Page 4 - The Yorkshire Post: SME Toolkit 2019

YORKSHIRE POST THURSDAY MAY 23 2019
4/SME TOOLKIT SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
LET’S WORK TOGETHER: LDC’s link-up with property lettings agent Linley & Simpson is a prime example of private equity supporting a buy and build strategy. The firm has now expanded its footprint across the region.
Perfect partnership
FINANCE: Tapping into private equity to help Yorkshire’s small and medium-sized enterprises drive growth can help them on the next step of their journey, writes John Garner, Head of LDC in Yorkshire and the North East.
AN EXPERT IN THE FIELD
John Garner leads LDC’s teams in Yorkshire and the North East and is responsible for supporting ambitious management teams looking to grow their business with the backing of a private equity partner.
Since joining the firm in 2006, he has supported a broad range of fast-growing businesses across multiple regions. John played a key role in LDC’s partnership with Team17 and supported the games label’s successful IPO in 2018. He has also picked up Private Equity Deal of the Year at the Yorkshire Dealmakers Awards.
John has been a leading figure in the private equity and M&A community for more than two decades, working across a wide variety of sectors.
Despite the uncertainty that has become more
of a new normal of late, we’re seeing a continued focus on progress and a pragmatic approach to getting things done in the business communities
across Yorkshire.
This is in no small part, thanks to
the resilient and ambitious business leaders this unique region produces. Many of these ambitious business
leaders have turned to LDC to support their growth through a private equity partnership, including Yorkshire crisp brand Seabrook and video games label Team17.
Indeed, in 2018 alone, LDC invested £437m to support the UK’s most ambitious business leaders, £100m of which was invested right here in Yorkshire and the North East.
Partnering with a private equity investor can provide SMEs with both the money, and importantly the support, they need to take the next step in their growth journey. Whether that’s through finding and funding acquisitions, developing
a new product or service line or
expanding into new geographies or sectors.
Our work with property lettings agent Linley & Simpson is a prime example of private equity supporting a buy and build strategy. Last
year, the co-founders came
to us with a clear growth
strategy to expand across
Yorkshire and beyond
through acquiring
complementary
businesses.
Eight months and
five acquisitions later,
Will Linley and Nick
Simpson have expanded
the footprint of their company across the region from Leeds city centre through to Horsforth, Ripon, Wakefield and York. The business now employs more than 180 people
‘In 2018, LDC invested £437m to support the UK’s most ambitious business leaders.’
across 11 regional branches, and the management team has set their sights on increasing the number of properties the business manages from 6,300 to 10,000 over the next
three years, driving further growth.
Understandably, many business owners are
fearful that taking an investor on-board would mean handing over the reins of their
company, but this isn’t the case. At LDC, we
invest in the management team rather than the business,
backing their expertise, market knowledge and experience to continue to grow their own business.
Take Wakefield-headquartered Team17 and the business’s CEO, Debbie Bestwick MBE, as a case in point. We originally invested £16.5m in the firm in 2016 to help support its international expansion and become the leading independent video games label for independent developers. Under Debbie’s leadership, the business has grown significantly since then, with its
revenues rising by 119 per cent and EBITDA increasing by 111 per cent in the following year alone. And Team17 completed a successful IPO in 2018 with a £217m listing on AIM market.
We’ve been backing the ambitions of British business since 1981, through boom and bust, in recession and recovery, and we’ve provided flexible support to more than 600 management teams.
Earlier this year we committed
to helping businesses in the region prosper by announcing a pledge
to invest £200m in northern firms alone in 2019, as part of a wider
plan to invest £1.2bn in ambitious businesses over the next three years.
We want to use this funding to support the growth plans of SMEs right across Yorkshire.
As part of LDC’s commitment
to backing ambition, the firm is searching to identify and celebrate the nation’s Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders. We want to make sure that the leaders of Yorkshire’s SMEs are well represented in this list. You can find out more about the programme and how to nominate at: www.ldc.co.uk/YP