The Stirling Team

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Roger used his middle name to form Stirling in 2000, having 24 years of previous business experience, reaching Chairman & Managing Director level of a £13.9m turnover business, employing over 200 people. Roger has developed Stirling to provide business owners with a personal service to help find buyers for businesses for sale. From experience gained of selling two of his own businesses and latterly, other businesses sold through Stirling, Roger produced a well received “Guide to buying and selling businesses successfully” and also, a “Guide to maximising business values“. Having created a comprehensive database of business owners, buyers and investors, Stirling is able to gain enquiries for businesses for sale, particularly from the engineering & manufacturing sectors. With fair and easy to understand terms and conditions, Roger has ensured that Stirling is able to offer SME clients a cost effective & flexible approach for when the time comes to sell.

Roger has just had his new book published – “Sell your business FAST – avoid the biggest mistakes, crazy low offers and dodgy brokers!”

You can order your copy here.

“What I liked about working with Roger Smith of Stirling, is that we didn’t get ripped off with fees and false promises. It was good to see someone who had a practical approach to business, someone who could actually understand our business and get results that didn’t cost the earth!” Steve Marsh

“We needed to appoint a business broker to find a buyer for our business. Having considered various alternatives, we chose Roger Smith of Stirling Business Solutions Ltd where we appreciated his wide range of contacts (even within our specialist market), fair terms of business, including his honest and friendly approach in dealing with business. In particular, the sale memorandum document was produced on time and was clear and easy to understand. Roger helped to ensure that there was a sufficient number of interested parties and a deal was completed within our agreed time-scale.” L Peters

“Roger provided an efficient, tailor-made service from the initial introduction to the eventual sale of my engineering company.” Nick Hewinson

“Roger’s thorough approach to selling my company meant that a buyer was found after only a few months. Despite some difficulties in the negotiations, Roger persevered in bringing the sides together and encouraged frequent discussion, resulting in a deal that both sides are pleased with more than a year down the line.” J Patrick
“Roger is personable, knowledgeable and very easy to work with. I have no doubts about his expertise in the buying and selling of businesses……” P Bayliss

“Roger Smith has been a loyal customer of my internet service provider business for nearly 15 years. During that time – I have got to know roger extremely well – so what follows is borne out of true long term experience and working with Roger through many challenging situations which is where the true person reveals themselves Roger is a first class businessman and – In my long term considered view – conducts business to the highest professional standards and is totally trustworthy in the way he operates in his area of buying and selling businesses . I would have no hesitation in recommending his services. Moving on to a personal point of view, again, having known Roger for 15 years, he is an outstanding and very sociable person with extremely varied interests in life he is a keen cyclist thinking nothing of cycling 100 miles or so and also is a fully qualified train driver for both diesel and steam locomotives – driving them regularly on the Severn Valley Railway ‘ Roger is, put quite simply the ideal person to have alongside you in any social ( and of course business) gathering. It is this rare mix of being excellent at both “business and social life” that makes Roger an indispensable part of any operation. And fun to be with! What more could one ask ?” Eric Churchyard, Managing Director, Severnserve Ltd – eric@severnserve.net

Caroline Hall is one of our independent Business Valuers.

Caroline graduated from London University with a First Class Honours Degree in Maths and then worked for KPMG in London for six years.  There she trained as an auditor and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1986 before specialising in taxation of private individuals and companies for a further three years with KPMG. During her period working as a tax consultant she covered a wide range of work including remuneration issues, emigration & immigration for tax purposes, Business Expansion Schemes, business sales & acquisitions & capital gains tax & inheritance tax planning as well as preparing valuations of owner managed businesses & report writing on all of the above areas.

Caroline moved to Shropshire in 1989 and has been a partner, and more recently a director, of D.R.E. & Co since 1994.

Caroline is an Audit Principal and is involved with a large number of family companies, giving tax, business and accounts advice. Over the last 30 years she has prepared valuations for partnership splits & matrimonial purposes on numerous occasions, usually on the instruction of the parties involved in order to reach amicable or mediated solutions. Caroline has received instructions by solicitors for business valuations and tax planning advice in more contentious circumstances as single joint expert reporting to the Court. She also performs valuations for share sales, share schemes, business acquisitions and probate purposes.

