Working together
We are not like a business broker ... we work directly with sellers to transition the business across to us in a collaborative way. We look at what you need when selling and see if we can create an exit that works for you and works for us - together through discussion.
Why selling direct is better than via a broker ....
No listing fees to advertise your business. Some brokers can end up charging £10k or more for selling your nursery for effectively just running some adverts
Quick decisions - you will deal directly with Alan who will make the decision whether to buy your business or not usually within a week or two.
Confidential - nobody will know about the potential sale - they won't find it online on a listing site and you will have a NDA to protect your information.
Customised deal structures - every sale is different depending on the circumstances, we love being creative so that's fine by us.
Collaborative process - we believe the best deals are when we work together to achieve the same outcome - a balanced deal is the best deal structure.
It starts with a simple call
This may be the first time you have ever talked to a business buyer ... dont panic let's just have a chat about your business and why you would like to sell.
Tell us some brief information about the business - how many kids, location, and some of the reasons why you are thinking of selling.
We can then put in place a standard NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) to ensure you have the peace of mind about confidentiality.
If you have listed with a broker that's ok but we will only talk with you directly rather than going via brokers - our experience is that the broker can inhibit the process and we like to progress quickly.
Only then will we talk numbers
Lets talk numbers
The numbers are important but as you will have been in business for over 5 years it should be fairly straight forward initially.
We will want to review the last 2 or 3 years financial reports and submissions to company house - so profit and loss and balance sheet for last 3 years ideally.
We are looking for an established business although we appreciate there may have been a bumpy year due to Covid etc.
Understanding the premises ownership - freehold or leasehold are both ok with us.
We will discuss what is most important to you in the sale process - protect the team, the brand, happy parents, financial needs etc - often the financial aspects are important but not the only element of the sale.
Site Visit
We will only visit the site if we both believe there is a deal to be done.
We will visit as a prospective client to get an overview of the location and to understand the dynamics of the setting.
Ideally we would meet the manager and the person you believe will be ideally placed to run the day to day operations of the Nursery when ownership is sold to us.
Ofsted review - looking in detail as to the last report and understanding recent changes. If the review is really old we may help each other in doing a Mock Ofsted review and build confidence in the future rating achievable.
Review and Decision
We will discuss the key aspects of the sale and come to an agreed Heads of Terms - essentially the key elements of the sale, price, terms, conditions etc before the legal teams get involved.
Our accountants will review the accounts of the business which can be quick if you use cloud based accounting systems like Xero Quickbooks etc or a bit longer if you run on desktop accounting systems.
Our solicitor and your solicitor will build a sale and purchase agreement based on our agreed Heads of Terms to ensure our contract is legally well defined.
Agree transition plan and dates ... and usually wait for the lawyers to catch up a bit
The Big Day - signing the deal and completing the legal process.
The first 60 days will require your active support to transition the business across to us and ensure the future success of the business - this is critical as we are all invested in a successful handover.
