Your first acquisition, done properly.
Make your first acquisition yourself, with an experienced buyer beside you at every step. Three months, a monthly working session in London with a small group of owners doing the same, and a one-to-one on your own deal every week.
Is this for you?
This is for you if…
- You own an established UK business
- You want to grow by buying another
- You'd rather run the deal yourself, with help
- A competitor or local owner may be ready to sell
It's not for you if…
- You're looking to buy a business with no money down
- You want someone to run the whole search for you (see Acquisition search)
- You're not yet sure acquisition is right (start with the free Acquirers Club)
Thousands of owners near you are thinking about selling.
Owners of around 87,000 UK SMEs say they're likely to sell within ten years, and more than a third of them have no plan in place. Source: Ownership at Work, Generation EO (2023).
A first deal goes wrong in predictable ways.
Overpaying
Asking prices are set for sellers, not for you.
Funding
Banks, vendor finance or earn-outs: which, and how much?
Hidden problems
What the seller doesn't tell you, and how to find out.
Deals that collapse
Months of work lost at heads of terms.
One month, one stage, one first deal
Each month opens with a working session in London. You work through the stage together as a group, on real examples, with a guest specialist such as a lender or a deal lawyer in the room. The day ends with a working dinner, where the best conversations often happen. Then, every week, we work through it on your own deal, one to one, until it's done.
Decide what to buy, and why
London session: build your acquisition criteria, your case for buying and a list of real targets. Weekly one-to-ones: we sharpen your criteria and test every name on your list. Already have a target in mind? We start from it.
Find and approach the owners
London session: how to reach owners who aren't advertising a sale, what to say and how to run the first meeting. Weekly one-to-ones: we prepare each approach with you and debrief every conversation.
Value it, fund it, agree the deal
London session: valuation, funding (bank debt, vendor finance, earn-outs) and negotiating heads of terms. Weekly one-to-ones: we build your offer together and review your heads of terms before anything goes to the seller.
What you leave with:
How the Accelerator compares
| Accelerator | Acquisition courses | Going alone | Full advisory | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | One fixed fee | Often hidden; long memberships | Your time, and mistakes | A larger fixed fee, plus completion support |
| Who it's for | Established owners | Often would-be owners | n/a | Serial acquirers |
| Help on your actual deal | Yes, one-to-one every week | Mostly group teaching | No | Done for you |
| Length | 3 months | 12–36 months | Open-ended | 90 days + |
If you later want us to run a search for you, your Accelerator fee is credited against an acquisition search within 12 months.
Led by someone who's done it as a buyer
Michael Ferguson ran acquisitions as head of M&A at William Grant & Sons and was finance director at Capita. No hype, no "buy for £1". A practitioner and a room of up to ten owners.
About Michael →Questions owners ask us
I already have a business in mind. Is this still for me?
Yes. We start from that deal and skip the search weeks, so the time goes on valuing, funding and approaching it properly.
What do heads of terms, earn-outs and vendor finance mean?
Heads of terms: the outline deal you agree before lawyers draft the contract. Earn-out: part of the price paid later, if the business hits agreed targets. Vendor finance: the seller lets you pay part of the price over time.
Will I have bought a business by the end?
Possibly not: deals take time. By the end of the three months you'll have approached owners and know how to take one from first conversation to agreed heads of terms. How long an acquisition takes →
How much time does it take?
One working session in London each month, followed by dinner with the group, plus about 3 hours a week: an hour-long one-to-one and your own deal work.
Who are the guest specialists?
Practitioners you would otherwise pay to hear from, chosen for the stage you're at: for example a lender when we cover funding, or a deal lawyer when we cover heads of terms. You can put your own questions to them.
When do cohorts start?
Four times a year: January, April, July and October. Each cohort has up to 10 owners. If one is full, we'll offer you a place on the next.
What if a competitor is in the group?
We don't put direct competitors in the same cohort, and everyone signs a confidentiality agreement.
Are there extra costs later?
No upsells. Legal and accounting work on a live deal is billed by those firms directly.
Apply for a place
Up to 10 places per cohort, so everyone gets real one-to-one time. Cohorts start in January, April, July and October; the founding cohort starts in January 2027. We reply to every application within 3 working days.
Five quick questions about your business and plans, then your details. It takes about two minutes and helps us check the Accelerator is right for you.