Track record

Every Bayside engagement is led personally by one of our co-founders, Sam Miller or Stephen Murray. Below is a selection of our current and recent client work, covering private equity transactions, bilateral sales, buy and build strategy and value creation for UK owner-managed businesses. Client names are withheld to protect confidentiality.

Hard FM platform · Private equity transaction and value creation

Hard facilities management · Adviser to the management team · Transaction completed

The situation

An established UK hard facilities management group taking on private equity investment. The management team needed independent, investor-side experience in their corner: someone to negotiate the terms with the private equity house and to make sure the business plan behind the deal was one they could deliver.

What we did

• Supported the management team through negotiation of the private equity terms, drawing on our own experience of sitting on the investor's side of the table.
• Built and pressure-tested the business plan underpinning the investment case, so the targets management signed up to were stretching but achievable.
• Worked alongside management through to completion.

What we're doing now

• Retained post-completion to support value creation, with non-executive advisory input at board level.
• Helping management deliver against the investment case as the group grows under private equity ownership.

Related services: Fundraising & Refinancing · Financial Modelling · Management Team Strengthening

Building access installation and services · Bilateral sale

Hard FM and building services · Vendor support and transaction lead · Live

The situation

The owner of a B2B building access installation and servicing business wants to sell to a single, identified buyer. A focused, low-profile process suits the business better than a full auction, but the owner needs to know what the business is worth and to have someone experienced running the deal.

What we've done

• Completed an independent valuation assessment, so the owner went into discussions knowing what the business is worth and why.
• Built the financial model and supporting information the buyer needs, with senior finance support to get the numbers ready for scrutiny.
• Running the process with the buyer on the owner's behalf, keeping the owner focused on running the business.

What's next

• Negotiating price, structure and terms.
• Managing due diligence and working with the owner's legal and tax advisers through to completion.

Related services: Bilateral Sale Support · Financial Modelling · Fractional CFO

Professional services · Buy and build strategy and exit planning

Professional services · Value creation and exit planning · Live · £15–20m

The situation

A fast-growing, owner-managed professional services firm with strong organic growth. The shareholders want to accelerate through acquisition and, in time, partner with private equity to fund a larger buy and build ahead of an eventual exit.

What we've done

• Scoped a buy and build strategy built around shareholder value and multiple arbitrage: acquiring smaller firms at lower multiples into a larger, more valuable platform.
• Mapped four acquisition lanes: specialist boutiques, adjacent service niches, private wealth and legal, and accountancy and compliance.
• Set out both capital routes side by side, building first and bringing in private equity later, or partnering with private equity now, with the trade-offs for the shareholders under each.

What's next

• Screening and approaching acquisition targets, and executing the first deals.
• Preparing the business, its numbers and its management team for investor scrutiny.

Related services: Buy & Build · Exit Planning · Fundraising & Refinancing

Fleet management and telematics · Value creation, exit readiness and fractional CFO

Technology-enabled services · Value creation and exit readiness · Live

The situation

An owner-managed fleet management and telematics business that had outgrown its finance function. The owner needed reliable financial information, a clear view of where cash was going and a structured plan to build value ahead of any future transaction.

What we've done

• Set up a value creation and exit readiness programme, turning the owner's priorities across leadership, headcount, fleet, operating costs, legal and strategy into a single tracker with owners and deadlines.
• Placed a Bayside fractional CFO, who delivered a full financial review of historical performance within the first two weeks on site.
• Started rebuilding the finance function: a finance systems migration, a review of external accountancy support and the recruitment of a hands-on Head of Finance.

What's next

• Closing the year end and completing the systems migration.
• Monthly management information and KPI reporting for the board.
• Working through the value creation plan so the business is ready for a transaction when the owner chooses.

Related services: Fractional CFO · Exit Planning · Financial Modelling

Luxury holiday rentals · Value creation and non-executive support

Property and hospitality · Value creation · Live

The situation

A fast-growing, technology-enabled luxury holiday rental and property management business, with a portfolio running into several hundred properties and cash-generative unit economics. The founders are several years ahead of any exit or funding event, but the plan, the numbers and the team behind the growth had not yet been formalised.

What we've done

• Built a five-year business plan with the founders, focused on the priorities that will actually move value.
• Assessed the management team and built a succession plan alongside it, simplifying the organisational structure to close the most visible gaps.
• Agreed a single KPI framework across the management team and helped stand up a live dashboard against it.
• Constructed the investment narrative a funder or acquirer will eventually test.
• Mapped bolt-on acquisition targets and produced a qualified shortlist.
• Provided ongoing non-executive input at board level.

What's next

• Delivering the plan and tracking it against the KPI framework.
• Approaching shortlisted bolt-on targets and supporting the funding conversation as the business scales.

Related services: Exit Planning · Buy & Build · Management Team Strengthening

Founders' prior experience

Transactions our founders led or supported before founding Bayside Advisory. These were not Bayside mandates; each shows the firm and role at the time.

Stephen Murray

Chartered Accountant with over 10 years in private equity at Frontier Development Capital, BGF and YFM Equity Partners, originating and executing investments, sitting on portfolio company boards and supporting management teams through growth. Earlier career in restructuring and transactions, and a period advising owner-managed businesses on fundraising as an independent consultant.

BE Design · Built environment consultancy

Private equity investment · 2026 · Led the investment, at YFM Equity Partners

YFM investment in a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy founded in Newark, specialising in civil, structural and geo-environmental engineering on complex brownfield sites for sectors including data centres, logistics and advanced manufacturing. The investment funds a new London office and a buy and build strategy across regional technical consultancies.

Replay Maintenance · Field services

£6.5m investment · Management buyout · 2024 · Led the investment, at YFM Equity Partners

Management buyout of a UK specialist in synthetic sports surface maintenance, looking after athletics tracks, 3G pitches and tennis courts. The investment backed the management team to extend the business's reach across the sports sector.

Antser Group · Business services

£10.25m investment · Management buyout · 2023 · Led the investment, at YFM Equity Partners

Management buyout of a Midlands provider of tech-driven assessments and social care training, combining psychological and social work assessments for child safeguarding with VR-based training for care practitioners. Combined revenue of around £10m at the time of the deal.

When In Rome · Consumer goods

£0.5m growth capital · 2021 · Adviser, led the fundraise, as an independent consultant

£500,000 growth funding round for a Gloucestershire sustainable wine brand selling Italian wine in low-carbon packaging, combining Midlands Engine Investment Fund backing with private investment to expand the range, grow UK and overseas distribution and increase marketing.

Building products business

£30m refinancing · 2021 · Adviser, led the fundraise, as an independent consultant

Refinancing of a UK building products business, leading the fundraise on behalf of the company.

Red Industries · Waste services

£14m investment within a £39m funding package · 2019 · Investment team member, at BGF

BGF and HSBC funding package for a Staffordshire hazardous and non-hazardous waste management business, supporting its acquisition of Environmental Resource Group and the expansion of its facilities, customer team and vehicle fleet.