June 2019 Newsletter | Draper Hinks

				Draper Hinks Newsletter June 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 280 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. 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	£320,000		Where		East Sussex
Qualified	FCA		Age		67
Time scale	12 months		Type of Practice		Sole Practitioner
Payment	2 payments		How paid		50% & 50%
Multiple	1 x fees		When paid		Comp & 12 months
Offers	2 offers		Office & staff		Neither office nor staff retained
Results	Vendor playing more sports and travelling

No. 2
Fees sold	£230,000		Where		Avon
Qualified	FCA		Age		66
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	1 offers		Office & staff		Office closed, some staff retained
Results	Vendor spending more time with grandchildren

No. 3
Fees sold	£125,000		Where		Berkshire
Qualified	QBE		Age		63
Time scale	4 months		Type of Practice		Sole Practitioner
Payment	2 tranches		How paid		50% & 50%
Multiple	1 x fees		When paid		Comp & 12 months
Offers	4 offers		Office & staff		Office and staff retained
Results	Vendor helping with handover for 12 months before retiring

		Hello, I’m Diane Crawley and I am the Office Manager for Draper Hinks. Did you know that we can do a bespoke mailing for you if you are not having success in acquiring fees and want to grow your business? If you would like to know more please call me on 01788 816440 or email me at d.crawley@draperhinks.co.uk and I will be happy to discuss it further.
*Diane Crawley, Office Manager*

Here are three testimonials from vendors that were happy with the service offered by Draper Hinks in 2018:-
Testimonial 1 “I found Draper Hinks via a mail shot. I spoke to three brokers in total and Draper Hinks were the best. There were not many problems during the process, so I didn’t need a lot of hand holding. First impression was that they were nice people to deal with. My advice is that you should use a broker if you don’t have a ready buyer of your own and make sure you have a good lawyer!” Vendor – Graham Flight Sussex
Testimonial 2 “I had a personal recommendation to use Draper Hinks by a third party independent business coach. I liked what I read on their website. There was a lot of useful and positive information. The business was very efficient. The advice proved to be very useful. My first impression was that I got a good response from talking to Nicola. It is a well tried and tested approach, so don’t mend what is not broken. I was fully satisfied with my experience of working with Draper Hinks. It took all the pressure out of trying to find a serious buyer. It also helped a great deal that I could call on Nicola’s experience. You need someone to advise on what needs to be done. Only sell on your own if you want to take on a lot more administration and pressure.” Vendor – Richard Trimmer Berkshire
Testimonial 3 “I heard about Draper Hinks when I was looking to buy fees and I knew someone who had used their services and they gave a glowing testimonial. I decided to use Draper Hinks and was pleased with the way I was dealt with. Working with them was very good. My first impression was that they were positive and helpful. The process was thorough. Working with Draper Hinks was good because they responded quickly, took a keen interest in what was going on and were very supportive. Nicola was the gatekeeper between potential buyer and the seller, where the buyer was trying to make direct contact with the seller. Selling on your own would not generally give the individual the independent view the broker provides. A broker is likely to reach a lot more buyers than an individual selling his/her wares.” Vendor – Gary Brewerton Oxfordshire

Practices for Sale

Reference

Area

Amount

Description

332/190531

Dorset

£80,000

Vendor selling a block of fees. Total top 20 fees £59,805. Office available but not a condition of the sale. Meetings with the vendor arranged on an individual basis.

331/190531

Yorkshire

£75,000

Tranche of fees as 1 partner leaving the practice. The practice is VAT registered. No staff or premises so fees are portable and can be moved to your offices. Meetings with vendors Tuesday, 25^th June.

330/190531

Wiltshire

£178,000

Two vendors looking to exit the business. Buyer must be Chartered or Chartered Certified. Four staff (1 on maternity leave). Leasehold premises available if required but fees can be moved to your office locally. Meetings with vendors Thursday, 27^th June.

323/190531

Cumbria

£270,000

Vendor looking to retire. 171 clients with average fee of £1,578. Top 20 clients’ fees total £113,300. Buyer must be Chartered or Chartered Certified. 4 Staff (2 p/t, 2 f/t). Premises being retained by vendor. Meetings with vendor Thursday, 20^th June.

Income Multiples Paid in the last 15 months

		Average income multiple paid	Lowest income multiple paid	Highest income multiple paid	Lowest income multiple offered	Highest income multiple offered
2018
Q 1	Jan – Mar	0.93	0.50	1.05	0.50	1.05
Q 2	Apr – Jun	0.95	0.65	1.07	0.65	1.10
Q3	Jul – Sep	1.02	0.80	1.30	0.50	1.50
Q4	Oct – Dec	1.06	1.00	1.15	1.00	1.15
	Average	0.99
2019
Q1	Jan – Mar	1.03	0.75	1.30	0.50	1.30

David’s Diary

Welcome to the third instalment of David’s story since selling his practice through Draper Hinks in October last year.

We lost a few clients at the outset. Some (slow payers) will not be missed and some were a complete surprise but generally the reason was (in spite of all correspondence to the contrary) a presumption that the firm was now larger and the personal service would be lost. A couple apologised but said they had already acted. However the substantial upsurge in referrals has more than compensated so overall I am relaxed that we are on track to achieve the agreed turnover over the first two years.

I am now spending a bit more time in contact with recent referrals to make sure they are all on board and the authorisation and compliance issues are up to date. One new client has asked me to provide monthly consultancy and possibly work closely on setting up new businesses and a second wants me involved in helping his property development business. A couple more look like they will like me involved in some way too – all in my own name and totally separate to accountancy and tax. So as I drop down to a 3 day week it looks like Harrison’s Law will prevail or in other words, “Nature abhors a vacuum”.

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 – Growth through Acquisition with Draper Hinks.

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

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.