A HAYDOCK technology firm’s £30m management buy-out is expected to lay the platform for significant growth.

Intrinsic Technology’s founder and majority shareholder, Allan Gauld, has been bought out in a deal led by chief executive Mike Mason and backed by private equity firm RJD Partners.

The company, which provides ICT and unified communications solutions and managed services, was set up in 1999.

It grew slowly at first because of Mr Gauld’s insistence on remaining as debt-free as possible, but enjoyed strong growth once it had established itself after five years.

He has been seeking investment for the last two years to enable the company to make a step change from turning over £25m to aiming for annual sales of £100m.

As part of that process, Mike Mason was brought in to the company after previously advising Mr Gauld, who owns about three- quarters of Intrinsic’s share capital, on his options for the company.

Mr Mason was acting as a consultant after a 20-year career in IT and communications businesses which had seen him involved in several buy-outs and acquisitions. But he admitted to getting “bored of advising people what they should be doing and not being responsible for the execution of those plans.”

Mr Mason said: “Having worked in the business team for nearly two years, I’m delighted to now take the business forward to the next stage in its strategic plan, along with the current management team and existing teams beneath them.

“Intrinsic has developed an excellent reputation for high quality and responsive customer service.

“We aim to build on this by taking advantage of both the organic growth and acquisition opportunities presented in a dynamic but fragmented market. RJD are experienced investors in the IT services sector and fully share our ambitious vision.”

Frank Bulman, partner at RJD Partners, is excited about the potential of the St Helens firm.

He said: “Mike Mason has a proven track record of creating transformational ICT solutions, delivered and underpinned by strong service organisations.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to back him in leading a highly motivated and impressive management team and workforce, in the buyout of Intrinsic.

“The company is an innovative, leading player in an attractive market with excellent growth potential and we look forward to working with the team to fully exploit this.”

The company believes that the recession has focused organisations, whether operating in the public or private sector, on the need to increase productivity from their assets.

That includes both their people and their premises and Intrinsic’s cloud computing and unified communications solutions are, they believe, well placed to add value.

Adam Jarvis, sales and marketing director at Intrinsic Technology, added: “Ultimately, this transaction will further facilitate our growth to deliver a simplified client experience with better purchasing power across a greater number of vendors, giving our clients better choice at better prices.”