Frequently asked questions

A method for turning a good company into a group private equity competes to buy. Build the platform, scale it by acquisition, then exit for a life-changing number.

Owners of profitable £1m–£10m companies with EBITDA of £500k to £1m who want a real exit, not a lifestyle business.

It starts with a strategy call. We work out if there's a fit and what the path from here to a life-changing exit looks like.

Traditional advisers help you sell what you've already built. We help you build something worth selling first. We stay alongside you through the entire journey — from fixing the platform, to doing the deals, to preparing the exit. We don't hand you a report and disappear.

From first acquisition to a PE-ready exit is typically three to five years. The Twin-Track approach runs the build and scale phases in parallel, which compresses the timeline significantly compared to doing one after the other.

You're not alone — and that's exactly why we handle 98% of the work. We only need you to attend some meetings and advise our board on sector-specific issues. And if you engage us to prepare your business first, you'll soon find you have plenty more time on your hands.

No. Most founders don't know how to undertake buy-and-build — and it's not something you can learn on a quick course without risking your house. That's why we handle the entire process: sourcing the data on thousands of owners in your space, reaching out to them, negotiating, fixing their risks, sorting the funding and more.

A common problem. Starting and growing a business demands a completely different set of skills to acquiring one. You probably also tried to acquire under an MBI rather than an MBO — and that seldom works for sub-£20m businesses. Our Partnering for Equity model works because we spend 12–18 months fixing each business before we acquire it. We're seen as the good guys, and that changes everything.

This is where we differ most from others. We focus on 95% of businesses in your sector who are not selling yet — and we nurture them. We typically start by sending them a free gift such as one of our books. We offer webinars, training and coaching to founders who are likely to want to sell over the next few years. No one else in the buy-and-build market spends time and expertise helping founders exit well. As a result, we source 20× the number of potential sellers.

We target business owners who are likely to sell within the next few years — and that pool is 100× larger than those currently on the market. We nurture them, help them, and eventually acquire a number of them. By the time we approach them, they already know and trust us.

We focus on profitable UK businesses in the £1m–£10m revenue range with recurring or repeatable revenue. Sector matters less than the fundamentals: healthy margins, a team that can operate without the owner, and a product or service that scales. We look for businesses where integration creates real value, not just bigger numbers.

A common misconception. Things are cheap for a reason. We don't take the risks that come with acquiring a business without first fixing the issues. By fixing them first, we have far more businesses to choose from, we can buy more of them more quickly, and we do it with far less risk.

Your business is completely ring-fenced from the group we create and the subsequent acquisitions. Under no circumstances can your business be affected if the roll-up stalls, fails to grow or fails entirely.

No. Your equity stake is held in your family trust and you won't be required to sign a personal guarantee. The acquisitions are undertaken through a separate group from your group of companies, so there are no cross-guarantees. Your personal assets have nothing to do with this buy-and-build because of how we structure it. If you tried to acquire businesses on your own, the bank would typically want your home as security. By working with us, you avoid that risk entirely.

Yes. We set up a new group company that you gain equity in via your family trust. If you don't have a trust, we can set one up for you. This means your existing group cannot be negatively affected.

It starts with a paid diagnostic — typically £10,000 — which gives you a clear picture of where the business is today and what needs to change. From there, we work on a monthly retainer plus an equity stake that aligns our incentives with yours. We only do well when you exit well.

Under traditional buy-and-build strategies, the bank would expect you to put roughly 30% down on two or three deals — that's anywhere from £1m to £5m. Our Partnering for Equity model is different. We nurture the businesses and become part of their management team. We gain a modest equity stake after a few months, then acquire under an MBO. Banks view MBOs as much lower risk and don't ask for a cash contribution from us. Another way we de-risk the process.

Yes. It's part of our remit to mitigate the tax you pay on dividends and the considerable gain when we sell to PE. We work with specialist advisers to make sure the structure is as tax-efficient as possible.

MBI means Management Buy-In; MBO means Management Buy-Out. They sound similar but banks treat them very differently. An MBI is when you acquire a business without being involved in its management — you don't fully know the risks. MBIs are extremely high-risk for sub-£20m businesses, so the bank expects you to put 30% down. Our model is different: we spend 12–18 months fixing each business's risks before acquiring it. Because we've been involved in the management and reduced the risks, the bank views it as an MBO — and won't ask for a large deposit. We also typically take an early 20% equity stake because of the improvements we've made. That's why we don't need millions in deposits. Once you understand this structure, you realise why private equity makes so much money for such little effort — and we're inviting you into that world.

Most founders retain equity in the group. Private equity buyers often want the founder to stay involved post-acquisition — and they reward founders who roll equity into the new structure. The exact split depends on the deal, but you typically don't walk away completely on day one.

You're a minority stakeholder because we undertake 98% of the work and have the team to expedite the process. Even with a minority stake, we still aim to hit your target exit amount. And yes — as the acquisitions progress, you can acquire additional equity at the current value.

Yes — unless we need to reinvest the capital, dividends are paid to the entity that holds the shares. Within a couple of years, this should start to exceed what you receive from your current business.

Your team is part of the value. We're not coming in to replace them — we're coming in to give them the structure, systems and leadership they need to perform at a higher level. If the business is too dependent on you, that's the first thing we fix. The end state is a team that runs the business without you having to be there every day.

Integration is where most buy-and-build strategies fail. We bring each acquisition onto the platform's systems, processes and reporting structure as quickly as possible — one set of numbers, one way of working. The goal is that every business we acquire makes the group stronger, not just bigger.

No.