How we think about it
Many of the businesses we admire have been built over decades by people who care deeply about their staff, their customers and the reputation they have earned. When an owner starts thinking about what comes next, they often want to know the business will stay in good hands.
That is the conversation we want to have. We intend to be closely involved owners for many years, and we expect to spend our early years learning rather than changing things.
Keeping what works
The name, the people and the way the business looks after its customers are usually why it succeeded. We want to keep them.
A transition at the owner's pace
We are flexible on how and when an owner steps back. Some prefer a long handover, some want to stay involved or keep an interest for a time.
Looking after people
Staff, the specialists a business relies on and its long-standing customers matter as much to us as the numbers.
Discretion
Conversations with us are private. We put confidentiality arrangements in place before anything sensitive is shared, and we do not discuss who we speak with.
Where our interest lies
Much of our time recently has gone into specialist and experiential travel. We have a lot of respect for operators who have built real expertise in what they do, and travellers who come back to them year after year.
The businesses we are drawn to tend to share a few things: they are well run and have been for some time, their customers come back, the team is one the owner trusts, and the owner has started to think about the next phase of the business. We do not have a checklist beyond that.
We are happy simply to get to know an owner and their business, with no agenda and no timetable. If the time is ever right, now or some way down the track, we would value the chance to talk.