August 2018 Newsletter

  Draper Hinks Newsletter

August 2018
  Hello, I’m Nicola Draper.  I run Draper Hinks and have done so since 2004.  We sell only accountancy fees and have completed over 240 deals.

We are very active in the market place for buying and selling accountancy practices.  I deal with all the sellers, so if you are looking to sell in the near future, please email me at n.draper@draperhinks.co.uk
Nicola Draper founder Draper Hinks
Build your business – buy a practice
Draper Hinks is a very successful business brokerage working only with accountants in practice.  We cover the whole of England and no practice is too big.  If you are looking to sell or to buy fees then talk to us.  We have a lot of experience and are happy to share it with you.  Anything discussed will be totally confidential.
Here are three case studies of practices we have sold within the last 12 months:-
No. 1  
Fees sold £260,000 Where Midlands
Qualified FCA Age/s 68
Time scale 6 months Type of Practice Sole Practitioner
Payment 1 payment + earn out How paid 30% + earn out
Multiple 1 x fees When paid Comp & 25% of income paid quarterly
Offers 3 offers Office & staff Neither office nor staff retained
Results Vendor lives 6 months in Italy and 6 months in the UK
   
No. 2  
Fees sold £200,000 Where Hertfordshire
Qualified ACA Age 56
Time scale 5 months Type of Practice Sole Practitioner
Payment 3 tranches How paid 40%, 30% & 30%
Multiple 1 x fees When paid Comp, 12 & 24 months
Offers 3 offers Office & staff Office closed, some staff retained
Results Vendor playing more golf, taken up photography and travelling more with family
   
No. 3  
Fees sold £125,000 Where South Coast
Qualified QBE Age/s 68
Time scale 8 months Type of Practice Sole Practitioner
Payment 2 tranches How paid 70% & 30%
Multiple 1.1 x fees When paid Comp & 12 months
Offers 2 offers Office & staff Office and staff retained
Results Vendor staying on 3 days reducing to 2 days reducing to 1 day over 12 months
  Hello, I’m Diane Crawley and I am the Office Manager for Draper Hinks.  If you are a buyer, we want to hear from you.  We want to know where you want to buy and many other details to make sure we can contact you when we have an opportunity that may be of interest to you.

So please call me on 01788 816440 or email me at d.crawley@draperhinks.co.uk.
Diane Crawley, Office Manager
Here are three testimonials from vendors that were happy with the service offered by Draper Hinks in 2017:-
Testimonial 1 “I found Draper Hinks through the internet.  I chose them because of their no nonsense approach.  Working with them has been straight forward and simple.  I have been impressed with their professionalism and feel the process offered by them is perfect from the seller’s point of view.  There is no mucking about, no fluff but straight, clear, sound advice that has proven to be correct.  Using a broker gives a better chance of achieving both a better price and a higher chance of success.”

Vendor – Guy James                                         London
Testimonial 2 “I found out about Draper Hinks through research on the internet and from a flyer.  We were very impressed with their credentials, they clearly have much experience and success in selling accountancy practices.  Our first impression of Nicola was what a great person to be dealing with.  The process was very straight forward and any concerns were dealt with immediately.  They have been extremely approachable and professional.  They were extremely capable and we would have found it very difficult to do it on our own. We have been in a much stronger position to negotiate the deal we wanted by using the services of Draper Hinks.”

Vendor – Jean and Martin Young                 South Coast
Testimonial 3“I heard about Draper Hinks from an internet search and from an accountant I used to meet when networking.  I have found working with them to be very good.  The service offered was just what I wanted, it was very organised and good guidance was provided.  Their responses were quick.  Using a broker means it is easier to keep the sale confidential and there are no time wasters with the buyers.”

Vendor – Kevin Askham                                  Northallerton

Practices for Sale

 

Reference Area Amount Description
249/180816 Somerset £84,000 Vendor looking to retire.  VAT registered.  New work being turned away because of lack of capacity.  Little competition in area.  Fees portable and can be moved to your office locally.  Meetings with vendor on Thursday, 6th September.
248/180815 Surrey £200,000 Two vendors looking to retire.  Two part time staff, one part qualified.  Buyer needs to be able to do audit.  Potential to grow the practice.  Total top 20 fees £120,365.  Meetings with the vendors on Thursday, 6th September.
247/180814 Yorkshire £725,000 Two vendors looking to retire but will help with handover.  £10k received in standing orders per month.  Fees increased each year.  Profits circa £300k per annum.  Meetings with the vendors on Wednesday, 5th September.
245/180727 Somerset £138,000 Two vendors, both looking to downsize and sell the majority of their practice.  Two full time and one part time staff.  Buyer needs to be minimum level 4 AAT qualified.  Meetings with the vendors on Wednesday, 10th October.
Income Multiples Paid in the last 12 months
2017   Average income multiple paid Lowest income multiple paid Highest income multiple paid Lowest income multiple offered Highest income multiple offered
Q1 Jan – Mar 0.95 0.5 1.2
Q 2 Apr – Jun 0.96 0.7 1.05
Q 3 Jul – Sep 1.01 0.5 1.1
Q 4 Oct – Dec 0.91 0.5 1.1
2018
Q 1 Jan – Mar 0.93 0.5 1.05 0.5 1.05
Q 2 Apr – Jun 0.95 0.65 1.07 0.65 1.1
Complimentary Comments
We were asked by a potential purchaser if we would do a bespoke mail shot for them in a pre-agreed geographic area.  We did the mailer and this is the feedback we have received from the buyer:-

  1.  As a potential buyer with very specific requirements, we first approached Draper Hinks more in hope than expectation. We needn’t have worried. Nicola appreciated our situation from the start and got to work to source for us the perfect practice, turning hope into reality in the process.
  2.  Nicola has advised us with a balance of optimism and honesty throughout. Things you know you don’t know are bad enough but those you don’t even know about, even worse. Nicola made sure all bases were covered with the calm authority and reassurance of someone who’s done it all before – many times!Other comments we have had from buyers since the last newsletter:-“Hi Lisa, that’s useful benchmark data. Thanks”

    “Hello Lisa, Thank you for the newsletter, which is very well presented and informative”

    Please send your comments in to us, we really appreciate receiving them, particularly if they are nice.

  Lisa Watson, Admin Assistant

 Hello, I’m Lisa Watson and I am an Admin Assistant at Draper Hinks.  I am the person that will be sending these regular Newsletters to you so look out for emails from me in future.

I am the person to notify if you wish to update your records.

Please email me at l.watson@draperhinks.co.uk stating:

Ø Please remove me from all Draper Hinks correspondence

Ø Please remove me from the Draper Hinks Newsletter but continue to let me know of buying opportunities in my area.
Next step
We want to hear from you if you want to sell or buy fees.

If you are looking to sell your fees then email Nicola at n.draper@draperhinks.co.uk.

If you are looking to buy fees then email Diane at d.crawley@draperhinks.co.uk.