Members of the Springboard team receiving the award from Keith Rose, Director, Business Development, Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending

We are delighted to have won ‘SME Advisory Team Of The Year’ at the Insider Media Midlands Dealmakers Awards 2023. Thanks to everyone who voted for us and congratulations to all winners and nominees.

Simon Ward, Partner commented “It’s a great honour for the Springboard team to be recognised by our peers in this way. I’d like to extend thanks to the fantastic clients we’ve had the privilege to support over the last year and to our dedicated and talented team.”

Left to right: Pritesh Mistry, Simon Ward and Amrit Singh

We are delighted to announce the recruitment of Pritesh Mistry as Business Development Manager and Amrit Singh as an analyst, as the business continues to invest in its team.

Pritesh brings 8 years of experience in professional services business development. His career includes roles with KPMG, Grant Thornton, and Addleshaw Goddard. Pritesh will focus on identifying opportunities for Springboard and leading the firm’s marketing efforts.

Amrit Singh, a recent Accounting and Finance graduate of the University of Birmingham, joins as an analyst and will provide support to the Springboard team across all aspects of our services.

Springboard Partner Simon Ward expressed his enthusiasm about these new additions, stating, “I am delighted to welcome Pritesh and Amrit to the Springboard team. Pritesh is a seasoned Business Development professional with a proven track record whilst Amrit has already demonstrated her ambition and commitment to learn with us. I look forward to helping both develop their careers with the firm.”

We are delighted to have completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge on Thursday 13th July 2023 in support of Crohn’s & Colitis UK. Thank you to everyone who has supported us, so far, we have raised over £2,655. This is an amazing achievement by all the team and we appreciate all the support we have received. The Yorkshire Three Peaks was challenging but we got through it together and the tired legs were worth it for such a worthy cause.

If you would like to donate, please use the Just Giving link below.

Springboard CF is fundraising for Crohn’s & Colitis UK (justgiving.com)

Thank you.

Award-winning corporate finance advisor Springboard Corporate Finance is delighted to announce the recruitment of Matt Wong as Assistant Director to its team as it continues to invest in its strength in depth.

Matt will work across the full range of Springboard’s M&A offerings. Most recently, he worked in Investment Banking at Zeus advising both publicly listed and financial sponsors on IPOs and buy-side assignments.

Matt graduated from the University of Buffalo in the USA with a BA in Economics and has a MSc in Investment Analysis from Aston University. Prior to Zeus, he worked at Grant Thornton in the Corporate Finance team advising on buy and sell-side assignments.

Springboard Partner Simon Ward commented “We are delighted to have attracted Matt to Springboard and welcome him to the team. We continue to invest in high quality talent, to continue providing the best service we can to our clients across the owner managed and private equity markets.” Matt Wong added “I am really pleased to be joining the Springboard team – I am hugely impressed by their ambition and culture.”

Written by Robert Johnson, Partner

The recent Coronation of King Charles III has got me thinking about how the Royal Family and wider household can provide us lessons in succession planning and preparation.

Start with your end goal

Queen Elizabeth always knew that her end game was her son Charles taking over the reins. She clearly understood that she would be ‘passing the business on’ to a family member. However, the Queen also considered the manner of that passing and much of that was around creating a legacy that would continue to last into future generations.

As a business founder, your ultimate objective may be the sale of your business or to pass on your life’s work to family members. Understanding your strategic objectives is the key, whether they are financial, personal or the creation of a legacy.

Planning

The Royal Household had 70 years to plan for the Queens succession and whilst business leaders might not have that long, planning early is key to any successful succession plan.

Don’t underestimate the importance of a defined plan and the continual evolution of it. Meticulous planning within the royal household has avoided significant disruption. Having a plan in place well in advance will ensure a smooth transition whether your exit is planned or due to unexpected events.

Choosing your successor

The Queen had a clear successor from the day that Charles was born, and she coached and mentored him throughout the years in readiness for him taking the reins. However, there has always been a plan in place for alternative successors, by building their day-to-day roles and mentoring other senior royals and allowing them to take a lead role if needed.

If an investor is looking to acquire your business, the key question for them is who will run the business when the founder leaves? There needs to be a clear plan and the right people to continue to run the business and deliver the strategy they are buying into.

Throughout the lifecycle of your business, you should always strive to understand who your successor may be. That person may change over time as your business grows and develops or as people join and leave the business.

You should create a clear path for leadership progression, identify potential successors and help to coach and mentor them. Having a successor in the wings, will not only minimise business risk if the worst should happen but clearly will add value – its good business sense!

Stepping back

Whilst the Queen never totally stepped back there was evidence of  her allowing the younger generations of Royals to take on more of a key role.

As a founder, it is wise to begin to step back from the business as part of your succession planning. Reducing dependency on yourself by allowing an MD or CEO to run the business, whilst you migrate to perhaps being Chairman will enable you to get real comfort on the suitability of a successor as well as shortening the handover period when you finally retire or leave the business.

Sharing strategic vision

It was often reported that King Charles had very clear ideas on the modernisation of the monarchy during the Queens reign and they didn’t always agree! However, over the years they worked together to find a clear route for the modernisation of the Royal Family and the Monarchy.

It is good practice in any business to have a strategic vision and be clear on the direction you want the business to take in the longer term. If you are staying around for a period of transition, it is important that your successor shares that vision, is involved with the decision-making process and have true ownership of that direction. If you are leaving the business entirely then you must reconcile yourself with the fact that it may not be your vision going forward.

