Secantor

Secantor

Thursday 22 February 2018

Secantor helps BGF with £10m investment into CHS Healthcare

https://www.insidermedia.com/insider/midlands/bgf-in-10m-healthcare-firm-investment

Secantor CEO Nigel Bacon  helps BGF with a development capital investment into CHS Healthcare. The broad range of experience and sector experience puts us in an ideal place to help both BGF Growth and BGF Ventures and we look forward to assisting on further transactions.

Nigel Bacon
Secantor CEO
www.secantor.co.uk

Sunday 16 April 2017

Our Associates Profiled on LinkedIn

See our corporate profile on LinkedIn profiling our associates https://www.linkedin.com/company/secantor

We have an unenviable reputation with thew SME and banking and financial community forged over 17 years.

Nigel Bacon
CEO Secantor
www.secantor.co.uk

Secantor Goes Regional

At Secantor we have always valued the benefit of being embedded in the local professional an banking community.

www.secantor.co.uk now represents finance support (part - time FD) within Wales and the Midlands, whilst connected with other Secantor regions to provide the added benefit of a wide base of knowledge to deliver the very best for our clients.

In the Midlands and Wales the business is led by Nigel Bacon https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-bacon-3b6865b/ who has many years professional and business experience to support SMEs with a team of qualified accountants and also supported with HR and Health and Safety expertise.

See our client testimonials on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DIm8jKdfU4

Nigel Bacon
CEO Secantor
www.secantor.co.uk

Tuesday 3 February 2015

The practicalities of implementing a new accounting system

Today, there are many accounting systems to choose from. In recent years, there has been a move to "cloud" based systems and for those businesses "starting out", this has been a natural choice.

The "cloud" has facilitated the outsourcing, or partial outsourcing model, under which Secantor operates. It has enabled business owners to take advantage of a wide range of financial, commercial and strategic expertise at an affordable price. The trick is to engage the right amount of expertise at the right level and to have this as an "on demand" basis. Accounting systems in the "cloud" help the owner manager, or family business, to control their business, day or night, by having "real time" visibility over the management information.

The fact that the Finance Director might not be physically be at  the owners side does not matter. They are on call, on an "as needed basis" . Typically our FDs will visit a business for between 2 days a month and 3 days a week providing a cost effective resource and helping to implement an effective finance function. Whilst the FD may not be "on-site" all of the time the owner/manager has complete  and continuous visibility over " real time" management information which monitors the key performance indicators of the business. In many fast moving businesses this is critical to gauge the impact that decision making is having on the performance of the business.

For many established businesses the thought of changing or developing accounting, or management information systems, is full of trepidation. These systems are "mission critical" and the old adage of "why try and fix what is not broken" often comes into play. However, at Secantor we have considerable experience amongst our people of  developing and implementing new systems for clients, enabling businesses to remain "cutting edge". We are able to lever off practical experiences of our clients that can provide comfort to taking the next step.

To learn more, please contact Secantor. www.secantor.co.uk

Nigel Bacon
CEO

Wednesday 10 December 2014

Valuing People Businesses and Adding Value to People Businesses.

I think it is fair to say that we are experts at valuing and operating people businesses. That is partly because we are a people business, and secondly, because all of our people have significant business experience, which we share with each other for the benefit of our clients.

Of course, all businesses are, to a greater, or lesser extent, people businesses. These days what used to be "pure play" people businesses can be enhanced through the use of technology, and indeed that is what we have done in our own business. So the value of our business not only lies in the great people that we have, but how we harness and magnify our people's efforts through the use of technology. In that way, we add real value for our clients which is something which others struggle to replicate.

In valuing people businesses the size of business is often a factor. The reason is not so much about growth for growth's sake, if we remember the adage "turnover is vanity, profit is sanity and cash is reality", it is more about dependencies. For instance, I have spent a large part of my career buying recruitment companies and marketing services companies, both of which are highly people dependent. A feature of both of those sectors of the market for smaller businesses is both customer concentration and a dependency on key individuals within the business, which increases the risks for a purchaser. The individuals are usually the owner managers themselves who are often the driving force behind the business. How do new owners ensure that the traction that has been created by that owner manager endures into the future? We have a number of models around acquiring people businesses that can be highly beneficial, and tax efficient, for both the vendor and the acquirer.

People businesses are typically valued around a price earnings ratio based on a cash free/debt free balance sheet. We can advise clients on how to build and lock in value to their business and how they can make it attractive to the acquirer. This is not a superficial gloss, but forms part of the overall strategic direction that can be built over time.

To find our more on building value into your business contact Nigel Bacon CEO Secantor

www.secantor.co.uk




Friday 8 August 2014

The world has changed

It is often said that nothing really changes but in our world but some things have, and  mainly based around technology.

Externally, for some of our clients this has proved very exciting. Particularly new internet retailing businesses. One of our clients has developed an offshoot retailing business which has grown from nothing to £0.5m turnover in less than 12 months. This particular business is breaking new ground. However, there are many examples of web based retailers "disrupting" traditional businesses all of which gives rise to opportunities, since if businesses don't move forwards and embrace change, they will inevitably go into reverse, and eventually fail. It is often helpful for businesses to obtain support with a strategic review of their business, since management are generally very much involved in operational matters, and don't regularly stand back and look at the broader picture and the opportunities that might await.

It often helps to have someone challenge their thinking and this does not necessarily mean that this person should have deep industry knowledge, but a good grasp of strategic thinking. Many of our people have this sort of training that wraps discipline around an "away day" to add structure and outcomes. Management often appreciate having an objective person to challenge their thinking in a constructive way.

Internally, we have seen substantial benefits from the IT revolution, allowing us to develop communication systems and automation of our business, for the benefits of our associates and clients. Of course, it has also enabled our prospective, and new clients, to better conceptualise our particular slant on outsourcing and the fact that someone might not always be on a clients physical location does not mean that they cannot be involved on client work and be accountable for that work.

All of this leads us to a brighter future with our clients benefitting from cost effective expertise as part of their team.
www.secantor.co.uk

Nigel Bacon
CEO Secantor
01564 330677