We're on your side of the table.
A quality over quantity M&A advisory, built on one simple idea: do the right thing by the people we work for, and the deals take care of themselves.
Who we are
Small team, sharp focus.
Buying or selling a business is one of the biggest moves an owner ever makes. It deserves more than a quick introduction and an invoice.
So we keep things small on purpose. We take on fewer clients and give each one proper attention, from the first honest valuation right through to the day the deal completes. One team, start to finish.
The M&A world has earned a bit of a reputation over the years. We'd rather be the firm that quietly does it properly and puts your interests ahead of our own.
fewer clients, more care, and your name kept out of it until you choose otherwise.
What we stand for
The things we won't budge on.
A few simple principles that shape every deal we touch, whichever side of the table you're on.
Doing the right thing
It's our core value, not a line on a wall. When something's good for us but not for you, you win.
Skin in the game
Most of our fee comes on completion, so we only really win when you do. The price always matches the value.
Reach beyond the UK
Contacts across Europe, America and Australia, so the right buyer or target isn't limited by a border.
Real people, real answers
No call centres, no auto replies. You deal with the people actually running your deal.
How we work
More than an introduction.
Plenty of firms put two parties in a room and call it a day. That's the easy bit. The value is in everything around it.
- We build and sharpen your business case
- We lead the negotiation, not just sit in on it
- We manage diligence both ways so the numbers hold up
- We see the deal through completion and handover
Where we sit
Warwick, which turns out to matter.
Not a London firm, and that is deliberate. Being in the Midlands puts us within reach of most of the country by road, which is how we end up sitting across the table from owners rather than doing everything by video call.
It works for the international side too. Birmingham airport is on our doorstep and London is a short train away, so the relationships we hold overseas are genuinely accessible rather than theoretical. A buyer flying in can be with us the same morning.
Who we work with
Listed companies, groups, private equity, and substantial privately owned businesses. High value relationships rather than high volume listings.
Why we keep it that way
A larger client list would mean less time on each one. We would rather hold fewer relationships and actually be available for them.
This is the part that is easy to say and hard to do. Most firms grow by taking on more mandates, which works right up until the point nobody has time for anyone. We have kept the business deliberately focused so that every relationship gets proper attention, rather than becoming a transaction that someone processes.
It also means we turn work down. If we cannot give something the time it needs, saying so early is better for everyone than discovering it six months in.
How we start
Work with us for a month. Risk free.
We would rather you tried us than took our word for it. So the first thirty days are a defined piece of work with a defined output, and if it does not deliver you get your money back in full.
A small retainer
Not five figures up front. Enough to fund real work, and it comes off the success fee, so a completed deal costs you the success fee and nothing more.
Thirty days of actual work
Selling, we test the market with real acquirers. Buying, we build and qualify the universe and make the first approaches. Either way you see something real.
Then you decide
Happy with what you have seen, we carry on. Not happy, you get a full refund and we part on good terms. No tie in, no argument.
And it works both ways
The thirty days is not only you assessing us. It is us working out whether we can genuinely do a good job for you.
Sometimes the honest answer after a month is that the market does not want the business at the value you need, or that the brief cannot be filled, or that we are not the right firm for it. When that is the answer we say so and refund you, rather than taking a fee for another eleven months while nothing happens.
That is what quality over quantity actually means in practice. We would rather work with fewer clients properly than carry a long list of mandates that were never going to complete.
Why we do it this way
Because the alternative costs owners real money.
The common model in this industry is a large fee up front, somewhere between fifteen and fifty thousand pounds, followed by a twelve month agreement.
- Thirty days in you have spent serious money and seen nothing
- No offers, no evidence anyone wants the business, no way to judge whether it is working
- A tie in that stops you going elsewhere while you find out
- And if the deal never happens, none of it comes back
We are not saying every firm charging up front is doing something wrong. Preparing a business properly costs money before any deal exists, and somebody has to pay for it. The issue is scale, and what you can see for it.
Whoever you end up using, ours or anyone else's, try to put a short proving stage in front of a long engagement. Ask what you will have seen after thirty days. Ask whether any of it is refundable. Ask whether the retainer comes off the success fee or sits on top of it. Three questions, and the answers tell you most of what you need to know.
What selling actually costs →Thinking about buying or selling?
Have a chat with us first. No pressure, no obligation, just an honest view of where you stand.