Project Description

James Fielden, Managing Director of K Pak explains more about what it’s like working with Elephants Child. 

We have worked with them on a Business Growth Plan and Management Buyout (MBO). 

 

What was the catalyst that made you think you might want to work with a business growth advisor? 

The catalyst really came through Kim, the previous owner of K Pak. We were looking to work out an exit strategy for Kim, and we didn’t have a route to achieve that. Kim got in touch with Elephants Child and we discussed structuring the company and what we could do. We weren’t in any particular difficulties, but wanted to enable Kim and myself, along with the other senior managers, to move the company forward and provide Kim with an exit strategy. So the management buyout was really the underlying goal that we were working towards with the help of Elephants Child. 

 

Why Elephants Child? 

Elephants Child were recommended to us. When we met Crawfurd, we got on very well with him. 

 

How do you feel as the leader of the business now that you’ve gone through the process? 

I feel really good about it. It’s all worked out very well, to be honest. There were three parties involved in the management buyout, and everyone is happy with the outcome. I have to say, the process wasn’t easy – it was very complicated and difficult at times even with a small number of parties. But working with Elephants Child, and particularly Crawfurd, it always felt like we could achieve what we wanted to achieve, and we were able to move forward without too much stress or pressure. Meridian Corporate Finance also played a vital role in helping push the management buyout through and handle all the intricacies of the process. Having that external support was really beneficial, as it took a lot of the personal elements and difficult questions away from us as the internal management team. 

 

What are your plans going forward now for the company? 

Our main goal right now is to pay out Kim over the next four to five years. We’re now in the second year of the process and the first year has gone very well. Beyond that, we’re just focused on steady, continued growth. We’re not looking to conquer the world or implement any super-growth structures – we’re just taking a more measured, sustainable approach. One of the key areas we’re working on is our warehouse space. We’ve got four warehouses currently, which are running very near capacity and we’re actually planning a fairly significant building project within our main warehouse in the next six months or so, to give us more space, because that’s been a constant challenge – space and finding the right people to hire. 

Crawfurd from Elephants Child has been a great sounding board for us. Even though we’ve reduced the frequency of our meetings from monthly to quarterly, I still speak with him regularly, probably more than twice a quarter. He’s an excellent external resource who knows our business well, and it’s been really valuable to have that kind of support. 

 

If you could sum up your experience with Elephants Child in three words, what would those three words be? 

Successful, insightful, and fun.