Investors will be not only looking at your business today, but its future prospects. When growing and scaling your business, one of the most important decisions you make is about that strategic vision which must be owned by the business leader.

Consult experts

The royal household understand the value of trusted advisers, with their wealth of courtiers and experienced hands who are a source of information and advice to the King and Royal Family.

Whilst you don’t necessarily need a team as big as the Royals, getting independent support throughout the process of succession planning, can not only make the whole transition easier but will undoubtedly help you to achieve your goals.

Summary

The thing we can learn the most from the succession of the Monarchy is to plan, plan, plan. Business founders should not leave it to the last minute to find, prepare and communicate with their successors.

Through careful planning, your business will be prepared for any unexpected events, you will enhance the value of your business when you decide the time to leave; reduce risk  and protect your legacy for the next gene

We are delighted to announce the appointment of highly respected corporate lawyer Chris Rawstron as Chairman as we continue to invest in our team and offering to the market.

Chris is a highly respected figure in the Midlands corporate community working with numerous listed and private domestic and international groups as well as being a trusted advisor to a number of successful entrepreneurs. Most recently he led the national corporate team at Irwin Mitchell. He was previously Birmingham managing partner and a global board member at DLA Piper overseeing rapid growth having begun his career at Edge Ellison (now Squire Patton Boggs). Notably he also chaired an appeal for Marie Curie successfully raising £7m to fund a new hospice.

Chris commented “I am absolutely delighted to be joining Springboard as Chairman. I have known and admired the team for some time and look forward to working with them to continue the impressive development of the firm. Building successful teams and cultures in professional services firms has been at the heart of my career. Springboard represents a great opportunity to continue this.”

Springboard Partner Simon Ward commented “We are excited to welcome Chris to the firm. We are constantly looking to develop all aspects of our offering to our clients and our team. Chris brings an outstanding and directly relevant skill set and experiences that will be invaluable to us as we continue that journey. We have seen a strong start to 2023 and are confident that this will continue over the coming months.”

Award-winning corporate finance advisor Springboard Corporate Finance is delighted to announce the recruitment of three new members to its team as it continues to invest in its strength in depth.

Paul Smith joins as an Executive from Bespoke M&A specialising in Financial Modelling and qualified as a Chartered Accountant (CA) at EY which is complemented with a CFA qualification. Paul graduated from the University of Reading with a First-Class Honours in Finance & Investment Banking.

Charlotte Higgins joins Springboard as Office Manager to co-ordinate the smooth running of the office and support the Springboard team. Charlotte started her career by completing a two-year apprenticeship in Business Management and Administration within a Chartered Accountancy firm in Birmingham.

Liam Bradney joins as an Executive and will work on a variety of buy and sell-side assignments. Prior to joining Springboard, Liam worked in audit at PwC where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA). He graduated from Carleton College in the USA with a BA in Economics.

Springboard Partner Simon Ward commented “We are delighted to have attracted Paul, Charlotte and Liam to Springboard and welcome them to the team.  We continue to invest in high quality, strength in depth, to provide the best service we can to our clients across the owner managed and private equity markets.

Springboard CF is delighted to have won ‘Deal Of The Year’ at Insider Media Midlands Dealmakers Awards 2022 last night for Sykes Holiday Cottages acquisition of Forest Holidays.

Sykes Holiday Cottages was advised on the deal by Springboard Partners Simon Ward and James Bailey, Director Matthew Guest, Assistant Director Tom Hammond and Executive Claudia Haywood. Simon commented “Sykes Holiday Cottages has been a client of Springboard for many years and it was an absolute pleasure to partner with the team there to deliver this key deal. The development of the Sykes business has been massively impressive and the Forest Holidays transaction is set to accelerate this still further. ”

Photo from left to right:
Chris Handy LDC, Springboard’s Tom Hammond, Simon Ward, Claudia Haywood, presented by George Apperly, vice president – global professional & financial risks, Lockton Transactional Risks

Springboard announces raft of promotions and recruitment

James Bailey and Robert Johnson are both promoted to Partner.  James joined Springboard in 2011 and has worked on a number of high profile transactions with a particular focus on the acquisition support work Springboard provides to a number of high profile private equity investees including Sykes Holiday Cottages and the Jensten Group.  Robert Johnson has been with Springboard for 15 years working on a range of transactions including the sale of Wonderlane and the sale of Claremont Ingredients.

In addition Matthew Guest and Jonathan Wright are both promoted to Director.  Tom Hammond is promoted to Assistant Director while Pauline So and Daniel McCartney are both promoted to Executive having recently gained their ACA qualifications.

Springboard is also pleased to announce the recruitment of James Cross as a Manager.  A KPMG trained accountant most recently James has worked for an independent advisory firm supporting across a range of transaction types.

Springboard Partner Simon Ward commented “I am absolutely delighted to announce these promotions across our team.  It is a real pleasure to welcome James and Rob to the partnership – both have contributed massively to the development of the firm.  Jonathan, Matthew and Tom have earned richly deserved promotions for the quality of work they do for our clients every day.  For Pauline and Daniel it has been great to see their careers develop. We welcome James Cross to the firm and are delighted he has chosen to join us.  We have seen high levels of activity across all areas of our business over recent months.  For founders there remains strong interest from acquirers both in the UK and overseas whilst our private equity clients remain keen to grow via acquisition and new investments. Our recent support to longstanding client Sykes Holiday Cottages on its acquisition of Forest Holidays represents another landmark deal for us. These promotions are a demonstration of our continued optimism about the future and our commitment to providing great client service across our business.”