The Leeds-based, family-run lift specialist has been acquired by fast-growing compliance group Complii, in the latest deal of an aggressive buy-and-build strategy
A long-established Leeds family business has been acquired by one of the UK’s fastest-growing compliance groups. White Lift Services, a Leeds-based lift servicing and maintenance specialist founded in 1991, has been bought by Complii, the building safety and regulatory compliance group, for an undisclosed sum. The deal strengthens Complii’s lifts and escalators division and extends its coverage across the North of England. Founders Phil and Carole White will return to the business to support the handover before their planned retirement.
Why This Matters For Leeds
This is a familiar and encouraging pattern for Leeds: a founder-built local business, grown over three decades, changing hands in a way that secures its future and its jobs. For the city, it keeps a skilled Leeds operation running under a larger group with the resources to invest in it. It also shows Leeds firms being sought out by national consolidators.
What White Lift Services Brings to Complii
Founded in 1991 by Phil and Carole White, the company provides lift servicing, maintenance, repair, modernisation and installation across Yorkshire and the North of England, with a team of engineers offering 24-hour support across passenger lifts, goods lifts, food hoists and stair lifts. Over more than three decades it has built a loyal customer base spanning property and facilities management, care, education, healthcare, local authorities and commercial premises, and holds Lift and Escalator Industry Association membership and SafeContractor accreditation. Managing director Chris Gadsby will continue to lead the business, which Complii says will keep the same team and approach. The founders’ return to support the transition reflects the group’s stated emphasis on looking after the owners of the businesses it buys.
“It gives us the backing of a larger group while allowing us to continue doing what we’ve always done best — looking after our customers with the same team and the same care.”
— Chris Gadsby, Managing Director, White Lift Services
Another Step in a Buy-and-Build Drive
For Complii, the deal is one of many. The group, created in 2019, has made more than 20 acquisitions as it builds a national platform across five compliance divisions; water, air, fire, electrical, and lifts and escalators. White Lift Services is at least its fourth lift-sector purchase this year, following Classic Lifts in Glasgow and The Escalator Company in Kent. Chief executive Sarah Dixon said the Leeds firm’s independent, customer-first approach was a strong cultural fit and strengthened the group’s coverage in the region. The acquisition adds to a busy period of dealmaking involving Yorkshire businesses, and gives a long-standing Leeds employer a route to grow within a much larger group while its founders step back.
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- Learn more about Complii: https://www.complii.com
