Edinburgh-headquartered telecoms and ISP provider, Commsworld, has secured investment from LDC, the private equity branch of Lloyds Banking Group.

At present, the value of the deal is undisclosed. However, Commsworld said the investment will support efforts to expand its services throughout the rest of the UK.

Commsworld already employs more than 100 staff based at offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and London.

Moving forward, the Edinburgh firm said it aims to target another year of double-digit growth. For the financial year that ended December 2019, the firm recorded revenues of £20 million – marking a 41% increase on the previous 12 months.

Ricky Nicol, CEO at Commsworld, said: “We had the choice of a number of options for investment, but we have built a strong relationship with LDC who share our vision for the business and can provide the right balance of support, experience and contacts to help us deliver.

“LDC’s investment is a real signal of our intent to further invest in our offering and capacity so we can continue to disrupt the market. Rest, assured, we’ll be targeting another year of double-digit growth.”

Established in 1994, Commsworld provides connectivity, cloud and IT infrastructure services to both the public and private sectors, with key clients including Skyscanner, Edinburgh Airport and Taylor Wimpey.

As part of the deal, LDC’s Mark Kerr and Colin Bennett will join the board of Commsworld, alongside CEO Ricky Nicol, CFO Graeme St John and non-executive director, Steve Langmead.

Telecoms expert John Trower will also join Commsworld as chairman. Trower boasts significant experience working for and advising private equity-backed telecoms businesses and has held board roles at Metronet UK and Glasgow-based firm, My1Login.

Mark Kerr, head of LDC in Scotland, said: “Ricky and the team have transformed Commsworld in recent years from a telco reseller into a stand-out national network operator. Our investment will help them to build on this hard work and success and deliver further on their ambitions for Commsworld.”

Commsworld and LDC confirmed the deal will provide an exit for the remaining non-executive directors and private shareholders. This includes SNP MP Ian Blackford, who served as chairman.

Earlier this week it was reported that Blackford, MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, would receive a significant windfall from a speculated takeover of the firm by LDC.

According to the register of MPs interests, Blackford received payment of £1,000 a month for his role at the firm.

LDC was advised on the transaction by a team from the Edinburgh offices of EY and Pinsent Masons. The Commsworld management team was advised by Oakley Advisory.