process has been quick.

Chance and Hunt, which has been in business since 1935 had sales of £40 million last year.

Peter Fields, C&H managing director, said that all 46 staff would be transferring over and that there were no plans for any redundancies.

He believes that being totally and publicly independent of ICI will be a 'major advantage' to his company, which would still have the reputation built up from its 60-year history..

"The future is about our ability to seize opportunities that we may not have been able to in the past.

"We now have much more flexibility and we can really look at every opportunity."

"The great thing is all the staff are very excited. They are now in a situation where the direct results of their efforts can be seen."

Cllr David Cargill was pleased that the company had been sold as a going concern, saying that it seemed to suggest a more stable future fotr the chemical industry in the area.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.