Why Nexus

Twenty years of building, managing, and selling businesses.

Not theorising about them - actually starting, running and selling them.

I've built businesses

Not advised on growth strategies. Built actual businesses from the ground up. Dealt with the reality of limited resources, difficult hires, and market pressures.

I've managed operations

Run teams. Fixed broken processes. Made payroll. Dealt with the mess of actual day-to-day operations, not theoretical org charts.

I've sold businesses

Positioned companies for acquisition. Negotiated exits. Seen what makes a business valuable to buyers and what doesn't.

I've seen business mistakes

Seen what breaks companies. Not in case studies - in real time. That perspective matters when diagnosing what's wrong.

Built, Scaled, & Sold

Founded a digital agency from the ground up. Built over 13 years into a business with genuine IP - our own eCommerce platform, Google Partner status, and a client base generating over £22 million in annual online transactions.

What actually happened:

Built hundreds of websites, but more importantly, built businesses for clients
Took Tons of Tiles from an 80k garage operation to £3.5m turnover (that client success attracted our eventual acquirers)
Launched Roofing Superstore from concept to £18m online turnover in 7 years
Launched Drainage Superstore to £1.9m in under 3 years
Managed PPC budgets exceeding £50k per month

Sold the business in 2015 to CMO Group. The sale wasn't luck - it was positioning the business with defensible IP, proven client results, and a platform that had real value to an acquirer. Most importantly, building the relationships that could make this possible.

What this taught me:
How to build something from nothing. What actually drives value in a business. How to scale operations while maintaining quality. What acquirers care about versus what founders think they care about.

Management Buyout, Private Equity & AIM Float

Joined CMO Group after they acquired dv8 media. Became a shareholder, statutory director and board member of what became the UK's largest online-only merchants in the construction sector.

What actually happened:

Led multi-channel marketing, digital strategy, and business systems across the group
2017: Completed a private equity-backed management buyout of the founders
Delivered consistent double-digit year-on-year growth from 2015-2021
July 2021: Successfully floated on AIM at £95m valuation and exited

What this taught me:
How to operate at board level. How private equity actually works in practice. What it takes to position a business for a successful public listing. How to scale operations to the point where they can support public company scrutiny. The difference between running a profitable business and running one that's attractive to institutional investors.

Business Purchase, Re-Position & Scale

Completed the purchase of an established industrial equipment supplier with over 50 years of market experience but needing an injection of ideas and skills. Took on Managing Director role.

What's happening:

Taking a traditional welding equipment supplier and rebuilding it for modern eCommerce
Applying lessons from scaling £20m+ online businesses in an industrial B2B context
Restructuring operations, systems, and market positioning
Building the infrastructure to scale without breaking what currently works

What this is teaching me:
How to apply digital-first business models to traditional industrial sectors. The difference between building new and fixing existing. How legacy businesses think versus how they need to think. What works in B2C eCommerce versus what needs adapting for B2B industrial.

The Difference It Makes

Plans built on how businesses actually work, not how they work in frameworks. Accounting for real constraints: cash, talent, timing, market dynamics.

When you've managed operations, you know what's feasible and what isn't. What sounds good in a meeting versus what actually works on the ground.

Understanding what drives value, what clients actually buy, what competitors really do, and what matters in your market.

Consultants typically deliver a report and leave. Agencies execute their specific service. This is about diagnosing what's really broken, developing the strategy to fix it, bringing in the right expertise, and staying until it's working. It's strategy-level work with accountability for the outcome, not just the deliverable.