SENIOR managers have taken control of health and safety specialist National Britannia Group in a £25 million management buy-out.

The Caerphilly-based operation will be led by existing chief executive Alex Sleeth and development director Adrian Walker. Both men have been with the company for more than 15 years. They"ve been backed by venture capitalist West Private Equity and by HSBC bank.

Alex Sleeth said: "The partnership with West Private Equity and HSBC will provide us with the firepower to expand the business, to support strong growth and to create jobs.

"We envisage significant opportunities for further growth through acquisitions, cross-selling to existing customers and the development of our services. We aim to become the market leader in all fields of our activity."

Jeremy Hand, managing director of West Private Equity, said: "We believe that National Britannia is ideally positioned to take advantage of consolidation opportunities within this fragmented, fast-growing market and we look forward to working with the management team to achieve our shared vision of growth."

National Britannia provides consultancy and risk management systems across the health and safety, food, occupational health, information and asbestos sectors.

It claims a "blue chip" client base across a broad range of industries. It also works for government and public sector bodies including the UK Health & Safety Executive, for which it runs two nationwide information services.

National Britannia employs 550 people in the UK, 350 of whom are qualified scientists or industry professionals.

The company believes its "killer application" is its e-riskManager. This is a web-based IT system which enables firms to manage safety, health and environmental risks online.

National Britannia said it was in use at more than 11,000 sites worldwide.

The value of the UK health and safety marketplace has been estimated at £1.1 billion (2004) and some believe it could grow by as much as 14 per cent per annum over the next decade due to compliance requirements of new legislation.