As an author for Tottel Publishing, Caroline was responsible for updating “Tax Planning for Buying and Selling Businesses” from 2007 to 2010.

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Nigel is a Finance Specialist and a senior executive with over 35 years’ experience in businesses. He acquired his first business at the age of 24 and completed his first successful exit three years later.

He specialises in structuring deals and raising the finance for mergers, acquisitions and achieving growth plans of in excess of £10s millions in recent years. He utilises his network of finance institutions and alternative funding contacts to source all types of business finance to support UK SMEs including unsecured loans, secured loans, property finance, asset based finance including invoice finance.

Nigel combines his background in creating and realising a company vision for multi-site businesses and start-ups, implementing recovery plans for underperforming businesses and driving change to generate growth in declining markets with his ability to build strong, trusting relationships to ensure successful outcomes for all parties.

Nigel assists Stirling with our “Help to buy a business” service and kindly contributed to our article Raising Finance for Acquisitions.

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Richard is an experienced SME owner-manager with a good track record, running a successful retail design and manufacturing business for over 20 years. Developing an innovative, sustainable and devolved business model he sold his company in December 2013 as part of a long-term exit strategy and gained first-hand experience of preparing businesses for sale, creating value and handling the sale process. Richard now helps a wide range of SME’s to re-engineer their businesses in order to deliver sustainable growth, in preparation for MBI or acquisition with the “Prepare to Sell Scheme“. Richard enjoys helping companies achieve an alignment of personal values and motivations with ambitious corporate objectives to release the real drivers that build value. Appointed Enterprise Ambassador for Leeds University in 2015, supporting their Management undergraduate courses with seminars and workshops on creativity, innovation, growth models and exit strategies.

“I personally feel more focused and have a clearer mind taking these initial steps.” David Bradley, Managing Director, Lydian Investments Ltd.

“Richard is a great communicator and a very valuable advisor. His wealth of experience across various sectors is proving to be a real asset to our company planning and strategy. A strong and clear thinker.” David R Robinson, Founder, The Original Sofa Co Ltd.

“Richard is friendly and enthusiastic, providing clear recommendations and good ideas which he is also helping to implement. His experience in manufacturing and team management has given me the confidence to trust the processes he has initiated and he has provided useful guidance on any pitfalls that might occur. I have found his depth and breadth of expertise extremely valuable and would certainly recommend him to SMEs looking to grow.” Jeremy Greenwood, Managing Director, Greenwood Magnetics Ltd.

“I am more than happy to recommend Richard for advisory services as he has been extremely helpful and professional in his mentoring role with my business.” C Lowe, Managing Director, Cloud Source.

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Simon Williams, Director of Coaching, has 25 years business experience ranging from starting up and building companies through to top management roles within leading international corporations. As an accountancy graduate, with a great track record in Sales & Marketing, Team Building and Financial Management, Simon has run many business courses, spoken at international conferences and had articles published on key management topics. Simon has taken a start-up division within a multinational company to a $100Million valuation within 3 years. He remained with the company after sale working with the new, venture capitalist owners. Simon has won numerous business awards and visited well over 50 countries on business. Since becoming a certified Coach Simon has achieved some stunning results and has received both UK and international awards. He is one of an elite group, who have attained Platinum Mentor Coach status.

“After feeling that I had hit a bit of a brick wall, I had begun looking for advice on how to take my business to the next level. Simon was recommended to me by a mutual client and whilst I was initially sceptical of what I might get out of coaching, my fears were completely unfounded……..” M Cutter

“After speaking with Simon for the very first time I realised he had an amazing passion for all businesses. He has an amazing confidence that he can help any business as long as the owner is open minded and wanting to take their business to the next level…” A Downie

“I first met Simon at a breakfast networking meeting and was immediately impressed by his approachable manner and vast business knowledge. Since we met I have been able to build not only a business relationship with Simon but also a friendship founded on trust….” A Noble

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John Davies is an entrepreneurial business professional with experience within the legal, claims and business advisory sectors.

