On Monday, 6 September 2004, I walked into a newly rented Regus office in Southampton with a shiny new laptop, an empty notebook and pen, and an unrivalled, naive confidence in the future. It was day one for HW Corporate Finance South, which in 2019 we renamed Polestar. HWCF’s launch was only possible thanks to the partners of Haines Watts, who provided us with capital, client introductions, and most importantly, the patience, experience, and knowledge that this 34-year-old would have floundered without!
What a journey it has been! We have experienced joy, success, and failure, and I must thank the other 52 team members and 178 clients who have helped Polestar CF arrive here, 20 years later. It is lovely that the 52nd team member, Katy Ward, joined us today.
We had a team from the beginning, as I was lucky to have Jayne, and shortly after, Alex, join me. The proposed FD of an MBO client was a friend and previous colleague at Deloitte, Richard Hall. Unfortunately, the vendor changed their mind, and the fully funded deal was pulled. We had a fair amount of work coming in the door, and Richard kindly agreed to join me as a partner.
We enjoyed the rollercoaster of rapid growth for four years, during which we had offices and people in London, Southampton, and Reading, followed by a very rapid contraction in autumn 2008 as the global credit crunch crushed deal-doing. I still feel the pain of having to let go of great colleagues who had shown faith in us as we sought to conquer the corporate finance world, but we made it through with hard work, creative problem-solving, and, as ever, no small amount of luck.
Every deal is important to us. Deals often equate to people entrusting us with their or their families’ lifetime of work. I am delighted that over 20 years we have managed to average a completion rate of over 75%, improving over the period. Our aim, as we achieved in 2023, is a 100% completion rate.
Success can only be consistently achieved through teamwork. That is the teamwork within Polestar and between us and our clients. Success requires us to be open and transparent with each other. To the surprise of some, that teamwork extends to the relationship between the buyer and the seller. Yes, we all negotiate and want the best for our clients and shareholders, but the majority of buyers and sellers understand their wider responsibilities, as both counterparties need the deal to succeed.
So many vendors fear that buyers or investors will want to strip their businesses. Thankfully, there are very few Edward Lewis characters from Pretty Woman, and on the odd occasion these concerns could be valid, we simply do not invite them to bid! Ordinarily, the best counterparties will recognise the true value of a business and are transacting to build and develop, often bringing new skills and capital to enhance already great businesses. Price aside, the goals of both parties should be congruent, and with good teamwork, great deals happen.
This last point has increasingly become our “Polestar” over the last 20 years. The job of a corporate finance advisor is to deliver the best result for their client, not just the highest possible consideration. All parties should complete the deal feeling excited for the future.
Let me finish with a previously shared anecdote: Pops, my grandfather, came from Waterford, Ireland, in his late teens. On arriving in London, he worked as a dock clerk by day while training to be a solicitor by night. Come retirement, he had been a partner at Cooper Brothers (PWC), also a leading firm of solicitors, and a director of an investment bank. Shortly after I joined KPMG in the summer of 1990, we were sitting in the dappled sunlight of his garden, and I asked him how I could replicate his success. In a glorious southern Irish lilt, after exhaling a plume of pipe smoke followed by a pause, he said, “Work hard, and always leave something in it for the next man.”
