The transaction was supported by acquisition finance from Clydesdale Bank.

The group’s trading subsidiary, The Electric Heating Company Limited, began trading in 2005. Turnover reached £3.75 million in the year that ended 31 October 2019, a 14 per cent rise on 2018.

Customers include various social and private landlords throughout the UK, all the major UK plumbing and electrical wholesalers and a host of independent wholesalers.

Mr Walters, managing director, said: “The directors of EHC have actively been looking for a suitable exit strategy for a number of years that would provide a solution which safeguards all parties concerned.

“Various schemes were promoted to us however we operate a transparent management style and when we discussed the options with the key staff it was agreed the employee share scheme would deliver the best long term solution to meet our future aspirations. We are delighted that the transaction is now complete and provides stability across the company in these challenging times.”

He added: “Following initial detailed discussions with Fraser Morrison we appointed Macdonald Henderson to complete the complex transaction on the directors behalf. The advice and support we received from them throughout the process has been outstanding. Given the difficulties of the current situation they made great effort to ensure that we received regular updates and successfully completed the transaction on the agreed timescale. We are extremely grateful to both David Beveridge and Colm Kerr for all their efforts.”

Macdonald Henderson (David Beveridge and Colm Kerr) acted for the shareholder/directors, Ness Gallagher for the employees, Harper Macleod for Clydesdale Bank, with WDM CA providing accountancy, tax and corporate finance advice.