Inflexion has been supporting family-run businesses for 20 years, meaning we understand their unique dynamics. We have helped many such businesses to address succession, support international expansion and acquisitive growth, and implement digital enhancement.

 

Succession planning: CTC Aviation

Some businesses can benefit from assistance with succession planning, to ensure family businesses remain happily and successfully in the family. Inflexion helped CTC Aviation to do just this. CTC Aviation was set up by Chris Clarke in 1995 and grew into a business with £7m of profits. In 2012, Chris was looking to realise some value but retain a share and some involvement. His son Rob, then COO, wanted to remain fully involved. The company also needed funding to grow further.

The business partnered with Inflexion, and together created a plan which allowed Chris to transition leadership of the business to the core management team, headed by Rob. Chris retained a stake but stepped back a bit, and the business was able to grow further.

Part of the partnership saw £10m invested by Inflexion to finance new flight simulators in the UK and new Crew Training Centres in the UK and US, facilitating new client wins and growing cadet numbers by 90%. Three years later, in 2015, the business was sold to a Canadian trade buyer, with Rob still at the helm.

More than money: Autofutura

Capital is a crucial part of successful businesses – as is the talent and people driving them. Family-run businesses are often acutely attuned to the importance of people. Founder of Autofutura Kim Sandom explains the importance of people in family-run businesses and why finding a backer with the right chemistry for his son and granddaughter was crucial.

Founded in 2002, Southampton based Autofutura is a specialist global provider of automotive data management software. The firm works with automotive finance providers, fleet operators and motor manufacturers including JLR, Fiat, Chrysler, Volkswagen and Vauxhall.

Seeking to accelerate the firm’s growth, Kim worked with advisers to find a supportive backer. “It wasn’t all about the money for me. It was important to partner with someone who could get on with my son and granddaughter who are still working within the business.” In fact, Kim hadn’t been convinced the firm’s future was with private equity, however his son expressed his comfort with the Inflexion team, helping to cement the partnership.

In April 2019 the firm partnered with Inflexion, which is helping to expand Autofutura’s technology and product offering. The Inflexion network has also been valuable, not only in appointing an experienced chairman but also with its in-country expert in India arranging a trip encompassing 15 business development meetings.

It’s an exciting time for the business, there is so much opportunity and with Inflexion’s support I am convinced we will become the global leader in automotive retention software outside the US. I really care about the future of Autofutura, and now I know my son and granddaughter’s futures are in safe hands.

Kim Sandom, Founder,

Automotive Transformation Group

Acquisitive growth: Huws Gray

Family-run businesses can go on to become market leaders with the right support, as Terry Owen of Huws Gray is learning.

Huws Gray was established in 1990 on Anglesey, Wales, as a builders merchants on a 1.5 acre site with £200,000 of start-up capital. The firm was founded by Terry Owen and John Llewlyn Jones who grew the business acquisitively to five branches by 2000, at which time another company with five branches was available and so Huws Gray doubled its number of sites. By 2017, Huws Gray had grown to 62 branches, mostly in the North of England.

Realising the business could benefit from some succession planning and with an eye on the ultimate exit, the firm spurned an offer from a national builders merchants and instead sought an investor to help take it to the next level. Management chose Inflexion from a list of 30 investors, citing the backer’s understanding of the business, the advantages of an experienced minority investor, and the comfort given by the individuals they met.

Since partnering in April 2018, Huws Gray has completed the transformational acquisition of Ridgeons in the South of England, which doubled the size of Huws Gray overnight and provided a foothold for the business to expand geographically.

Management remain enormously enthusiastic about acquisitive growth.

The only boundary for us is the shoreline of the UK, so the opportunity is fantastic.

Terry Owen, Managing Director,

Huws Gray