Wednesbury industrial group bought by German investment company

8th October 2018

Monks & Crane, a Midlands business dating back over 150 years, has been sold by its German owners, industrial wholesalers Würth, to another German company, GIL Investments.

Monks & Crane was founded in Redditch in 1862, at a time when Queen Victoria was on the throne and civil war raged in the USA. Starting life as a modest file manufacturer, the business expanded rapidly and now has branches across the whole of the UK, all managed from its headquarters on Atlantic Way in Wednesbury.

The company has an annual turnover of over £40m and delivers industrial vending, consumables and business services to a number of sectors, including oil and gas, marine and aerospace. It was bought in 1990 by Würth, who reorganised the business before selling it on to GIL Investments, with funding provided by Close Brothers.