BURY-headquartered Crown Oil has strengthened its brand in the North West after acquiring an £18m-turnover oil supplier.

The company, part of the £420m-turnover Crown Oil family of companies, has completed the purchase of Stockport-based Star Oil for an undisclosed sum.

This deal for the 20-year-old business will increase Heap Bridge-based Crown Oil’s reach in the region and take staff numbers to more than 1,250.

Star Oil, set up by Christian Hatherall and Michael Doyle, has seven tankers covering the North West and supplies fuel, oil and lubricants to industrial operations, farms and homes.

Christian and Star’s 10 staff will remain with the business, while Michael will seek new opportunities elsewhere. The business will continue to trade as Star Oil for the time being.

The deal is Crown Oil’s first purchase since 2018, when it added Birlem Oil, in London, and West Midlands-based Beesley Fuels to its portfolio.

The business, established by the Greensmith family more than 70 years ago, had worked with Star Oil for some time when the opportunity arose.

Matthew Greensmith, managing director of Crown Oil Group, said: “We’re excited to have announced this deal, which will see the Crown Oil family expanding once again. Star has been around for 20 years and, in that time, has built up a fantastic reputation for great service, which will fit in with Crown’s ideology of putting the customer first.

“We’ve worked closely with Christian and Michael and we were keen to take up this opportunity to safeguard the future of Star, and strengthen our North West footprint. We are looking forward to building on these successes together and we wish Michael all the best for the future.”

Christian Hatherall, who will be senior operations manager of the business, said: “I am delighted to see the completion of this deal, which has come about from the solid relationship we have built with Crown over the years. I look forward to seeing the business flourish and grow.

"Being part of that growth journey and working for the Crown Oil Group brand is a very exciting prospect for me.”

Headquartered in Bury, the Crown Oil family of companies also offers fuel-related environmental services (fuel testing, fuel polishing, etc.) and has interests in utilities connections, gas supply and uPVC building products. Established more than 70 years ago by the Greensmith family, it now employs 1,250 people.