Philip is a serial entrepreneur with 30 years experience in growing successful start-ups…
Grimment Investments is owned by Philip Johnston, a serial entrepreneur with a 30 year track record building successful tech recycling companies from start-up. A qualified electronics design engineer specialising in Radio Telecommunications and Computer Hardware, Philip enjoys R&D or developing new products and services with his teams to invent new recycling markets. From delivering high growth start-ups to running large corporate global businesses entrepreneurially, Philip and his amazing team have a wide range of skills to support any start-up or investment.
Philip has worked within the technology recycling industry since 1988, building many successful mobile phone repair and recycling companies that worked closely with companies such as: Apple, Samsung, BT, EE, Google, Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson, Three, Alcatel Vodafone and Orange.
1994
In 1994 he took control of an insolvent £300K Glasgow business with 6 staff and over a 9 year period, turned this loss making business into one of the UK's leading mobile phone repair companies, with 258 staff in two countries, generating £14M in sales and £1.5M pre-tax profits. (The business eventually grew to 900 staff.)
2003
He exited this business, raised the necessary £0.5M start-up funding (A mixture of Equity, Debt and Grants) to launch S3 Interactive Ltd (S3i), which was an innovative smartphone / tablet recycling business that grew quickly from start-up to £15M with £1.7M pre-tax profits with 85 staff.
September 2011
Philip sold S3i to the world’s largest recycler in a £20M exit and stayed on for almost 3 years post acquisition to help develop the business in: South Africa, Poland, Germany, Holland, Czech Republic and the US.
2013
Along with 3 other leading entrepreneurs, he acquired Mearns Castle Golf Academy (MCGA). MCGA is Scotland's leading PGA golfing academy, and is located in the south side of Glasgow. It has a 9 hole golf course, 40 driving range bays with Top Tracer technology, Country Club facilities and a Kids golf training academy.
March 2014
Philip launched Grimment Investments to provide business angel and investment services to business that could innovate in recycling. Grimment would then begin to focus on AI, Robotics, Tech and Software to build a Group of Companies that could collaborate and deliver unique solutions to complex waste streams.
January 2015
Grimment invested in a new start-up company called Tomo Technology that specialise in remanufacturing; faulty, end of life and used smartphone's for export to developing countries globally. Tomo has grown from start-up to 30 employees.
March 2016
Grimment invested £1.6M and bought a commercial portfolio of industrial properties from an offshore Shell Pension Fund in Bermuda.
May 2016
Grimment acquired a Waste Management business called Environmental Waste Systems Ltd in Hamilton. EWSL specialise in project managing complex waste streams for companies across the United Kingdom.
June 2017
Grimment invested £2.1M and bought a portfolio of restaurant and bar properties in Glasgow's City Centre.
January 2021
Grimment invested £1.25M in a new Software Business start-up called TakeBack Software, specialising in providing bespoke websites, apps and cloud based software for the Recycling Industry / Circular Economy.
December 2022
Grimment invested £450,000 in a new Software Business start-up called TrackTrade, specialising in developing and selling a job management software system that allows companies to manage field workers in: Waste Management, EV Charger Installation, Facilities Management and Building Trades.
Awards
Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire “Business of the Year” 1998, 1999 & 2001
UK Mobile News Awards “Best Service & Repair” 2002
Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire “Most Entrepreneurial Young Company” 2004
Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire “Best International Business” 2004
Enterprising Scotland “Most Entrepreneurial Young Company” 2005
Innovation Centre “Business of the Decade” 2010
Innovation Centre “Most Successful Export Business” 2010
Sunday Times "Tech Track Top 100 UK Fastest Growing Companies" (44th) 2010
Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” Finalist 2010