Cory R. Cox, MBA’s Post

What a great CEO/MD’s Roundtable last night with Jonathon Close of Brabners talking about the role of Private Equity.A stimulating discussion with many interesting points and learnings from all the attendees including - In Q1 2024 PE deals were worth £175m in the North West - this is low and set to grow - Manchester has 40 PE houses - Choose your PE partner carefully - are your strategies aligned (see last point) - From 2025 onwards there will be an active talent shortage. Yes worse than now! - Get your retention strategy in place - Start recruiting to attitude/culture fit - problem-solving,good communication, initiative- skills can be taught - Trust your gut. You may be talking to someone with big name brand experience, but you know your business far better than anyone else. and many more! Thanks to all the attendees for a very enjoyable and informative evening. The next Roundtable will be on improving productivity 😀 If you are a CEO/MD/Founder and want to join us DM me. #privateequity #growth #businessleadership #greatermanchester

The deadline to enter BusinessCloud’s ‘GM 100 Rising Stars of Business’ list has been extended until March 1st. After receiving a flurry of late submissions we’ve pushed the closing date for nominations back until the end of the week. We’ve joined forces with GM Business Growth Hub to shine a light on 100 of Greater Manchester’s most exciting companies across four key sectors: #GreenTech; #digital, creative and #tech; #advancedmanufacturing and materials; and #lifesciences. These are the four sectors that Greater Manchester has identified as having the most growth and productivity potential for the region. The list is open to companies from Greater Manchester’s 10 local authority areas of #Bolton; #Bury; #Manchester; #Oldham; #Rochdale; #Salford; #Stockport; #Tameside; #Trafford; and #Wigan. The ‘GM 100 Rising Stars of Business’ list will be published online on BusinessCloud alongside a launch event and will be followed by a series of four sector-specific roundtables. https://lnkd.in/esmTK2qw

Ambassador Enterprises, LLC' distinctive vision, promoting transformative personal and organizational growth in a collaborative, high-trust environment, goes beyond traditional business practices, leaving a legacy of positive impact in northeast Indiana. https://lnkd.in/exU_PVCa

"I’m not scared of someone who knows 10,000 moves. But someone who's mastered one move 10,000 times? Now that's impressive." - Crown Cork and Seal Though not a quote from the company I felt that, this saying by Bruce Lee epitomized the ethos of Crown Cork and Seal in 1989. After John Connelly propelled the company to prosperity over three decades, they honed their expertise to such a degree that, despite not leading the industry, they entertained the idea of acquiring one of the leaders - Continental Can, along with other companies thereafter. Their successful acquisitions propelled them to become the North American packaging leader. Can one glean insights from the year 1989 in 2024? Initially skeptical, I found an opportunity during my executive MBA classes. I delved into a case study on Crown Holdings, Inc. (formerly Crown Cork & Seal Company) from 1989, and I started to think about innovation within the corporate environment. What I see is that this approach is prevalent among most "classics" corporations; they often lean towards acquisitions for growth rather than internal innovation. While not universal, many successful innovative businesses like tech giants (Google, Apple, Amazon, etc.) prioritize fostering a culture of innovation, integral to their business models. In contrast, classic corporations often prefer acquisitions. Thus, the question arises: Is the corporate environment within such corporations inherently less conducive to innovation, with risk management acting as a limiting factor? #EBMA #NIUCob #StrategicManagement

Register now to hear top leaders in the middle market discuss how to grow your business organically and through M&A, how to be the best company on the market, and how to preserve and create value among other important discussions. Don't be left out! #acg #middlemarket #coloradobusiness #privateequity #investmentbanking #growthmindset #networking #womenleaders

It's here! As we progress through another productive and ambitious quarter, we have the pleasure of covering the core pillar of "Advancing Commerce" in our Connection Quarterly Magazine. Check out what's new with your Chamber, and look at our exclusive interview with Angelo Bianco, Managing Partner of CP Group - the commercial real estate and management firm responsible for overseeing Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC)! Click here to read the digital version: https://lnkd.in/etGgdE_Z #movingbusinessforward #movingbocaratonforward #movingboyntonbeachforward #connectionmagazine

