Who we work with
A feature of our success to date has been building for a narrow audience with specific needs and opportunities. We set out below an illustration of who we typically like to work with and how we work together, as well as why not all teams and leaders will be a fit for our model.

- Have delivered an exit which is greater than £50m Enterprise Value (to date our average is £147m) and for that exit to have generated over 2.5x return for investors if the firm was sponsored by a private equity firm. We choose this so that we have a proven base of return / scale from which to replicate and improve on.
- Preferably the exit will have been private equity backed because that means our proposition will resonate more clearly and the teams and leaders will all have proven comfort and familiarity with the reporting and cadence required in those environments. But we certainly don’t rule out sponsorless exits.

- Not all great teams and leaders have exited – they may already be leaders in a business that is the relative top-of-market. We too believe they have enormous relatable experience and networks to allow them to build on the proven habits and practices of the market leader.
- We like to work with teams and leaders who have benefited from continuity of service, have seen repeated promotion and development and don’t necessarily have to be the CEO / CFO of those businesses – the larger the operation the more credible the second-line / divisional leadership team will be, which is also appealing for us to work with.

- Lead a business proven to be an outlier in their market (that could be growth, margins, awards or capability)
- That could be a post-profit venture business or a second-generation SLT who have had transformative impact on the fortunes of a mature business
- Leadership needs augmenting and the company needs investment to allow it to reach its potential
Shared criteria
All
- Have domain knowledge of the sector exceeding 10 years
- Have worked in groups which have grown through M&A, not just organic
- Have experience of both SME and Enterprise, ideally
- Our strong preference is to back a team or pair, but we will work with individuals
- Anywhere in the UK
If you recognise yourself in any of the above, please do make contact
Register interestWho we choose not to work with
Whilst these are not exhaustive or necessarily cast in stone, these are hallmarks of teams and leaders who from experience will be better served by alternative providers. We take great pride in the very selective filtering of our backed candidates and that we believe is more important than dealing for dealing’s sake.
Unless by strong exception.
Consultants moving into a first industry role
Transient or interim leaders with shallow sector knowledge
Overseas leaders coming to the UK for the first time
Leaders looking to build a global group
Leaders who were passengers in prior strategy, not active participants
Leaders of businesses in the following sectors
- Consumer
- Hospitality
- Marketing
- Media
- Software
- Adult Industries
Our typical journey
Whilst all of our strategies are designed & built to serve the experience and aspirations of the teams we partner with, there is a common theme, the broad shape of which we set out below so that teams and leaders can be in no ambiguity about what we build and how.
We see real value in combining off-market, sub-scale and regional assets to create leading mid-market assets of the future.
Build the platform
Acquire 2–3 small-cap acquisitions, £2–10m turnover.
Invest for growth
Designing, resourcing & embedding a target operating model across the functions.
Scale the platform
Acquire 2–6 small-mid cap acquisitions, £2–20m turnover.
Prepare for exit from day one
Exit at optimal scale
Most often£6–10m EBITDA
Where there is a chronic under-supply of growth/investable assets and an over-supply of buyers/investors from the UK and overseas who are interested in a performing asset of critical mass.

“Being able to bring strategic & tactical benefits into sub-scale businesses is exciting and valuable. I really do believe the Independence model is an accelerant for emerging SMEs wanting to make that next step but with the support of teams who have been there before.”
Chris EarleCo-founder, NovemWe invest our time and expertise in you, before we start
If you are reading this, there is every chance that, as of today, your mind may not be made up about what your next step will be? You’ll likely be facing into lots of questions and uncertainty; will you stay where you are, is now the right time, can you afford to take the risk, do you feel safer with traditional private equity, are the market conditions right, is it fair to you or your family to commit to something new, what is the opportunity you want to target, what are the risks, how long will it take, who can I bring with me, what are my options, what are the scale of the rewards? These questions and more are all natural.
At Independence Capital we recognise that beyond the investment, before any decisions have been made, it is our job to help you on the journey of exploring all of those questions. With openness, patience and without pressure or obligation we routinely invest our time to help us both build the confidence that we are the right partners for you and that this is the right option for you at the right time.

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