Facilities management provider Servest has completed a £90million round of funding to help it achieve its goal of becoming one of the top five independent support services companies in the UK.

Servest, which is based at Fornham All Saints, near Bury St Edmunds, currently employs more than 16,000 people at more than 4,500 sites across the UK, delivering servies including catering, security, cleaning, pest control and waste management.

The new funding will be used to provide both working capital and acquisition facilities.

Servest and its owners were advised during the process by a team from the Chelmsford and Norwich offices of regional law firm Birketts, led by Chelmsford-based partner Rafael Ruiz.

He said: “The complexity and value of the transaction, involving shareholders here in the UK as well as in South Africa and the Channel Islands, combined with a tight deal timetable, necessitated teams from our Chelmsford and Norwich offices working together closely.

“I am delighted with the way that we met Servest’s needs and the demands of the transaction, and that we continue to be a part of this East Anglian success story.”

Rob Legge, Servest’s chief executive for the UK and Europe, added: “Rafael and his colleagues in Chelmsford and Norwich provided exceptional levels of service. They drove the transaction and the other advisors forward to meet our time frames, and kept command of the process throughout. I would have no hesitation in recommending Rafael, or any of the Birketts team.”