Head of Digital Product

How to build an exit-ready business (even if you're not planning to sell yet). Exit readiness is not just for owners planning a sale. Learn how the qualities buyers value most also make a business stronger to own and run today. Most owners treat exit readiness as something to think about when a sale is on the horizon. Until then, it sits on the someday list, behind the demands of customers, staff, and day-to-day trading. Yet plans have a habit of moving faster than expected: research by Evelyn Partners in late 2024 found that 29% of UK owners of businesses turning over £5m or more had accelerated their exit plans in the previous twelve months, up from 23% only eighteen months earlier. In practice, the qualities that make a business easy to sell are the same qualities that make it more resilient, more profitable, and less stressful to run. Building them early means you are never forced to choose between accepting an approach unprepared and turning it away. 1. Reduce the Business's Reliance on You Founder dependence is one of the most common reasons buyers hesitate. If key relationships, decisions, and knowledge all sit with one person, a buyer sees risk where the owner sees dedication. Few founders have demonstrated this more visibly than Gymshark's Ben Francis, who handed the chief executive role to experienced operator Steve Hewitt while still in his twenties, and spent the following years leading brand, product, and technology before returning as CEO in 2021. On his return he reflected: "I'm well aware of the fact that I've got so much more yet to learn, but equally I do feel like everything has led me to this point has put me in such an amazing position to do this role." Stepping back was not stepping away; it was building a business that no longer depended on him. Delegating authority, documenting how things work, and letting the team own client relationships takes time. Started early, it happens gradually and naturally rather than in a rushed and unconvincing way just before a process begins. 2. Keep Your Financial Reporting Clean and Current Buyers place more trust in a business whose numbers are timely, consistent, and easy to reconcile. Messy or backward-looking reporting invites questions, and questions slow deals down. Good management information is not just a diligence asset. It helps you run the business better in the meantime, which is exactly why buyers value it. 3. Broaden Your Customer Base Heavy reliance on one or two customers is a value drag that takes years, not months, to fix. Buyers look closely at what would happen if the largest relationship walked away. Widening the customer mix, securing longer-term agreements where they suit the business, and deepening relationships beyond a single contact all reduce that perceived fragility. 4. Build a Second Tier of Management A capable team beneath the owner reassures buyers that the business will keep performing through and after a transition. It also gives you options: to step back, to grow, or to sell on your own timetable. It is no coincidence that when General Atlantic invested in Gymshark in August 2020, taking a 21% stake at a valuation above £1 billion, the business had a professional leadership team well established around its founder. Announcing the deal, Francis paid tribute to that team directly: "They've helped develop this business into what we see today, and I'm proud to work alongside such an incredibly ambitious, dynamic and humble group of people." Institutional capital arrived once the business demonstrably ran on more than one person. Developing that layer is slow work. Recruiting, trusting, and retaining good people is far easier to do over years than under the pressure of a live process. 5. Understand What Drives Your Value Every sector has characteristics that buyers consistently pay for: recurring revenue, specialist capability, strong margins, a defensible position. Knowing which of these apply to your business tells you where to invest your effort. The sports nutrition brand Grenade is a striking example of value built deliberately over time. Founded by Alan and Juliet Barratt in 2010, the business took private equity investment from Grovepoint, was acquired by Lion Capital in 2017, and was then bought by Mondelez International in March 2021 in a deal widely reported at around £200m, with the founders retaining a minority stake. As Alan Barratt put it at completion: "When Jules and I founded Grenade from our spare bedroom with a budget of US$700, we dreamt of building an iconic brand available globally." Each stage strengthened the platform for the next, and each new investor paid for value the previous stage had built. An occasional, honest review of how a buyer would see your business keeps you focused on the improvements that matter, whether a sale is two years away or ten. In summary An exit-ready business is one that runs without depending on its owner, reports its numbers well, spreads its customer risk, has depth in its team, and knows where its value comes from. None of this requires a decision to sell, and as Gymshark and Grenade show in their different ways, the businesses that command the strongest interest are those that built these foundations long before any transaction. All of it makes the business better today. At La Salle, La Salle Corporate International work with owners well before any transaction, helping them see their business as a buyer would and prioritise the changes that build value. When the right moment does arrive, prepared owners move with confidence rather than scrambling to catch up. If you have questions regarding any stage of the sales process, reach out in confidence and La Salle Corporate International'll be happy to talk you through the process.

How clipping helped sell out Gymshark's Onyx Collection. Gymshark does not need an introduction. It is one of the biggest fitness apparel brands in the world, built on the back of influencer marketing before most companies knew what that word meant. So when Gymshark brought ClipHaus in to run a clipping campaign, the bar was already high. The campaign generated 18,000+ individual clips and crossed 50 million views across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Those numbers alone would make most campaigns a win. But the number that actually mattered to Gymshark was this: the Onyx Collection sold out. Views do not pay the bills. Sales do. The gap between a campaign that racks up impressions and a campaign that moves inventory off shelves is the entire difference between marketing that looks good in a deck and marketing that actually works. Here is what made it work. Instead of a handful of polished influencer posts, the campaign put the product in front of audiences through thousands of individual creators, each posting from their own accounts, each one a small vote of authentic attention rather than a paid placement that reads like an ad. Scale beats polish when the goal is reach. 18,000 clips from 18,000 different angles will always outperform 10 perfectly produced posts trying to do the same job. Gymshark already knew how to build hype. ClipHaus just gave that hype somewhere to go, at a volume no single creator partnership could match. Ready to go omnipresent? Book a strategy call with the ClipHaus team or join its creator community.

Adanola boosts leadership as global growth continues. Adanola, which was founded by Hyrum Cook in 2015, has promoted Erin Washburn to brand director after five years with the company Manchester-based activewear brand Adanola has strengthened its senior leadership team with a number of key hires. Founded in 2015 by Hyrum Cook, Adanola has built a cult following, with high-profile fans including Kendall Jenner, Kaia Gerber and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Last year, the company was valued at £400m when it secured a significant minority investment from US-based private equity firm STORY3 Capital Partners to fuel its global ambitions. Erin Washburn (pictured) has been promoted to brand director after five years with the company. She said: "Five years at Adanola in genuinely the best role, team and brand. Couldn't be more proud, excited and endlessly grateful to Hyrum Cook and (CEO) Niran Chana for the support. Vision boards are a real thing." Meanwhile, Gymshark's former head of people, Ellen Graemer, has been appointed people director, while Georgina Bavalia is the new head of design. The business operates primarily through a direct-to-consumer model, with a curated selection of wholesale partners including Selfridges, David Jones, Equinox, Ounass and Soho House. The company appointed former Gymshark executive Niran Chana as CEO in June 2024, who played a key role in scaling Gymshark during his time as chief commercial officer. Cook has been included in BusinessCloud's Founder 250 list, which recognises 250 of the UK's best founder-led and founder-influenced businesses. Founder 250 is sponsored by RSM UK, CG, OBI and Mercia Ventures.