The company announced today that it had “secured strong refinancing” and restructured its banking arrangements with lenders and private equity stakeholders with a view to “funding future investment”.

ProPrint asked Geon chief executive Graham Morgan (pictured) whether this meant the company was back on the acquisition trail.

“The short answer is yes,” he said. “The longer answer is that even throughout the last 12 months, we’ve continued to look at a number of opportunities.”

“We’re not planning on buying a lot of companies like we were a few years ago. Now we’re a bit more focused on organic growth, but we’re always on the lookout for opportunities.”

Morgan denied that the company’s acquisition strategy had been stalled by a difficulty in obtaining credit.

“The restructure was more about making sure we’ve got more headroom for expansion opportunities,” he said. “We haven’t been restricted by a lack of credit.”

The company used today’s announcement to reinforce Geon’s “stability”, though Morgan stopped short of ruling out further redundancies.

“Like a lot of businesses over the last 12 months, we’ve had people leave the company who we didn’t replace. But we haven’t had to reduce numbers for a while now.

“You can never promise anybody that their jobs are secure, but we’ve certainly strengthened our position,” he added.

The news presents a marked contrast from last year’s lead-up to Christmas, when the company retrenched 5% of its total workforce as part of a company-wide “reorganisation”.

Morgan remained optimistic about the group’s prospects. “Over the last three to six months, we’ve started to see some of our businesses turn the corner, and all of our businesses are now forecasting growth.”

“This is a good thing not just for Geon but for the industry.”

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