Maximise the value of the business you have built — and arrive at the sale table investor-ready, not reactive.
For
Owner-managers, boards, and PE sponsors of UK businesses with turnover of £3m–£7
Team
Fractional CFO + Fractional Commercial Director + Fractional COO
Duration
6–18 months
Investment
£6,000–£10,500/month
Most business owners underestimate the amount of preparation required to achieve maximum value from a sale or investment transaction. They engage an adviser, begin the process, and discover in due diligence the things they should have addressed twelve months earlier: financial controls that do not meet investor standards, a commercial dependency on one or two key customers, operational processes that cannot demonstrate scalability, or an EBITDA figure that looks different to an acquirer than it does to the management team.These discoveries do not kill deals — but they damage valuation, create retrades at the eleventh hour, and hand negotiating leverage to the buyer at exactly the moment the seller can least afford to lose it.The Exit Accelerator is a structured, multi-function programme designed to get the business into the best possible commercial, financial, and operational shape before the sale process begins — so that due diligence confirms the valuation rather than challenging it.
Exit readiness assessment: the fractional CFO, Commercial Director, and COO conduct a joint assessment of the business’s current exit readiness across all three functional domains — identifying the gaps a buyer’s due diligence team will find, the EBITDA adjustments that require preparation, and the commercial and operational improvements that will most directly improve valuation. A prioritised programme plan is agreed with the board.
Value creation and remediation: financial controls upgraded to investor-grade standard, EBITDA quality analysis completed and evidenced, customer concentration reduced through active commercial development, operational scalability demonstrated through documented processes and systems. Management accounts and financial model rebuilt to support the vendor due diligence pack.
Final preparation and process readiness: vendor due diligence pack completed, information room prepared, financial narrative refined, key personnel retention arrangements confirmed. The business enters the sale process with all three directors positioned to support the transaction — with the CFO as primary financial interface for buyers and advisers.
Exit Accelerator is priced from £6,000 to £10,500 per month for the full three-director programme — delivered over 6 to 18 months depending on the business’s starting position and the timeline to sale. The investment is typically recovered many times over in improved valuation multiple: a business that achieves even 0.5x additional EBITDA multiple on a £3m EBITDA base recovers £1.5m — far exceeding the total programme cost.
Ideally twelve to eighteen months before you plan to begin the formal sale process — enough time to implement the financial and operational improvements that will survive due diligence, develop the commercial evidence of scalability, and complete the vendor due diligence pack without time pressure. For businesses with a shorter timeline, we can triage and prioritise — addressing the highest-impact issues first and deferring lower-priority improvements. Even a six-month programme delivers significant value if it is well-prioritised.
Exit Accelerator is designed for businesses with turnover of £3m to £75m — broadly the range where the sale process is significant enough to justify systematic preparation, but where the business does not have an M&A team, large corporate finance function, or the internal bandwidth to lead exit preparation alongside running the business. Our fractional directors bring the functional expertise and transaction experience to lead the preparation alongside the management team without disrupting day-to-day operations.
Yes — the fractional CFO, Commercial Director, and COO can remain engaged through the live transaction process, supporting the management team in due diligence meetings, vendor meetings, data room management, and negotiation support. The CFO in particular typically becomes a primary point of contact for the buyer’s financial advisers, answering detailed questions and providing clarifications throughout the process. Many clients extend the programme through deal close specifically because this continuity of knowledge is so valuable in a live transaction.
The Finance & Investor-Readiness Audit is a natural precursor to the Exit Accelerator programme — it provides the structured assessment that informs the programme plan. If you are unsure of your current exit readiness position and want an independent view before committing to a full programme, starting with the audit (£4,500, three to four weeks) gives you a precise diagnosis and a prioritised action plan. Most audit clients who are planning an exit proceed to the full Exit Accelerator programme within two to four weeks of receiving the report.
The programme is specifically designed to run alongside the business — not to replace it. The fractional directors engage typically two to four days per month in the preparation phase, rising to four to six days in the final preparation and live transaction phase. They work with the existing management team and finance function rather than displacing them. In most cases, clients report that the programme actually reduces operational distraction for the CEO and MD — because the fractional directors are managing the preparation workstream independently.
Book a discovery call to discuss whether Exit Accelerator is right for your business.
