| This is a case study from a practice we sold recently | |||
| Fees sold | £ 154,000 | Where | Oxfordshire |
| Qualified | FCA & QBE | Age | 66 & 68 |
| Time scale | 4 months | Type of Practice | Husband and Wife practice |
| Payment | Three tranches | How paid | 40% 30% 30% |
| Multiple | 1.1 x fees | When paid | Comp, 12 mths and 24 mths |
| Offers | 3 offers | Office & staff | Office and staff taken on by buyer |
| Results | They were looking to set up a new business well away from accountancy! | ||
This was a husband and wife firm of accountants where the wife was a chartered accountant and her husband was helping with the running of the practice. They were based in a market town with a good quality client base. They started the practice in 1992 with £12k of fees and built it up to over £150k ready to sell. Their average annual fee was in the region of £1,200.
They first contacted Draper Hinks in 2016 wanting to understand the process of how to sell their practice and what they could do to increase the proceeds of the sale. We ran through all the steps that they would have go to through, ie, meeting with potential buyers, review of offers, due diligence etc. It was important to explain to them what to expect so that they could make an informed decision as to when was the right time to sell.
They decided to defer the sale for a few years because they went through a period of rapid expansion and they decided to monitor the situation before taking the plunge of putting their practice on the market. It is not unusual for a vendor to take time to decide when it is right for them to stop, sell and retire. We understand this and don’t put any pressure on any potential vendor to sell before they are ready.
Then in June they came back to us saying now was the right time to sell. They were looking to move house to be nearer to children and grandchildren. Once they had made up their minds to sell they wanted to get on with it.
We set up a Zoom call and the three of us discussed their time scale, what they wanted from the sale, whether or not the buyer had to have any specific specialisms or qualifications etc. Having had a full briefing of what they were looking for we were able to go to market and find potential buyers for them. They said they had chosen to use Draper Hinks because they “trusted Nicola’s professional expertise and found her to be really informative and helpful.” First impression was that the team at Draper Hinks were “very professional and knowledgeable.” They said they were “very impressed with the care shown by everyone involved.”
We set up a meeting day and they met with 4 potential buyers 3 of whom put in an offer. One of the offers was accepted and proceeded to due diligence and completion. From marketing the practice to completion only took 4 months because the sellers were ready to sell and the buyer was ready to buy. The buyer had bought before, had funding in place and knew how to manage the process. The vendors were consulted from start to finish. They chose the buyer because they “felt we could work through the process with them and still be on speaking terms at the end!”
Now that they have sold their practice, they have set up another business that is not related to accountancy in any way and is much more manageable. They felt that the hardest part of selling the practice was “deciding which buyer would be the best fit.” It was a pleasure to work with both parties and to reach a satisfactory solution on both sides.
At Draper Hinks we are happy to work with you if you are selling all or part of your practice. So, if you want to sell some accountancy fees of any amount please get in touch with me, Nicola Draper, on 01788 816440, email me at n.draper@draperhinks.co.uk or book an appointment with me using this link on Calendly https://calendly.com/draper-hinks/q_a and let me see how I can be of assistance.
I look forward to talking to you.