An Ipswich PPE business has completed the takeover of a west Suffolk competitor.

Ipswich Trade Centre (ITC) - which specialises in personalised PPE (personal protective equipment), workwear and other business consumables - has acquired Chase Trade Centre which was previously based in Brandon.

ITC has also secured the expertise and services of its previous owner Arron MacDonald who becomes its new business development manager.

ITC is owned by leading Suffolk-based entrepreneurs Matt Moss and Paul Sheppard. 

The pair also run Smart Modular Buildings - one of the country’s leading manufacturers of outside living spaces - which is based at Thurston, near Bury St Edmunds.

ITC said the takeover means it has doubled its capacity to meet the workwear needs of other businesses in the county and is now well positioned to grow the operation across the region.

ITC director Paul Sheppard said the acquisition and the recruitment of Arron MacDonald "further secures our pedigree position".

 “Due to coverage during the Covid19 pandemic, the issue of PPE quality and effectiveness of supply remains of vital importance to businesses," he said.

"ITC has an enviable record in offering quality products and solutions to a wide-range of companies across many different sectors.”

Arron MacDonald said he felt there were a lot of synergies between the businesses.

"Having known Matt for 25 years I could see that it made sense commercially to pull the two businesses together in order to realise our combined ambitions," he said.

“I’m definitely competitive and am keen to see ITC roll out its highly successful business model to other parts of the eastern region.”

Matt Moss said he was looking forward to "an exciting period of growth".

“We are looking at different ways of expanding the ITC approach, including via a franchising model, to take advantage of the  large number of major infrastructure projects happening here," he said.