We provide balanced, creative and practical advice to privately owned North East SMEs based on the expertise and experience we have accumulated during our collective 80 years in business.
The common thread to this advice is the objective of maximising shareholder value. This may be at the point of selling a business, it may be earlier in the business life cycle when funding is required to grow equity value and/or the business looks to make strategic acquisitions or it may be at the very beginning when a business is in the start-up phase.
A big part of that experience comes from having owned businesses ourselves and experienced, as principal as well as adviser, starting businesses, running them, growing them, raising finance, buying other businesses and ultimately selling them. If you want advice from a group of people who have walked the path you are currently taking then talk to us.
We can help identify, appraise and prioritise your personal as well as your business’ short, medium and long term financial objectives. Having done so we will work with you to define an appropriate, efficient and tailored action plan to achieve them. We will then lead the process of delivering your plans. Our core services include:
If you are selling a business which you have owned for five, ten, 20 or even 30 years and this is the first sale process you have contemplated, it will be extremely difficult to avoid the pitfalls it has taken us many years of day in day out corporate finance experience to identify. So why not come and talk to us? We can help you walk the path we have taken ourselves as principals and many times as advisers
Raising finance may be fundamental to delivering the ambitions you have for your business. Whether it is the start up capital required to breathe life into your business or the development capital you need to take the business onto the next level and deliver the exit valuation you want, we have the knowledge, experience and contacts to make your plans a reality.
If you are making debt/equity investments or acquiring companies our due diligence services could help your decision making process. We find that our ability to deliver due diligence reports of real value is underpinned not just by our financial expertise but by our significant operational and commercial experience too. These skills extend across many sectors and relate to companies at all stages of the business life cycle.
We can lead you through the complex process of acquiring a business whether this be corporate to corporate or by way of Management Buy Out. Clients are increasingly seeking our active acquisition search services to identify, appraise and approach potential targets. Thereafter, we can help you build the team of advisers you will need to fully appraise whether this is the right deal for you and, if so, execute it through to legal completion.
Whether you are trying to carefully manage a period of significant growth in your business or possibly looking to navigate tougher market conditions, we can help you on an interim basis to ensure you are being provided with optimal financial information on which to base business critical decisions. Having our financial, commercial and operational experience available at key moments in their business’ development has proved to be of significant value for a number of our clients.
Business and strategic planning
Your business plan doesn’t need to follow a standard template, it should be absolutely bespoke to you and your business. Starting with a blank piece of paper, we will spend time with you to understand what you want to achieve and what you want your business to achieve, define how you might go about delivering these objectives and develop an action plan in words and numbers to help you monitor your progress to achieving your goals. This process is one which we have delivered many, many times so we are well placed to help you by bringing to bear our significant bank of experience in such matters.
Mark has been a corporate finance adviser for 16 years and has worked for Price Waterhouse Coopers (one of the big four global accountancy firms), UNW (a leading North East independent firm of chartered accountants) and Quantum Corporate Finance (at the time the only independent corporate finance house based in the North East). During his career he has gained significant experience in the three key disciplines of corporate finance - selling companies, buying companies and raising finance for businesses.
Indeed, during his career Mark has completed his own start up, been involved in a Management Buy Out, raised development capital and sold his own business to an AIM listed plc. Born and bred in the North East, Mark enjoys spending time with his wife, Emma, and two lads, James and Daniel. He supports Newcastle United and follows pretty much any sport from the Falcons to the 49’ers.
Ian has been active in corporate finance for over a decade but has also been a successful entrepreneur in the engineering sector for over 35 years. Mark and Ian met and worked closely together during their time at Quantum where Ian was also a shareholder involved in the ultimate sale of the business.
In addition to his Corporate Finance work Ian has held a number of Non Executive Director positions over the years including appointments to represent 3i Plc. and remains an active consultant to several North East businesses. Ian enjoys spending time with his family and indulging in his passion for motorsport.
