Bosses have completed a management buyout of a clinical furniture manufacturer which has kitted out Great Ormond Street, Guy’s and Darent Valley Hospitals.

David Bailey Furniture Systems, founded in 1982, has been bought by its managing director Trevor Gillman, who first joined the business as a surveyor in 1990.

Mr Gillman used a £110,000 loan to buy the company, along with a £300,000 agreement with Lloyds Bank to get access to cash for as-yet unpaid invoices, known as an invoice discounting facility.

He takes control of shares owned by David Haigh, son of the firm’s founder Joe, who still keeps a stake in the business.

Mr Gillman plans to develop partnerships with other similar businesses.

He said: “I couldn’t be happier with the result.

“Now I have more control to pursue my plans for the business and expand the range of products we deliver.”

Originally a domestic kitchens maker, David Bailey moved into the healthcare market after it was approached by Canterbury Hospital in 1990, with a requirement for furniture for their new Pfizer-sponsored building.

The following year it secured a £200,000 order from Guy’s Hospital and fully changed its focus to the sector in 1993, later adding the education and veterinary markets.

By 2000, it had completed the first PFI hospital at Darent Valley for Carillion PLC.

Paul Green, senior relationship manager at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “We were impressed by Trevor’s ambition – he’s got an entrepreneurial mind and a great eye for how to improve things.

“Supporting this management buyout gives him the autonomy to develop new partnerships and services and we were more than happy to help him transform his role in the business.”