February 2019 Newsletter

				Draper Hinks Newsletter February 2019
				Hello, I’m Nicola Draper. I run Draper Hinks and have done so since 2004. We sell only accountancy fees and have completed over 260 deals. We are very active in the market place for buying and selling accountancy practices. I work 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 so if you are looking to sell or to buy fees then talk to us. 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	£600,000		Where		Hampshire
Qualified	QBE		Age		65
Time scale	6 months		Type of Practice		Sole Practitioner
Payment	Earn out		How paid		25% paid over 4 years
Multiple	0.9 x fees		When paid		Quarterly in arrears for 4 years
Offers	1 offer		Office & staff		Office and staff retained
Results	Vendor stayed on full time post sale for 12 months then reducing over next 3yrs

No. 2
Fees sold	£238,000		Where		Cambs
Qualified	FCCA		Age		46
Time scale	7 months		Type of Practice		Sole Practitioner
Payment	3 tranches		How paid		50% 25% 25%
Multiple	1 x fees		When paid		Comp, 12 & 24 months
Offers	2 offers		Office & staff		Office closed, some staff retained
Results	Vendor working on other business interests, unrelated to accountancy

No. 3
Fees sold	£108,000		Where		West Midlands
Qualified	FCA		Age		65
Time scale	8 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	2 offers		Office & staff		Office shut, staff transferred
Results	Vendor travelling, playing guitar, reading and having nothing to do with numbers.

		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 used the services of Draper Hinks in 2018:-
Testimonial 1 “Draper Hinks got in touch with me via mail shots in the post. I googled reviews after receiving the mail shots and found the reviews to be good. My first impression after making contact was very good. Nicola was very friendly and helpful. Communication was prompt. The process was efficient. It had all been done before and that put me at my ease. I would not have sold on my own. It was helpful to have the introductions made for me and to have the excellent telephone guidance from Nicola.” Vendor – Ann Burnett Yorkshire
Testimonial 2 “I heard about Draper Hinks from a former colleague, who gave an excellent recommendation. I have found working with Draper Hinks has been relaxed throughout. First impression was their presentation was very clear with a no fuss no nonsense approach. We worked well together. They cut to the quick without flannel, keeping things on an informal basis. Selling through a broker ensured that potential buyers were presented with all the information they required.” Vendor – Dave Pearce Cambridgeshire
Testimonial 3 “We had known of Draper Hinks for some time. We found them to be very professional and effective. They offer a very helpful, straightforward and quick service. Nicola is a woman of action. The process was tailored to our specific needs following a death in the practice. It is a far more effective use of time and resources to have someone do the background work for you at a very stressful time. It is also very useful to have someone who knows and understands the accountancy sector so well.” Vendor – David Lakin Lancashire

Practices for Sale

Reference	Area	Amount	Description
265/181005	Yorkshire	£725,000	Two vendors looking to retire, will help with handover. £10k received in standing orders per month. Fees increased each year. Profits circa £300k per annum
260/180924	Somerset	£138,000	Two vendors, both looking to downsize and sell the majority of their practice. Two F/T and one P/T staff. Buyer needs to be level 4 AAT qualified minimum.
224/180731	Hampshire	£250,000	Two partners, one wants to retire after handover the other wants to retire at the end of 2019. Buyer needs to be audit registered. Leasehold office, lease finishes in March. Fees are potentially portable.

Income Multiples Paid in the last 12 months

2018		Average income multiple paid	Lowest income multiple paid	Highest income multiple paid	Lowest income multiple offered	Highest income multiple offered
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
Q 3	Jul – Sep	1.02	0.8	1.3	0.5*	1.5**
Q 4	Oct – Dec	1.06	1	1.15	1	1.5

NB * One off payment offered.

** Small tranche of fees for sale in London, this was oversubscribed.

David’s Diary

David is a newly retired sole practitioner doing consultancy work for the buyer.

Top tips to buyers:-

1 Make sure there is sufficient resource in place to handle the extra work involved:

a) Storage space

b) Staff (most important)

c) Equipment

d) Data transfer

2 Look for maximum compatibility:

a) Client type and size

b) Staff. You need to bear in mind the possible need for a new tier of management between partners and an enlarged staff. Can these be recruited from within?

3 Consider a project manager to do nothing but oversee the integration and his dedicated team. This is important as otherwise routine work and cash flow gets interrupted. Perhaps consider an outside consultant or develop some expertise in house if this is going to happen again.

4 Consider when to make the purchase. Try to allow sufficient time for the integration to be sufficiently completed to cope properly with peak times like December and January.

David Shackleton

Lisa Shenton, Admin Assistant

Hello, I’m Lisa Shenton 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 will also be working on increasing Nicola’s LinkedIn contacts, so look out for my message, so that I can invite you to join our closed LinkedIn group.

I am also the person to notify if you wish to update your records in any way so please let me know if you move office or change your email address, so we can keep you updated.

Please email me at l.shenton@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.