Jamil explains what happened after acquiring a £4.5 million fire door and safety business, including operational problems, technology upgrades, staff changes, procurement savings, and the next stage of a sector focused buy and build.
Listen to the EpisodeEpisode 307 | Runtime: 24:50 | Audio Episode
Hear the full discussion on what happens after completion when a buyer takes control, finds operational gaps, improves systems, and prepares for further acquisitions.
Episode
307
Runtime
24:50
Topic
Post acquisition integration
Format
Buyer interview
Three direct lessons from taking control of a profitable fire safety business and preparing it for a buy and build strategy.
Sellers may hold back operational problems until after the deal closes, so buyers need a clear day one plan, access priorities, staff communication, and early control over critical decisions.
Jamil found a strong business held back by paper based operations, weak systems, and outdated workflows. Moving finance, supplier processing, and workforce planning into better systems created fast operational gains.
Once Jamil owned a fire safety platform business, brokers and sellers treated him differently. A credible platform can improve deal flow, support bolt on acquisitions, and create a path toward private equity interest.
Jonathan Jay speaks with Jamil about the first 90 days after acquiring a £4.5 million revenue fire door and safety business. The deal had looked clean from the outside, but once completion happened, the buyer inherited immediate operational issues, staff questions, open hiring decisions, and a business that relied heavily on paper, email, and legacy ways of working.
Jamil explains how he used the long period between heads of terms and completion to build a growth strategy, model the impact on the P and L, identify cost savings, and define his day one and 90 day action plan. He also covers the practical changes made after completion, including moving finance systems to Xero, outsourcing bookkeeping and finance support, improving supplier payment processes, repurposing staff, and preparing the company for better remote management.
The conversation then moves into the wider buy and build strategy. Jamil discusses avoiding being pulled into day to day management, hiring a general manager, returning to brokers with new credibility, assessing larger bolt on opportunities, building a cash position, and the potential to exit or partner with private equity after scaling the group in the fire safety sector.
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