Background
The client was an online retailer of domestic lighting and ancillary products. It was privately owned. The majority shareholder had founded the company some five years earlier. The company had rocketed in size during that five year period.
The business traded through market places (Amazon and Ebay) and it’s own websites. It also had a wholesaling business selling commercial lighting products. At the time of the start of the assignment total turnover was circa £10m and the business split was 85% retail and 15% wholesale.
The Brief
The principal shareholder/Managing Director had done a brilliant job in establishing the business and growing it to become a £10m business within a 5 year timeframe. He had reached the stage where he was approaching exhaustion and he wanted to look at the available options for the future of the business.
The initial brief was to carry out a strategic review of all of the available options for the business and for the shareholders. The brief subsequently changed as described in the next section.