1. What does “entrepreneurship” mean to you?
Entrepreneurship means working with a very special group of people who are creative, decision makers and risk takers. They are fascinating people who have unique stories of how they have built their businesses in whatever sector and most importantly created family wealth and employment for others.
2. How is Saffery acting as a game changer in the SMEs landscape?
Saffery Champness adopt what we call a Private Client approach to entrepreneurs. We never lose sight of the fact that there is either an individual or a team of individuals behind every great business and that they want to be treated as individuals rather than a faceless corporate entity. Our approach is personal and based upon understanding what the business owners want from their journey. This can be building a family business which can pass to the next generation or looking towards a longer term exit through a listing or a trade sale. Understanding the clients time frames and working as part of a team to help them achieve their goals.
3. What are the key moments when companies gain the most from your support and expertise? and What challenges and opportunities have you encountered so far in supporting companies in their growth journey?
It really depends on where the companies are within their growth cycle. At the very start it can be offering advice around their trading entity, ownership of intellectual property or if they a further along their journey it could be incentivising key members of their staff via and Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) Government approved share ownership scheme to allow the granting of share options to employees. Helping with due diligence around potential acquisitions, international expansion and ultimately a trade sale or a listing. Our years of experience help answer a very common question which is “I am thinking of doing this… do you know somebody who can help” Challenges are mainly based around making sure that businesses have a clearly defined plan which is supported by up to date financial information. Opportunities are when you can introduce a client to a potential acquisition or buyer or simply helping with an introduction to a third party which transforms the business.
4. Why do you think ELITE is a good network to be part of?
We love working with ambitious businesses and we think that being a part of the Elite network shows you are ambitious and want to succeed.
