about

venture

our

story

Venture Completes, founded by seasoned business sales experts and owners, prioritizes your success. We understand your business is more than a sale; it’s a lifetime of hard work. Our transparent process aims to reward you.

We’ve experienced the challenges of selling a business ourselves. Our team has completed 13 transactions worth £80m in the last 2 years, equipping us with the expertise and network to find your ideal buyer. You only pay fees when you’re completely satisfied with the deal. Join us for a win-win solution in business sales.

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ready to get

started?

Ready to start your journey with Venture Completes? Let us guide you through a seamless business sale process for success. Get started now

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why work

with us?

In typical seller-advisor relationships, fees burden sellers, regardless of success. We’ve evolved to address this issue. Our process begins with a free, tailored readiness report, assessing your situation and offering honest guidance.

When you’re ready to sell, our team manages the entire process, from finding ideal buyers to due diligence. Our extensive network and sector-specific insights ensure the best offers, saving you 30% of the time. Trust us with your business; it’s in capable hands.

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Expertise

Efficiency

Trust

Results

meet the

team

Executive Team

David Hargreaves

Chairman

David Hargreaves

Chairman

David is an accomplished and award-winning investor and entrepreneur with 32 years of experience in the financial and legal sectors. David founded his first business in financial services in 1990. Not long afterwards, he went on to form one of the UKs leading Personal Injury law firms. David grew the litigation group to £15m revenue before successfully exiting at the age of 34 for £8m. He grew the business partly organically, and partly by way of acquiring other businesses to make up the group. David is now the Chairman of Claritas Group, a group which includes Clartias Accountants, a leading proactive accountancy firm focused on supporting businesses and entrepreneurs pursuing M&A on both the buy and sell side. David is also a best-selling author, having written Going for Growth, a book designed to support those looking to grow their business from £1m to £10m and beyond.

Tim Poultney

Non-Executive Director

Tim Poultney

Non-Executive Director

Tim was once the CEO at Veber, with over 18 years of experience in IT and hosting. Veber – a dedicated, customer focused hosting service provider – was sold to Acora in 2020, and he joined the Venture Corporate Finance team shortly after. Tim now supports the management team and clients with his unique insight into the transaction and sales process.

Gary Smith

Managing Director

Gary Smith

Managing Director

Bringing 15 years of corporate finance experience with him to Venture Corporate Finance, Gary had one vision: to create a firm that’s fairer to ICT entrepreneurs. A team of advisors who don’t treat clients like just another number, but instead fully align with the owner’s individual business goals, requirements, and ambitions.

With extensive experience in senior leadership and business transformation. Gary is no stranger to improving performance and helping owners create and implement their ideal exit strategy. He also has five years of experience in business disposals and acquisitions for SaaS companies in Asia.

With over 40 successful deals under his belt, some of his specialities include strategy review, M&A, and driving forward organisations. In his current position, Gary strives to provide a premium, one-of-a-kind advisory service, without subjecting clients to upfront fees, obligations, or unnecessary risk.

Transactional Team

Paul Davies

Transaction Director

Paul Davies

Transaction Director

Paul’s career began with a chartered accountant qualification with PWC in 1994. Following this, he spent two years in Abu Dhabi with Ernst & Young, before embarking on an impressive 25-year career in the City. Throughout, he was responsible for advising companies across a variety of sectors – including TMT – on public listings and fundraising. During this time, he worked for the likes of Beeson Gregory, Collins Stewart, and Arden Partners.

stephen taylor

Transaction Manager

stephen taylor

Transaction Manager

Stephen Taylor comes with a proven track record in the TMT sector.

His excellent pedigree is highlighted by recent successes of completed transactions in the last 9 months.

Stephen has more than 15 years of senior management experience gained through a variety of sectors in multinational companies but most recently within the corporate finance sector in assisting both sellers and buyers with their strategies.

Stephen is a certified accountant and before joining Venture Corporate Finance his role with Evolution Capital was to manage the business sale transactions which in the last 12 months included the successful completion of 5 transactions.

“I am delighted to join Venture Corporate Finance and I believe passionately in their commitment to a transparent process with preparation at its heart.”

