SPECIALIST IN SMALL BUSINESS DEALS
20 YEAR TRACK RECORD
High Wood Capital facilitates small business buy-outs, allowing shareholders and owner-managers to realise value from their business and management teams to step up into ownership.
20+
Years
Experience*
40+
Deals
Financed*
£10bn+
Transaction
Value*
* Statistics include deals led by High Wood Capital's Team
ABOUT US
High Wood Capital is an independent specialist in identifying and facilitating small business buy-outs, enabling shareholders and owner-managers to realise value from their business and management teams to step up into ownership.
Andrew Stubbs founded the business, having over 20 years private equity and corporate finance experience. He joined Barclays Capital in 1997 before moving to RBS, latterly as a Director in RBS Private Equity.
ANDREW STUBBS
At RBS Private Equity (now Pollen Street Capital) he held a senior role investing and managing the £1.2bn RBS Special Opportunities Fund focused on UK SMEs.
Moving out of London in 2010, he joined Grant Thornton’s corporate finance team in Manchester, consistently one of the most active corporate finance teams in the country. In 2013 he moved to Seneca Partners to help establish their corporate finance business working on a wide range of regional advisory engagements.
In 2018, Andrew set up the Seneca Private Equity business, completing its first deal in 2019. It brought together a syndicate of high net worth investors to deliver a partial cash-out for the owner managers of an ambitious Lancashire textile business, Whyte & Ivory.
High Wood Capital's first transaction was to support the acquisition of B&S Group in 2022, an innovative, high growth engineering business delivering full-service solutions for power and renewable energy networks.
Andrew has built a strong network in both the financial services market and with HNW investors, providing access to high-quality, off-market deals and the investor base to deliver them. Andrew also works closely with his Advisory Partners on the sourcing and evaluation of new opportunities and providing ongoing advice and support to help each business fulfil its potential.
Enthusiastically supported by his wife, 12 year old head of IT and 10 year old head of creative, Andrew is looking to build a more senior team as the portfolio grows. He’s motivated by working with small businesses in a hands-on role to help them take full advantage of the opportunities they have to grow and develop.
Outside work, Andrew’s a passionate skier and loves spending time with family and friends, often out on the water around Anglesey.
SELECTED DEALS
We have delivered a broad range of deals for some of the most prominent banking, private equity and regional investment specialists working with UK SMEs*.
These deals have been funded by a range of investors including syndicates of HNW investors, private equity funds, banks and corporate acquirers:
£8m MBO of a construction materials distributor cashing-out one of the founders. Profits increased 500% before listing on AIM in 2019.
£3m Investment in a receivables finance business allowing the team to build a leading European commercial bank now with over €3bn assets.
£2m Investment in a wholesale import-export business de-risking the owner managers who continue to run the business as majority shareholders.
£8m MBO of a wealth management business, cashing-out the founder and supporting bolt-on acquisitions. AUM approximately doubled in 3yrs to c£1.5bn.
£7m investment in a M&E contractor de-risking the family owner managers with the younger generation continuing to run the business.
£6m MBO of a heating system distributor realising value for two of the founders with the incumbent Managing Director taking a majority stake.
ADVISORY PARTNERS
We work closely with our Advisory Partners in relation to both new opportunities and supporting the businesses acquired. With experience of start-ups through to running multinational leaders in their field, they add invaluable experience in identifying the best opportunities and building successful businesses.
CASE STUDY: WHYTE & IVORY
(Cash-out / Partial sale)
Whyte & Ivory was established in 2009 by husband & wife team, Peter Hamilton and Anne Collins. Following successful corporate careers in the industry, they identified a gap in the market for a business specialising in the sourcing and distribution of high-quality curtain linings and blackout fabrics.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
10 years on, having built up a valuable business, they decided it was time to realise some value from the business and to start putting plans in place so they could step back in due course. They recognised that simply putting the "FOR SALE" sign up when they were ready to retire from the busines was unlikely to result in getting the value they deserved and could severely limit their exit options.
As owner-managers they found themselves facing a very common predicament when it comes to realising value - they were the critical assets in their business. This can mean exceptional profitability under their ownership with the founders fulfilling multiple roles in a lean organisation. However, it can often render the business unsellable, as all key relationships / knowledge would leave with the departing shareholders.
Peter & Anne recognised this dynamic and decided to make some changes, setting the business on a path where, in 3 to 5 years, they'd open up the option to step away or retire. The new plan included an evolution of the team and their own roles to make this possible with minimal disruption to day-to-day operations.
DEAL DYNAMICS
Whyte & Ivory has a strong track record of growth, is profitable and well run. This is predominantly due to the founders’ approach of delivering a professional, first-class service to customers, differentiating themselves from the more established but less dynamic competitors.
Our relationship built quickly from the initial meeting. As Peter and Anne reflected on the years of hard work getting the business to where it was, taking some money out and gaining a partner with appetite for risk and long term investment increasingly felt like the right way forward.
The dynamics of the situation created an attractive investment opportunity and a deal was put together to realise some value for the founders in 2019 with the sale of a minority stake. The deal included developing a new plan to evolve the business over the next few years so that they'd have the opportunity to retire or step back whilst realising full value for the business they've built.
THE BUSINESS PLAN
The business plan included investment in a range of growth opportunities as well as development of a first class team that could ultimately lead the business when the founders step back. The objectives being to fulfil the potential of the business over this period, broaden the range of exit options and maximise shareholder value.
A number of strategic and operational milestones have already been delivered including: moving into larger premises, expanding the American operations and developing a wide-width digital printing facility, the first of its kind in the UK.
One of the most pressing requirements was to begin building out the team, firstly through creating a finance function. This has freed up valuable time for both Peter and Anne, allowing them to focus on the areas of the business they are most passionate about - new customers, new product development and strategic development.
PARTNERSHIP
“We’ve established a great working relationship with Andrew, it’s much more than just input at the Board meetings. Our outlook has been reset, with renewed enthusiam and appetite to invest in long term opportunities. He’s also opened his network to us building some valuable new relationships and provided strategic finance expertise that we'd otherwise never have access to in a business of our size.” said Peter Hamilton, Managing Director, Whyte & Ivory.