It was in weighing up their life goals against the demands of the hugely successful business they had built that Clive and Lynne realised, with the help of their FPC advisor, the time had come to pass the ownership of the business on and move forward with the next chapter of their lives.
Clive: “Our business emanated from my mum’s hobby business (back in the 1990’s) renting out holiday cottages; she had a few of her own and acted as an agent for a few of her friends. I decided to get involved and see if I could turn it into a ‘proper’ business. Lynne joined me a few years later and slowly but surely it grew into Sykes Cottages, and that’s where FPC came in…”
Lynne: “The colleague who recommended them said they’d help us figure out where we were at the time, and where we wanted to be, as they’d take us through a process that would enable us to do that.
“Part of that is very much about getting to know you, so our initial meetings (about a decade prior to our business exit) weren’t so much about how much money do you have in your bank account and what investments have you got – that was all sorted and brought to the table – but really, the meetings were about getting to know us as people, what makes us tick and figuring out what we want out of life.”
“the meetings were about getting to know us as people, what makes us tick and figuring out what we want out of life.”
Clive: “FPC made us think about what we wanted together, individually, and as a family and made us think about where we would like to be in five years’ time, ten years’ time, when we retire. And they also touch on all the scary stuff… wills, letters of wishes etc… they addressed it all… and we’re glad it got sorted – so thank you FPC.”
Lynne: “You’re building a relationship all the time with your advisor, they get to know you really well and you get to know them. It’s an ongoing process of regular catch-ups and discussing what you’re trying to do at those moments in time, and through that what was becoming clear to us both was that the business was getting bigger and bigger and perhaps wasn’t where we wanted to be anymore…
Clive: “We are both commercially minded, and the business had got to a certain size and scale where it was probably the right time to sell. But without someone to help and advise us, I am not sure we’d have had the confidence and made the effort to go through with that process as it’s so complicated.
“Nothing in life is perfect but timing is really important and just having someone there who could tell you, “yes, it is the right time” and, “yes I can understand why you want to go with those people rather than those others”, and confirm that the commercial terms are good, helps you have the confidence to move forward.
“For many people it’s a once in a lifetime thing, selling your business, and you want to make sure you do it right – FPC helped us do that, and achieve the goals we set out to.”
Moira O’Shaughnessy, Managing Partner, FPC, comments: As business owners ourselves we understand the sacrifices, commitment and responsibility that go hand in hand with building a successful business. Clive and Lynne took that responsibility seriously and it was a privilege to help them plan and navigate their exit from Sykes at the right time for them and the business, and to support them in their new ventures thereafter.
Financial planning is about making informed decisions and planning for the future with confidence. It starts by understanding what really matters to your client and building a plan that remains focussed on helping them achieving their personal goals.
Clive and Lynne are the perfect clients – fully engaged, open and interested and its’ been a joy to support them and great fun too! That’s the relationship we seek to develop with all clients
