Mark Bridges has built his leadership career within what he describes as ‘man and van’ businesses, including Domestic & General, Indesit Company, and Pimlico Plumbers. Now, as Group CEO of Ranger Fire and Security, he is working with PE-newcomer, Hyperion, to build a business from the ground up through buy and build. Here I interview him about the lessons from his career so far, finding the right cultural fit in his current role, and how Ranger is poised for growth.
If there’s one thing Mark Bridges thrives on, it is, he says, “the challenge to build something. I don't mind if that's building from scratch or fixing, but I like the big system implementations, new business wins, acquisitions, and scaling.”
It was the desire to build something that led Bridges to his current role as Group CEO of Ranger Fire & Security, a platform build that having launched in February this year has already made seven acquisitions and is growing fast. The business aims to be a one-stop shop for all fire and security services with a focus on active fire maintenance, combining central oversight with local, founder-led operations across all 11 fire and security verticals, maximising the opportunity for cross-selling.
“We love the market because, for the customer, it is rightly highly regulated, making it defensible and recurring revenue,” says Bridges. “Currently, it's a fragmented marketplace, plus, it's a skilled industry, so there are barriers to entry, and its growing at over 5% per year.”
A background in transformation
Bridges’ business career started on a graduate scheme at German conglomerate, ThyssenKrupp, before he joined Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems, working on the Honda account. But his passion for building and transforming businesses really began while studying for an MBA at Nottingham University Business School, from where he became Business Change Manager at Indesit Company, working under Service MD , Franco Secchi, on the recently acquired Hotpoint brand.
“Four weeks in, there was a profit warning on the Italian Stock Exchange, and they pointed the finger entirely at us,” he explains. “But Franco’s attitude was: ‘This is fantastic because we can change everything.’ We changed the contracts, people, software, and culture. When they sold it a few years later, it was the most profitable part of their organisation.”
From there, Bridges joined Homeserve, which he describes as: “Not PE-backed, but, in a way, the most PE-style business I've ever worked at,” due to CEO, Richard Harpin, “a force of nature, who took the business from idea to FTSE 100, through to sale.”
That was followed by a move to Domestic & General where “brilliant” CEO, Ian Mason, put him in charge of the entire international business, again driving change:
“It was loss-making, but within a few years, it was doing £20m EBITDA. We also opened in the US, so I was involved in building the management team and putting new systems in place.”
After that, ready for a full CEO role, Bridges took on the top job at KKR-acquired Pimlico Plumbers, which was positioned as the ideal transformation role. However, he soon discovered that expectations didn’t meet reality, and he left after just a year.
“I probably didn't spend enough time discussing what was involved before taking on that role,” he explains. “There were a couple of red flags, which I ignored, and I wouldn't do that again. It was definitely a lesson to ensure I spend enough time doing diligence on future roles.”
Finding a cultural fit
The Pimlico Plumbers experience led Bridges to take some time out from leadership and this paid dividends in leading to his current role via an informal consultancy role with Hyperion. The start-up private equity firm was in the early stages of developing Ranger, giving him the chance to be involved almost from conception while getting to know the team. Liking what he saw, he then accepted the Group CEO role.
“I had the chance to work closely with the Hyperion team to understand the business culturally, and for them to get to know me,” he says. “That period was hugely valuable to plan without distractions, map our guardrails, and what kind of acquisitions we wanted to make.” “It is so rare and such a great opportunity to get the chance to start with a blank piece of paper and draw out what good looks like. We have really stuck to this philosophy of not compromising.”
The importance of cultural fit has also driven Bridges’ approach to acquisitions at Ranger, with the team focused on identifying founders that match the company ethos, through a lengthy diligence process. This has been vital to ensuring that the local brands can cross-sell effectively.
“Every corporate finance house we've spoken to has warned us that cross-selling is going to be the most difficult aspect, but we're not finding it difficult,” he says. “The team gels, they get on and want to help each other. They're incentivised, and the behaviours are all aligned. That's our secret sauce.”
Serving local founders
Ranger has a three-horizon strategy. Horizon one is acquisitions, starting to trade, and cross-selling; horizon two is putting systems in place, and horizon three is process and structure. However, Bridges stresses the importance of staying adaptable to the needs of the local businesses and has already revised the timeline to meet their needs.
“Three of the businesses weren’t happy with their ERP system, so it made sense to find a strategic solution,” he says. “You need to be flexible enough to amend the plan, and we've seen amazing benefits on the back of implementing Simpro already.”
Working collaboratively with the founders is central to how the Ranger leadership structure works, with a small central team empowering the “local heroes”.
“The central team provides solutions, removes the headaches, and integrates where valuable,” he says. “The brand equity is with the local businesses. We want to strip away the back-office headaches and let the founders, who are amazing entrepreneurs, thrive and grow the business.”
One long-term challenge for the central team will be building a talent pipeline to fuel future growth in the business, given the skill shortages that exist across the engineering sector.
“Our business is growing organically at upwards of 15% per year,” he says. “If we can find more engineers, it would be even bigger. So, in the longer run, we want to put something back into the industry in the form of apprenticeship schemes.”
Lessons on buy and build
It’s been a fast rise for a brand that only launched in 2024 and, with more businesses in due diligence, and new hires in the pipeline, the future looks very bright.
“Next year, we'll be offering all 11 of our verticals across the entire UK,” says Bridges. “We also want to offer a turnkey solution to those organisations that need an integrated approach.”
What have been the biggest lessons so far?
“You need time to get things off the ground because, to begin with, we were a couple of guys with a presentation,” explains Bridges. “We’re grateful two businesses took a chance on us early on, then the momentum has been incredible.”
Secondly, given the challenge of building a new brand, Bridges stresses the importance of repetition, both internally and externally.
“That’s one lesson I took from Ian Mason at Domestic & General: repetition of message,” he concludes. “I’m unashamed in repeating what we're looking to do because people are all busy with their work and it can take a few times to really get it.”
Finally, he says, enjoy it.
“On a Sunday evening, I always feel good about going in, because I’m excited about everything we’re doing,” he says. “Whether I’m seeing new businesses or talking with the teams, it’s great to have that drive, and that comes from knowing you’re building something exciting and sector defining.”
If any of the themes in this article resonate with you and you would like to discuss them further please be in touch. You can email me here.
Matthew Friend
