About
From the first honest review to a completed sale
Appleton Strategic helps owner-managed businesses get ready for an exit, and then sees the sale through.
James Moorhouse
Founder, Appleton Strategic
James spent more than twenty years building and running a manufacturing business (operational experience, from the shop floor up, that few advisers can match). Alongside it he built a self-storage business, served as a director in high-street retail, and directs a commercial property portfolio.
He has also taken a business all the way through to a completed exit. Two decades in the trenches of running a company (including seeing one through to the end) give him a rounded, real-world view of what makes a business saleable and what doesn’t. He specialises in exit-readiness advisory: helping owner-managed SMEs get genuinely sale-ready long before they come to market.
“After more than 20 years running my own business, including seeing one through to the very end, I wanted a new challenge, one where I could put that experience to work for other people rather than just myself. I’ve made the mistakes, I’ve lived through the hard decisions, and I know what a business actually needs to look like to be sale-ready. Appleton Strategic lets me pass that experience on directly. Real, practical solutions for business owners, not just theory.”
When it’s time to sell
One adviser, a full sales operation behind the deal
Appleton Strategic does the advisory work (readiness, valuation, buyer research, and running the process on your behalf). When the business goes to market, the transaction itself runs through New Broad Street Business Sales, an established business-sales firm. You keep one point of contact throughout.
What you can expect
Plain speaking
An honest read on where the business stands, in language that doesn't need a corporate-finance dictionary.
One point of contact
The same person through the review, the preparation and the sale, not a handover between teams.
No pressure to transact
If now isn't the time, that's a legitimate answer. The work holds its value whether or not you sell.
Confidential by default
Nothing about your business is shared, listed or discussed without your say-so.
It pays to have someone in your corner who's done it before.
A first conversation is free and confidential. No pitch, just an honest read on where the business stands.
Book a discovery call