Month: January 2024

Planning for retirement isn’t something that should be left until the last minute, it’s never too early to at least set some milestones for where you want to be at a given time.

If on the other hand you are one of the many who are now thinking about imminent retirement but have no specific plans in place, don’t worry, there are things you can do to improve the value of your largest asset – your book of business.

We at Brokerring are more than happy to help any Broker who is looking for the best out of their business asset. We would quickly learn about your business and put in place some recommendations to maximise the potential value of your book of business. Whilst we work on that, we’ll be advising on when to sell and will help to determine the length of time you would like to continue to work in the business after the earn out has expired, both full and part time. Also, never forget that your second-best asset is your decades of experience in the industry, your intellectual property if you like. It’s important for you to make the most of this value and it is important for the continuance of a strong and healthy Regional Broking Network that you impart your knowledge on others.

Give us a call or send over an email, we will react quickly and without cost for any initial time and advice we would gladly offer to you. This will improve the potential of your sale value and your future retirement.

When a deal is done, and a business is sold, conversation always come around to “How was it for you?”.

Apart from the obvious stress attached to letting go of ‘their business baby’, often after decades of life, one common thread is ‘We needed our friend’. Yes, the Lawyer and the Accountant play an important role in the process but they are very focused on either the safety of a deal or just about the money. So, Brokerring’s privileged position in all of this is to act as the ‘friendly advisers’, the objective and experienced help from people who have been through it for themselves and who have been advisers to dozens of Brokers facing the same daunting process before.

Stuart Randall and Ian Wainwright are Brokerring’s friendly advisers who help to make sense of it all for you, from preparing a Broking business for sale, to supporting every stage of the sale process culminating in a successful conclusion. They are supporting, advising, and negotiating alongside you to achieve your desired outcome with the least amount of angst.

Don’t fall foul of the ‘it will be easy’ trap, there is nothing farther from the truth. Like the grace of a swan, Brokerring’s legs are working tirelessly below the water line, allowing the Broker to do what they do best which is to write insurance policies.

For your no fee introduction to the sale process, it’s benefits and pinch points, ring now for a confidential zoom call, it will probably change your life.

With a disastrous standing at the local elections, many Conservative MPs are mulling over the probability of being in a much smaller party, and in opposition after the general election, next year. Businesses right across the economy should be sure that they understand the implications of a Labour government to their business and their industry.A future Labour government has all but confirmed that it will commit to a review of business taxes and move away from what it calls an “11th hour approach”, which the party believes is currently holding back investment.

There is a simplistic logic doing the rounds in the Labour camp that dividend tax should be in line with general taxation rates, but ‘try at your peril’, there are many small businesses whose very existence would be at risk if they were taxed more on their dividend ‘income’. There is real fragility in this large group of business owners and the landscape would quickly change with many small businesses hanging up their boots rather than having to cope with yet another cash struggle.

We are likely to enter a phase of ‘big is beautiful’ in business and the shift towards larger companies will transform the landscape for decades to come. If you have any thoughts of retiring in the coming years, don’t wait around for these probable changes to control the narrative, think seriously about moving sooner rather than later. Labour may or may not be good for British business, but action now will certainly protect your retirement fund.

If you are considering selling your brokerage within the next five years, you should read on.

Business sales firms will tell you the biggest threat to our future is changing the taxation regime (and the loss of entrepreneur’s relief as was). However, there is one other major factor that you really need to focus in on when you’re looking at your future.

Sir Keir Starmer has already said that it is iniquitous that capital gains tax is a different rate to income tax, and I’m sure he will get round to increasing capital gains tax to 40% in line with income tax. However, this is not the main threat to your business. The biggest scare if labour is elected, as seems likely at this stage, is that all the Baby Boomer businesses out there having lived through previous labour governments are going to say enough. If they are within retirement distance, they’re going to try to sell the firms before the taxation regime changes and the penalise the rich attitude of labour start to bite. That being the case, there is likely to be a mass exodus of clients from their industries leaving you with a very much diminished client pool. This means that most businesses will be on the downturn if they try to sell, but more importantly, if they sell to a consolidator the 2 years buy out is likely to be adversely affected by the economic environment at that time.

Essentially, if you are considering retiring in the next five years, you need to speak to us now to see what the options are for ways in which you can protect your major investment i.e. your business.

Give us a call or email, it will potentially change your life.

Acquisition is not only a well-used method of increasing GWP in a business it is an excellent way of acquiring highly experience staff too.

Recruiting great talent is daunting these days. The whole landscape has changed out there, quality people are becoming almost impossible to recruit and this is not expected to change anytime soon. Whilst it’s clearly good for job seekers, it can make it difficult for businesses to find the right people to hire, stifling the potential for growth. There is however a way of solving two business conundrums at the same time.

Buying businesses is still a great way to grow your company, there are a potential pool of ‘baby boomer’ owners out there who are looking for ways to stand back or retire and buying (into) one of these offers a useful added benefit. Picking the right broker who has an excellent workforce gives you much more overall team flexibility and capacity in your business for further growth. Many of these acquisitions can be paid for over several years so you won’t need large amounts of cash to proceed.

Brokerring helps businesses to buy, as well as sell businesses, and with over 100 successful deals behind them, the top team are well equipped to help you achieve your deal. There is a great deal of work involved in preparing for a successful transaction, whether you’re on the selling or buying side, we will hold your hand through the whole process, you can rely on Brokerring to achieve the best deal for you and your company.

With the weather taking a decidely colder feel now, Brokers with thoughts of selling, and who have been looking excitedly at the sale prices achieved in 2022, should take note that there is a chill in the market which could last for years.

Anyone who spent the Festive period moving closer to a decision to sell – shouldn’t waste any time in turning those thoughts into deeds and start the sale process immediately.

From the heady days of 3x commission and fee income and in some cases above in 2022, we are already seeing deals with an average of 2.6x. With the increases in interest rates followed by a tightening of lending criteria this is likely to apply downward pressure even further. It’s clear that it will be a long time before we see the eye watering rates again.

Brokerring are happy to hold a confidential discussion, at no cost, about your own particular needs around sale, semi sale or succession.

Please call to arrange a Zoom or face to face meeting now.

The landscape in Regional Commercial Broking has changed out of all recognition given the sale activity in this sector of late.

Larger Commercial brokers have been selling faster than properties in the past couple of years, reaching eye watering multiples. There is now a dirge of larger Independent brokers available, leading consolidators to eye up some smaller Brokers.

A well-balanced portfolio with a substantial commercial book is a key driver of price as well as high retention, expense control, good loss experience and continuance of management.

The opportunity to sell is not likely to last forever, and signs of softening a piece, particularly with Brokers below £5m GWP has recently been experienced. Who knows just how long these unprecedented prices can continue?

If you are thinking about a possible sale of your Brokerage you need to accept that achieving the best price whilst fulfilling softer issues, like staff and location, is all about presenting your business in the best possible light. Something that Brokerring specialises in.

Sign us up to exclusively sell your business and we will immediately set to work on making sure that your Brokerage has and presents the best value for potential buyers, ensuring you of the best price and situation for your sale needs.

We don’t see the current market lasting forever, don’t become one of those who wished that they’d taken advantage when it was available…call Brokerring now to arrange an early meeting, you certainly won’t regret it.