Beaufort Research is one of Wales’ largest and best-known marketing and social research agencies. Long-standing directors Fiona McAllister and Chris Timmins used a Finance Wales loan to buy out the company’s founder in March this year. Here Managing Director, Fiona speaks about the experience.

What were your reasons for pursuing a management buy-out?

My colleague Chris and I have been directors of Beaufort for the last seven years following the retirement of the company’s founder. We know the business inside out, so the time seemed right for us to step up and take full ownership.

Did you have any prior experience of buying a business?

No, not really!  Neither of us had been through a management buy-out before so it was a completely new situation for both of us.  Our starting point was to get as much advice as possible from friends and family with an accountancy or financial background.  We also approached Finance Wales early on to get a better understanding of the funding options open to us as well as the process we’d need to go through.

SOURCE: financewales.co.uk