You might be thinking of buying a company: what features would an ideal company have?

Published: 15 December 2020

2020 has been a difficult year: COVID and Brexit uncertainty being two huge drivers. So, if I am thinking of acquiring what might I be looking for?

The retail, travel and hospitality sectors will not have been top of the shopping list this year. However, as of today [2 December 2020] with the first vaccine having being approved by the MHRA, the prospects are looking better.

This year has shown the importance of having resilience of turnover. That could be through a recurring client or customer base, generating annual income, or stickiness of customers through loyalty.

My ideal sector therefore would be commercial insurance broking: not only are clients recurring, therefore generating annual commissions, but also, businesses tend to be loyal to their broker. I expect to see consolidation of commercial brokers during 2021 and 2022. Brokers looking for deals for growth will help keep values high.