Tom Griffiths

Transaction Specialist

Tom Griffiths

Transaction Specialist

Tom has over 8 years’ experience in finance, having worked in banking and asset management at JPMorgan. At JPMorgan he worked with the largest asset managers, pension funds and insurance companies in the world, advising them on many topics, ranging from how to increase returns for investors, to how to cut operational costs. He also created investment products for European investors in the most innovative vehicles and investment types. Since leaving JPMorgan he has advised entrepreneurs, startups, and large corporations on how to grow their business through acquisitions. Tom is also a CFA Charterholder and holds a degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Manchester.

Jack Chiappe

Associate

Jack Chiappe

Associate

Jack has several years’ experience in M&A having worked at a number of boutique advisory firms. Jack obtained a degree in Policy, Politics and Economics from the University of Birmingham where he was also a member of the Boat Club’s First VIII.

Relationship Team

John Patefield

Senior Advisor

John Patefield

Senior Advisor

Responsible for relationship management, John is able to quickly identify opportunities to support owners looking to grow or exit their business. Working closely with clients, he strives to uncover win-win solutions, allowing owners to achieve their ideal outcome whatever their long-term goals might be. Starting out in a commercial law firm, John has significant experience with multi-million-pound sales and acquisitions across many sectors and both private and listed companies. He’s also worked as a consultant for a number of private individuals, helping to identify, evaluate, and put into place strategies to unlock additional value and growth. This has covered a wide array of opportunities, including deals in education, recruitment, manufacturing, telecoms, and even football clubs.

Passionate about the people element of his role, John’s direct and open communication style sets the foundation for ongoing, close-knit relationships. Often far outliving the deals themselves. Equally interested in getting to know the people behind the business as well as the business itself, he offers a truly bespoke, personalised approach to every client and business.

chris roberts

Operating Partner – Debt/Equity Advisory

chris roberts

Operating Partner – Debt/Equity Advisory

Corporate Finance professional with 20 years banking and finance experience, with a broad range of transactional experience from senior positions held in Leverage Finance at The Royal Bank of Scotland, Head of Transactions for a FinTech debt platform and more recently working with Corporate Finance Advisors.

Business Analyst Team

Matthew Searle

Senior Analyst

Matthew Searle

Senior Analyst

Matthew joined Venture Corporate Finance to help with deal origination and investor profiling. He has 5 years of experience helping corporate advisory firms with business development and marketing strategy.

He has been involved in technology startups since 2016 and has a passion for helping businesses with growth strategies.

‘I am delighted to join Venture Corporate Finance to provide our clients with a quick and easy solution throughout the acquisition of funding process’

Xi Lin

Head of Market Research

Xi Lin

Head of Market Research

Xi is head of our business analytics and research team. She has over 15 years of analytical experience and profiling companies.

Her role within the business is to ensure that we are up to date with all the activity. It’s her responsibility to provide a monthly report on transactions completed, multiples, and activity per sub-sector, and she works actively with our transaction team to support them with market intelligence for multiples and valuations.

Nicoline Muller

Analyst

Operations Team

Sue Duncan

Office Manager

Sue Duncan

Office Manager

With over 20 years’ experience in business administration, Sue serves a central role in keeping our offices running smoothly. Thanks to her organisation, attention to detail, and knowledge of staff management, payroll, and HR, we’re able to ensure a strong, productive work environment at all times.

By organising meetings, keeping on top of timelines, and responding to correspondence from clients, Sue helps our advisors remain organised and focused on the projects in front of them. And she makes sure that every client receives a premium, memorable service whenever they interact with the business. As well as this, she provides ongoing support for our events and marketing, and eases a lot of the administrative burden from our senior leadership team.

Dominic Spicer

Marketing Manager

Dominic Spicer

Marketing Manager

Dom, boasting over 7 years of Digital Marketing experience, brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to our organisation. In recent years, he has effectively run his own enterprise and partnered with over 75 clients worldwide. Dominic's main role at Venture Corporate Finance involves enhancing the company's online visibility through a variety of marketing strategies. Additionally, he oversees Venture's web design, hosting, and maintenance tasks.

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