Recurring revenue
Contracted, repeating income with low churn is worth materially more than project work. It is often a packaging decision, not a product one.
Business sales & acquisitions · Birmingham & West Midlands
Buy well. Sell well. Keep the value you built.
Transactions are won and lost in the preparation. I work alongside owners, lawyers and tax advisers to keep the numbers credible, the process controlled and the outcome close to what the business is worth.
West Mids Finance · Advisory in the room
Selling
Exit readiness, before the buyer arrives
Most value is created in the eighteen months before a sale, not in the negotiation. My job is to make the business easy to buy and hard to discount.
- Exit readiness review and a realistic valuation range
- Quality of earnings preparation before a buyer asks
- Information memorandum and financial section of the pack
- Buyer or investor shortlist and approach strategy
- Due diligence coordination and query management
- Deal structure, earn-outs and completion accounts support
Buying
Acquisitions that add rather than absorb
A good acquisition has a thesis, a price that survives diligence, and a plan for the first hundred days. I cover the financial side from screening to integration.
- Target screening against a clear acquisition thesis
- Independent view of the target numbers and quality of earnings
- Valuation, synergy modelling and funding structure
- Debt and equity funding for the transaction
- Due diligence oversight with your lawyer and tax adviser
- Integration plan and first 100 days of post-deal reporting
6
Completed transactions alongside owners
3.5x
Median multiple improvement after an exit readiness programme
100 days
Post-deal plan and reporting handover
The process
Eighteen months, five stages
Whether you are buying or selling, the sequence is the same. Rushing the first stage is the most expensive mistake in the process.
12–24 months out
Prepare
Clean up the numbers, reduce reliance on the owners, document the systems, and build a forecast a buyer can believe.
6–9 months out
Value
An honest valuation range with the drivers behind it. Where the multiple comes from, and which improvements move it.
3–6 months out
Take to market
Buyer or target list, teaser, information memorandum, and a controlled process with the right advisers alongside.
Diligence
Prove it
A data room that holds up: quality of earnings, working capital normalisation, and answers inside the agreed timetable.
Completion
Close and hand over
Price mechanism, earn-out terms, completion accounts, and a 100-day plan so value is not lost on day one.
Valuation
What buyers actually pay for
Multiples are a shortcut, not a strategy. These four drivers explain most of the gap between two similar businesses.
Owner independence
A business that runs without the founder is a different asset. Documented processes and a credible second layer of management matter.
Clean, provable numbers
Adjustments you can evidence. Every add-back a buyer cannot verify becomes a discount at the table.
Growth you can explain
A forecast with named drivers beats an optimistic curve. Buyers pay for the reasoning as much as the number.
Where we work
Business sales and acquisitions across Birmingham and the West Midlands
Sandy works with owners, lawyers and tax advisers across Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry and the wider West Midlands on both sides of a transaction. Confidentiality is maintained throughout, and early conversations can be held before any process begins.
Next step
Thinking about a sale, or a first acquisition?
These conversations are confidential and start with a plain discussion of what the business is worth and what would need to change. No commitment, no pressure.