Growing business takes centre stage with lucrative MoD contract

Established by brass band enthusiast and percussionist Martin Gernon, Centre Stage exports its products as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

Centre Stage, which is based in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, already supplies the Halle Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia as well as the Black Dyke and Cory brass bands. Finance Yorkshire has invested more than £600,000 in Centre Stage Group over the last three years, enabling the company to become a major supplier of uniforms and instruments to bands and orchestras across the world.

The MoD contract runs for the next four years across all types of percussion instruments and accessories. Apart from its uniforms and instruments businesses, Centre Stage also runs a soft furnishings company, called Hannah Williamson. The business also has national contracts with house builders to furnish their showrooms and counts among its clients the Highgrove estate, the private residence of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and a number of UK stately homes. Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses.

Finance Yorkshire Chief Executive Alex McWhirter said: “Our investments and continued support have helped to transform the Centre Stage business, enabling it to achieve sustainable growth year on year to the point where it is now the UK market leader for the supply of band uniforms.”