Tuesday 28 July 2026 10:47 am
Investors and founders agree: the moves that make a business genuinely sellable happen years before anyone puts an offer on the table.At SCALE London 2026, the summit for entrepreneurs, investors and growth partners, the panel The Long Game: Funding routes and paths to exit had founders glued to the stage.Founders too often treat exit planning as a late-stage problem, something to sort out once a business is mature enough to attract interest. SCALE’s assembled experts disagreed. Chaired by Karim Palant, Director of External Affairs at UK Private Capital, the panel brought together Will Fraser-Allen, Managing Partner at Albion Capital LLP, Allison Stuckless, founder of Vericor Capital, Joan Mill, a private equity advisor and tech investor, and Howard Davies, co-founder of Salcombe Distilling Company.Between them they’ve experienced decades of exits, acquisitions and near-misses. One thing they all agree on is that the decisions that determine whether or not an sale goes well are made years before buyers start sniffing around.Decide who’s buying you, and build towards themHoward Davies settled on his exit strategy at a barbecue in 2014, before the first bottle of Salcombe Gin had launched. “From day one we decided to build and structure the business around the idea of being acquired by LVMH,” he said. LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) had a strong spirits portfolio but to this day there is no gin brand in it.Naming the acquirer early defined what the business needed to prove. “What would they be looking for in terms of brand differentiation, market positioning, gross margin? What territories would we need to demonstrate we’d succeeded in to be on their radar for acquisition?” Every decision was shaped by trying to answer those questions, Howard explained.PE investor Joan Mill agreed it was a habit worth copying, whatever sector you’re in.
