The Acquisition Route to Growth

BSM was established in 1990 and went on to become one of the largest independent chartered surveyors in East Anglia, specialising in commercial property. As a business, however, it had deeper regional routes with some directors having spent their early careers with Ekins Dilley and Handley - a firm that dated from the mid-19th Century before its 1985 sale to Prudential.

Facing the mid-2010s, and after being in practice for 25 years, BSM needed to look to succession planning, with many directors entering retirement phase. At the same time, we looked to progress the business more towards professional services but without compromising our agency excellence.

In expanding our professional services team, we wanted to reduce the business’s reliance on pure agency - a service that tends to be more volatile in reflecting the ups and downs of economic cycles. Recruiting qualified and experienced property professionals in our region was becoming increasingly difficult and all our offices were convenient for the London commute.

The advantages for the BSM teams were committed support from a larger business, with ultimate backing from PLC parent, Begbies Traynor Group which gave comfort in knowing our staff were protected, going forward. Being part of a bigger practice was also going to give us access to other parts of the surveying world including business sales, plant & machinery expertise, auctions and a more comprehensive planning offer. The size of the new valuations team would secure access to higher tier valuations instructions – improving our local & regional revenue streams.

On acquisition, some clients were, understandably, concerned about the level of service but property is about relationships. We have had no resignations at senior level, but, inevitably, on retirement of an established contact, some clients have chosen to instruct elsewhere. Overall, ‘old’ BSM clients remain supportive.

Integration with Eddisons was pretty smooth. There is a light touch approach from Eddisons to all its acquisitions - subsequent ones have been Budworth Hardcastle in Northamptonshire and Lincoln’s Banks Long & Co. The BSM one definitely provided the template for these acquisitions.

There’s no doubt that in being part of Eddisons, we weathered the storm of the Covid-19 pandemic in a way we might not have pre-acquisition. There was a short, sharp hit on fee income, initially, but within months of the first lockdown of 2020, we were back to sensible levels. The industrial and logistics sector is a large part of our commercial agency business, with retail & leisure being a smaller part. So that, plus the plant & machinery side of the business, saw Eddisons a lot better placed than some others at that point.

Five years on, being part of a large national practice, including a Central London office, has had many attractions. It gives younger team members more career development opportunities as the business expands further. Also having the backing of a supportive Board and PLC parent gives staff greater benefits and certainty. This, plus a dynamic and fast-growing business, makes it easier to recruit and retain the right professionals.

Additionally, it’s been quite liberating on the IT and accounts side too. With this being conducted centrally from Leeds HQ, it has freed up directors to get on with their day job.

This article is reproduced by kind permission of Business Weekly in which a version recently appeared as part of the publication’s monthly ‘Scaling up in association with Eddisons’ feature.