THE Royal Bank of Scotland commercial banking office in Deansgate has provided £2.3 million of funding to facilitate a management buy-out of local electrical wholesaler Express Electrical Distributors Limited.

The Wigan company, which was founded by Roy Jackson in 1976, has grown organically and through a number of acquisitions, and now has an annual turnover of £14 million and employs more than 120 staff across 15 depots in the North of England and the Midlands.

Mr Jackson's three sons - the new management team - have been involved in the running of the business as directors and minority shareholders. Roy Jackson will stay with the company as a consultant.

The financing for the buy-out was arranged by Jon Thompson and Graham Cooksey from The RBS commercial banking office in Bolton.