CITY entrepreneur Jon Bakewell has bought a Colwick office equipment business which supplies councils, universities and hospitals.

Bakewell's JB Holdings has bought Librex Educational from owners Margaret and Allan Wright in an undisclosed deal thought to run into six figures.

The centrepiece of Bakewell's businesses is Bilborough printing firm John Brown, which already has a strong relationship with Librex.

Mr Bakewell said: "I'm always looking to invest in locally based businesses which complement our portfolio and Librex fits the bill perfectly.

"The company has built a strong reputation over the past 60 years under the leadership of Margaret and Allan Wright.

"I knew the quality of the business as we have been their supplier of catalogues for over 30 years through our printing company John Browns and I could see that there was a natural synergy between the two businesses, so it made complete sense to adopt Librex into our group."

Librex has been supplying a range of office products to schools, libraries, universities and hospitals, and Mr Bakewell is planning to expand the business through more product lines and a new website.

He said: "There are many products which John Browns already produce which will sit comfortably among the growing number of lines which Librex supply.

"We will also be looking to rapidly expand on the number of products that they provide, offering more choice to customers through the completely rebuilt website."

The takeover deal was supported with facilities provided by the Yorkshire Bank's Nottingham financial solutions centre under its Investing For Growth banner.

Paul Elliott, business banking partner at Yorkshire Bank FSC in Nottingham, said: "Jon Bakewell has worked extremely hard to build up his JB Holdings company and when he spotted an opportunity to add Librex to the group's portfolio the bank was delighted to help fund the buy-out.''

Mr Bakewell added: "I am really pleased with the support we received from Yorkshire Bank and Geldards in helping structure this deal and I'm looking forward to building on the success Librex has enjoyed over the last three decades.

"I'm also grateful for the great job which Jonathan Salt of RSM Tenon did in bringing all the parties together to make the deal happen."