18 business focus
Chartered accountants Haines Watts presents a series of articles based on their blogs. They offer analysis, reviews and comments and welcome your feedback at
www.hwca.com/blog
of the month Growing a business by acquisition writes Colin Fletcher, partner at Haines Watts
Buying a business may help your company expand geographically, bring in additional products or services and gain new customers. The process can be tricky however and, as well as having the finance, acquiring the right prospect requires careful consideration and research.
Before you begin, be clear about where you want your business to be and what you truly want out of an acquisition. Also ensure that you have in place enough resource to allow management time to focus on it, without letting the existing business slide.
Many firms use specialist
corporate finance advisers who have technical skills and commercial knowledge in acquisitions, which can save time.
As part of the planning process, consider what project management and legal obligations might be involved, and the commercial and financial due diligence that is necessary. You will want to make in-depth investigations into a prospective acquisition, its assets and people.
To identify a target that fits your growth strategy, think about what your business lacks. You may, for example, currently be buying in certain critical services or might have a new area of customer demand that needs supplying.
When compiling your shortlist, consider funding requirements and the size of business that will fit into the existing operation.
Targets may be businesses you already know, or a co-ordinated search can be carried out to find companies that offer the right services. There may be direct competitors which might have an appropriate product offering, who are seeking an exit, or other businesses that offer connected revenue or service lines.
Benefits and synergies identified in the planning stage often take determination to actually deliver. Ensure, for example,
that you have clearly defined how an acquired business would be integrated with existing operations – how staff will fit in etc.
A well-planned venture will make for a successful acquisition, so it is worth getting organised early before launching into the actual process.
Details:
www.hwca.com
Polythene UK provides ultimate green solution for UK businesses
The UK’s leading packaging expert and supplier of polythene films and bags, Polythene UK, has become the most environmentally-friendly commercial entity in the polythene industry, providing the ultimate green solution for those companies deciding to work with it.
The firm is the sole distributor of Polylite, Polyair and Polycomp, three products which provide exciting, environmentally and financially-beneficial alternatives to standard polythene. On top of this, Polythene UK is currently carbon neutral and has just moved into new offices which are equipped with a complete first-class, renewable system, meaning they are fully self- sustaining.
Managing director James Woollard explained: “Our
www.businessmag.co.uk
mission is to be as carbon positive as absolutely possible, which is why we’ve invested heavily in the new fully- sustainable office building. Now, not only are our products environmentally and financially beneficial, but so is the company as a whole. This makes us one of the best companies for any business to partner with if they are serious about improving their green credentials and CSR.
“We fully intend, as an industry leader, to set the environmental standards that others will follow. Consideration for our impact on the environment will continue to be our main focus from both operational and industrial viewpoints. CSR is becoming a key trend within the industry and we’re lucky enough to be able to help our clients carry out their green
James Woollard
agendas by providing real green solutions.”
The new 8,000 sq ft office building that Polythene UK has moved into is completely self-sustaining. It has a 25 kW Solar PV System that delivers 22,000 kWh of electricity per year. This system powers
the 300-litre Ecocent air to water heat pump, the two 25 kW air source heat pumps, the 26 Thermovec radiators and the LED lighting. Alongside this, the company is also reprocessing rainwater through two water butts, recycling all of its paper, envelopes and printer cartridges, and has fitted Econospeed into all of its delivery vehicles to save on fuel by 15% and reduce wear and tear.
Woollard commented: “From this renewable energy system that we’ve put in place we’re anticipating a saving of £16,000 of fuel per year, 9.2 tonnes of CO2 from the 19,000 kW hour of electricity generated per year, as well as a saving of 30.9 tonnes of CO2 from the 150,000 kWh heat generated per year.”
Details:
www.polytheneuk.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60