Ian Howell
- Sector
- Transport & Warehousing
- Size
- £3.0m EBITDA
- Advisory
- Buy-Side
- Debt Advisory
Background
- Formerly Managing Director of Arrow XL on behalf of the Barclay Brothers – delivered turnaround from negative £3m EBITDA to positive £3m EBITDA in 3 years. Previously Head of Logistics – M&S, Supply Chain Director – Land of Leather
- Independence were engaged direct by Ian who having left Arrow XL with a performance bonus wanted to build his own logistics group where he was 100% shareholder but had limited resources so was unsure what was possible…
Process & outcome
- Independence undertook a thesis design and mapping of the UK market, identifying which companies represented the best fit for his operator model, location & budget
- We supported the formation of a new group, seeding that with bank senior debt and mezzanine from a small ticket credit fund alongside Ian’s capital.
- We supported Ian to acquire Neil Bomford Transport a £1.5m operator in South East
- A year later we supported Ian to acquire Star Transport, a comparably sized operation 30 minutes adjacent to Bomford, forming Bomfords Group together and serving the South East artery, a key transport route between port and major cities. As part of this transaction we also refinanced the initial mezzanine debt which gave Ian 100% control and yielded both lower debt service and covenants in the process. The group now traded at £3.0m EBITDA and was posting 10% CAGR after Covid.
“This was my first foray into acquiring a business without the support of a broader corporate infrastructure. Independence have offered invaluable support and guidance; showing not only determination to deliver the best deal but also a calm & professional approach to managing both transactions & restructuring our finances, which at times were challenging for a variety of reasons”
