You spent decades building it. Who you sell to matters.
For most owners, the price is not the hard part. The hard part is what happens on the Monday after. Whether the engineers keep their jobs. Whether the name on the vans survives the year. Whether the buyer who was charming in March is still charming in September.
I started Stammers Group to be the buyer I would want if it were my business. One company at a time, bought with the working shown, run by people who answer their own phone. Every promise on this page goes into the heads of terms, where you can hold me to it.
Ben StammersFounder, Stammers Group
The problem
30,000 healthy UK businesses likely to close in the next ten years as their owners retireA generation of owners is stepping back at once. Many have no obvious successor and no buyer they trust, so the doors shut. The engineers lose their jobs, the customers lose the people who know their buildings, and the owner loses what a working business is worth.
Ownership at Work, Generation EO, November 2023: a survey of 500 retirement-age UK business owners, with the Federation of Small Businesses.
Our answer
In writing Our plans for your name, your team and your customers, on paper before you signEvery buyer says the right things about your staff in a meeting. We write down what we plan for your name, your team and your customers, and it goes into the heads of terms before the lawyers begin. Nothing you hear about for the first time after completion.
Then we invest in it and help it grow.
How it works
Half an hour, no paperwork
- What you have built, and who runs it day to day
- What you want for yourself and your team
- How we would value a business like yours
- Whether it makes sense to go further
A confidential conversation
Half an hour by phone, or a meeting at your premises. You tell me about the business. I explain how we work and how we value companies like yours. If we both want to go further, we sign a confidentiality agreement the same day.
What a written offer from us shows
- The profit figure we started from
- Every adjustment, and why
- The multiple, and what moves it
- What is paid on completion
- What is paid later, and on which dates
A written offer, with the working shown
We review your last three years' accounts and send a written indicative offer that shows exactly how we reached the number, so you and your accountant can test every line. If it is not a fit, we tell you quickly and explain why. See an example below.
Agreed in the heads of terms
- The price and how it is paid
- What happens to your name
- Our plans for your team
- The timetable, with dates
- How long you stay involved, if at all
Heads of terms, then completion
We agree the price and structure in heads of terms before the lawyers begin, then complete our checks: contracts, certifications, BAFE and NSI records. The handover runs at your pace, a clean exit in a few months or a gradual step back over a couple of years.
Most buyers hide how they price. Here is exactly how we do it.
Two buyers can quote you the same headline and mean very different money. So this is the shape of every offer we write, with the arithmetic on the page.
The multiple depends most on how much of your revenue is contracted maintenance. A book of service contracts is worth more than one-off installs, and we pay for it.
Deferred payments are fixed sums on fixed dates. They do not depend on targets you no longer control.
| Profit in the last full year's accountsBefore interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) | £500,000 |
| Add back the owner's salaryYou will not be drawing it once we own the business | + £70,000 |
| Add back one-off costsAn office move that will not happen again | + £11,000 |
| Deduct a manager to run the day to dayThe going rate for an operations manager in London and the South East | − £81,000 |
| Profit we price on | £500,000 |
| MultipleMost revenue here is contracted maintenance | × 4.0 |
| Value of the business | £2,000,000 |
| Add cash left in the businessAbove what it needs to trade normally | + £150,000 |
| Deduct loans the company owes | − £50,000 |
| Price for your shares | £2,100,000 |
How it is paid
| On completion | £1,400,000 |
| 12 months after completion, fixed | £350,000 |
| 24 months after completion, fixed | £350,000 |
We only promise what we can keep. These go into the heads of terms, where you can hold us to them.
Your name, agreed in writing
Some local names are worth more than any group brand, and we keep them. Where companies come together, we agree with you before completion how your name carries on.
Straight about your team
Your engineers and office team are a big part of what we are buying. You hear our plans for the team before completion, not after. No surprises for you or for them.
We buy to grow
We are not buying your business to break it up and sell the parts. We invest in it and build on what you created.
No late surprises
If something material changes the offer, you see exactly what and why, in writing, before anything moves.
Complete confidentiality
A confidentiality agreement before we see a single number. Nothing reaches your staff, customers or suppliers without your agreement.
A handover on your terms
A clean exit in a few months, or a gradual step back over a couple of years. Owners who want to stay involved are welcome.
A growing group. Better systems.
We are building a group of fire and security companies across London and the South East. Each one gets the backing, buying power and systems of the group.
Most small fire and security companies run on the owner's memory, a spreadsheet and a lot of phone calls. That works while you are there. It is the first thing to break when you are not.
That is the part I bring. We put modern systems in so the business runs without depending on any one person, and your team spends its time with customers instead of chasing paperwork.
What changes
The back office: job scheduling, service visits, certificates, renewals and invoicing, on systems that do the chasing. Plus the backing of a bigger group.
What does not
The way you look after your customers, and the local knowledge your business has built over the years.
Our name is on it, just as yours is on yours.
I have worked in sales and marketing for technology companies in London and San Francisco. I started on the phones, booking meetings, and was consistently a top performer. I went on to run US sales from San Francisco.
Today I am Head of Marketing at a technology company, responsible for its positioning, website, branding, social channels and CRM: getting the right people interested and turning that into real conversations. I will be your single point of contact throughout.
Away from work, I have competed for Great Britain in ski racing.
We are also supported by an experienced buy-side M&A professional who guides our acquisitions.
Not ready to talk? Find out what it could be worth.
Tell me roughly what the business makes. I will send you a one-page estimate, worked out the same way as the example offer above. Confidential, and no call unless you ask for one.
Or read Seven questions to ask any buyer before you sell, and ask them of everyone, including us.
A confidential conversation is the whole first step.
Call me, or tell me your name, how to reach you and a little about the business. I will reply personally. Everything you share stays between us, and there is no obligation of any kind.
07981 798211Ben's mobile. Calls and texts both welcome.