Acting as a business mentor to the management team at Horizon Vehicle Management Ltd (HVM), John also assists with the development of effective growth strategies (including growth by acquisition), improved decision making and increased organizational focus.

John is also able to help clients with Funding, Finance and Legal matters.

John is a chartered accountant having qualified with Coopers & Lybrand, now PWC.  Previously a non-lawyer equity partner in law firm Moore Blatch and owner of financial consultancy Resource Solutions.   During his term with Moore Blatch his roles included Finance Director, CEO of Moore Blatch Resolve LLP and Group Commercial Partner, responsible for new ventures, mergers & acquisitions.  He remained responsible for the financial management of the Moore Blatch group throughout his entire time with the practice.

John brings a demonstratable track record of business development and financial management with him to HVM and Stirling.

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Rob assists Stirling with Corporate Services at Director level. With considerable experience in the Financial and M&A Sector, gained over 30 years at senior level in both corporate and private organisations, Rob is an experienced, astute businessman – exactly the characteristics business owners need when selling their companies.

Rob’s expertise spans a range of sectors; in financial services they include Corporate Finance, Wealth Management, Banking and Insurance. In the Business-to-Business arena, his skills include Management Consultancy, Sales and Marketing.

For the past 11 years he has worked exclusively in Mergers and Acquisitions, where he has been responsible for 327 successful deals worth in excess of £2bn in transaction values.

His unique blend of skills and experience enables him to help SME business owners achieve the maximum value when selling their companies.
Rob has written a book “The 11 Commandments and 7 Cardinal Sins of Selling a Business“. For further information, please CLICK HERE.

“Rob is not only an expert in helping people sell their businesses for all they’re worth, he is a real gentleman, always prepared to give that little extra personal touch that makes all the difference…..” Tracey Miller

“Rob is a consummate professional with very considerable expertise in working with business owners to bring the best possible outcome for all parties. He is a true gentleman with a can-do attitude which he brings to both his professional and personal life. I have no hesitation is commending Rob to any business planning its future.” G. Turrell

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David Parry completed two significant company turnarounds himself before joining a consulting firm to help other organisations do the same. He now helps clients of Stirling to prepare their businesses for sale in the future by maximising their performance and making them more attractive to a potential buyer.

Originally from a background in Engineering, David has worked with firms in a variety of sectors – including specialisms in professional service firms, family firms and partnerships. He prefers working with people who are expert in their product or service, where he adds the business management knowledge and co-ordinated approach. David focusses on getting the important things done, while the business owners are busy doing the urgent things.

The approach is designed to be as effective as possible while working with the current owners. David can help facilitate regular Board or Partners meetings (or instigate them if needed), and use these to drive actions. He then steps out of these meetings with a list of actions of his own, and is very hands-on in helping to get things done.”

“Acting as a consultant to The Needham Group, David has demonstrated experience, professionalism and the highest levels of competence across every discipline required to run and grow a successful business. He has a monumental eye for detail and system processes. His approach is structured, targetted, inclusive and systemised and all this with a sense of humour. His consultancy has been invaluable to us.” David Needham, Owner, The Needham Group

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A Senior Executive at corporate level, who joined Stirling as a Director in February 2014, Mark has an extensive experience of buying and selling businesses, including business valuations and negotiating at the highest levels, with both SME’s and large corporates. Mark has both successfully started and merged his own IT reseller business from scratch, becoming a group MD, prior to negotiating a further 5 acquisitions. The Group was subsequently sold after Mark had assembled a disposal team including accountants and lawyers, arranged an independent company valuation and formulated a negotiation strategy, which led to a cash-only trade sale worth £35m (significantly above market value).

Mark has since developed the Finance for Business service, where Mark now acts as an independent Commercial and Business Finance Broker with access to over 250 alternative UK Commercial Lenders and Private Banks. A complete cross-section of Finance projects are handled, including finance for share purchases, business acquisitions, MBO’s, MBI’s, finance for properties or property development, plant & equipment, working capital etc etc. Once the information has been gathered, a decision in principle is normally reached within just two to three working days. For further information, please CLICK HERE.