Business
Established multi-site retailers and selected retail-led consumer businesses.
SPECIALIST RETAIL ACQUISITIONS
Good brands sometimes end up in difficult places.
Blackfriars acquires and rebuilds established UK retail businesses, typically generating £5m–£50m in annual revenue.
We look for businesses with something worth preserving – a recognised brand, loyal customers, good people or a proposition that can work again under the right ownership.
UK MULTI-SITE RETAIL
CORPORATE CARVE-OUTS
TURNAROUNDS + BUSINESSES IN TRANSITION
OUR VIEW
A difficult period does not make a bad business.
Retail businesses lose their way for many reasons. Costs move. Stock builds. Management gets stretched. Customer behaviour changes. Ownership stops investing.
Sometimes the underlying business remains valuable. We look beyond the immediate problem to determine what is worth keeping, what needs changing and whether the business can become successful again.
Protect what works. Change what does not.
Restructuring may sometimes be necessary. It is a means to rebuilding a viable business, not an end in itself.
INVESTMENT FOCUS
A clear retail mandate.
Flexible enough for real situations.
We consider established businesses where customers still have a reason to care and where focused ownership can restore sustainable performance.
Geography
United Kingdom, including UK subsidiaries and divisions of overseas groups.
Revenue
Typically £5m–£50m for the business or operation being acquired.
Ownership
Majority or full control, including selected asset and business transfers.
Situation
Carve-out, non-core disposal, succession, underperformance, restructuring or distress.
Performance
Profitable, underperforming or loss-making where the operating case is credible.
The range above is a guide, not a rigid boundary. We consider situations outside it selectively where the strategic and operating case is strong.
CORPORATE CARVE-OUTS
A new owner for a non-core retail business.
We consider UK retail subsidiaries, divisions and store portfolios being divested by domestic and international groups, including US-based parents.
Our approach puts business continuity and standalone viability at the centre of the transaction. We focus early on management, systems, contracts, suppliers, property, working capital and the practical requirements of separation.
Separation planning
Standalone economics
Continuity
Transitional support
We also work with advisers and investment firms on retail situations outside their own mandate where Blackfriars may be the right home.
OUR APPROACH
The transaction is only the beginning.
Blackfriars is an acquisition business, not a consultancy. We buy businesses to take responsibility for what happens next.
Acquire
Understand the business, agree a workable structure and plan the transition around the realities of the situation.
Stabilise
Protect liquidity, trading continuity, customers, critical people and the operational controls needed to run the business.
Improve
Address store performance, stock, margins, costs, customer proposition and management accountability with operating discipline.
PRINCIPAL-LED DECISIONS
FLEXIBLE TRANSACTION STRUCTURES
OPERATING RESPONSIBILITY AFTER COMPLETION
THE PARTNERS
Retail experience.
Operating leadership.
Financial judgement.
Three complementary perspectives on customer proposition, operating performance, capital and transactions.
01
RETAIL + COMMERCIAL LEADERSHIP
Gerald Ratner
Built Ratners from 130 stores into a 2,500-store international jewellery business with £1.2bn in annual sales and 25,000 employees. The group later became Signet, today the NYSE-listed Signet Jewelers.
Customer proposition, pricing, sales, conversion, brand and multi-site retail execution.
02
ACQUISITIONS + OPERATIONS
Marek Niedzwiedz
UK-based entrepreneur, investor and turnaround operator with three business exits and multiple acquisitions across the UK, US and Europe, including the acquisition and turnaround of Claire’s Poland.
Cash, margins, stock, working capital, operating performance, turnarounds, integration and M&A.
03
FINANCE + STRATEGIC TRANSACTIONS
Mark W. Gross
Around 30 years across corporate and investment banking, corporate development and global strategy, including bank CEO and senior leadership roles at Standard Chartered and American Express.
Capital, M&A, cross-border transactions, international expansion and board-level finance.
A CONFIDENTIAL FIRST CONVERSATION
Discuss a retail acquisition opportunity.
We welcome approaches from owners, corporate groups, advisers, insolvency practitioners, investors and other referrers.
Share a brief overview of the business, location, approximate revenue and the proposed transaction. For time-sensitive situations, include the relevant deadline.
Initial approaches are handled discreetly. Where appropriate, an NDA can be agreed before detailed information is exchanged.
contact@blackfriarsretail.com