Rhino tries for expansion with issue of £5m retail bond

Based in west London, the manufacturer of pitch turf, training equipment and leisure wear, is hoping to raise between £4m and £5m through the bond this year. The chief executive, Reg Clark, said the bond would return 5pc to 7pc to private investors when it matures after three years. “There is a need for investors to get a better returns than the banks can provide at the moment, and SMEs need help fundraising which the banks aren’t giving either. So a retail bond seems the perfect fit,” he said.

The company supplies its technical training equipment to the British & Irish Lions, England, Wales and many other leading professional teams around the world. Last year it acquired rival, Powa Products of New Zealand, who supply the national Kiwi team, the All Blacks, and it now has licensing operations in place in the US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, south-east Asia, Ireland and France.

Its turf is manufactured by CCG of Nanjing in China, and full rugby pitch installations have been completed or are in progress at London Irish’s new training ground in Sunbury and stadiums in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Wellington, New Zealand.

Non-executive director, Andrew Moss, the former chief executive of giant insurance house Aviva, came onside in 2012 to add weight to the management pack.

“The growth of the profile of the Rhino brand in recent years has been remarkable and we are determined to continue that process,” said Mr Clark, a former City banker, originally from West Hartlepool.

“Our clients tend to be great supporters of the brand and we see the retail bond route as a perfect way to fund continued growth and create further following for our products.”

The group is hoping to tempt player-investors and fans as bond holders will receive large discounts on Rhino’s retail products, principally leisurewear.

Plans are also underway that could enable investors to nominate a club of their choice for deals on bigger ticket technical equipment.

Rhino was first conceived in the late Seventies when Tim Francis, head of Rugby at Dulwich College, started building a contraption he hoped would improve his team’s scrum.

The part-time inventor quit his job and moved to the West Country, where he went on to manufacture the world’s first scrummaging machine, the Powerhouse, alongside Derek de Glanville, the father of the former England captain Phil.

Mr Clark became an investor in the business in the late Eighties before leading a buy-in of the group in 2006.

Aware the brand would benefit from a high-profile ambassador he went on to recruit Martin Johnson.

Under his management team, Rhino’s revenues have risen from £750,000 in 2006 to £5m today.

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