Last week we hosted our first "Partner Fest" event at corporate HQ in Tampa. The event brought our Advisory Council to our colleagues to increase understanding of life as an MSP, opportunities for improvement, and how relationships are critical to our mutual success. It was a huge success. I facilitated a fireside chat for "Empire Builders in Hypergrowth." The panel included C-level executives from four PE-backed platform companies. Here are five takeaways from what we heard. 1. Approach: Each PE firm and MSP has a unique approach to growth and acquisitions, with some focusing on finding MSPs that want to continue growing with PE backing, while others look for MSPs where the owner wants to exit. 2. Opportunity: Joining a PE-backed firm can lead to increased job opportunities and training for employees, but also brings heightened pressure to meet growth targets and a new level of accountability. 3. Leadership: As MSPs scale, they often outgrow the skill sets of their original leadership teams, necessitating difficult decisions to replace or reassign these individuals, which should be handled with empathy and respect. 4. Time to Value: Speed is critical in the PE world due to the time-limited nature of their investments, requiring MSPs to adapt to a faster pace of decision making, execution, and value. 5. Community: The MSP community plays a vital role in the success of individual MSPs - whether small or large - and the industry as a whole, providing support, advice, and opportunities for collaboration and learning. Thank you Michelle Jaeger, Clay Ostlund, Christopher Luise, and Kevin Blake for serving as go-giver panelists (apologies for not taking a photo of our good looking panel 😉). Thanks also to Tony Thomas, Susan Sawyer Rhodes, Arlin Sorensen, Brad Schow, Peter Sorensen, Nick Moran, Michael Zornow. #LFG #ITNation

Last night's ACG 101 - Association for Corporate Growth 101 Corridor - (this is the San Fernando Valley branch) event on M&A Private Equity Panel was outstanding. Four #𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 leaders made up the panel and discussed 👉deal trends, 👉the outlook of Private Equity 2024 into 2025 (encouraging) 👉some of the ways in which they are working with businesses in increasing value for exit, 👉ways in which they are sourcing businesses for their portfolios, and 👉some of the big challenges portfolio companies are facing. With deal opportunities so tight, and dry powder high, our panelists say 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡 - 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙. This is the part that caught my attention: What are portfolio companies biggest challenges making them un-ready for sale?: 𝟭. 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻/𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (dearth of good talent) 𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆 - portcos struggle with how to price their products properly for optimum performance. 𝟯. 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀. 𝟰. 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. (ex. job scoring) 𝟱.𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀. Too many owners don't have specific plans for all functions of their company. 𝟲. 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻/𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 One of the highlights for me was running into a former client (from 9 years ago) and learning of her promotion and seeing her advanced success! I also got to hang out, up close and personal with zoom networking buddies (Scott Robinson) and my Vistage Chapter fellow member Joseph Kim, CBPA It was outstanding networking in real life again, with some top professionals in the M&A space. #Mergersandacquisitions #privateequity #VistageLosAngeles

Eighteen weeks and counting down to Clairfield’s 20th anniversary celebration in September! This week we celebrate key moments in our geographical expansion.   Clairfield, a pioneer in midmarket M&A advisory, was founded in 2004 with partner offices in five European cities and New York. Since then, we have grown to partner offices in 32 countries, covering all major economies and financial centres. We have continued to enhance and leverage our core capabilities for crossborder transactions.   Dr. Albert Schander, managing partner at Clairfield, spearheaded Clairfield’s first expansion plan as chair of the company from 2008-2011. “At the time we were a close-knit group centred almost entirely in Europe. We needed a presence in the Nordic and CEE regions to complete our European coverage. We also enhanced our US presence and even ventured into Brazil within two years. Recently we have gone even farther afield, to Japan and ASEAN, and South Africa and Subsaharan Africa. In our first expansion round, there was concern that we would be growing too fast once we expanded outside our core group of partners. However, with our high criteria for partner firms and our care to find partners who shared our philosophy, mindset, knowledge, and expertise, we all became great friends as well as colleagues working on the same eye-to-eye level. This has been a significant factor in our achievements. Now these regions are vital contributors to our progress. We have seen the opportunities our connected world brings to our midmarket clients.”   We are celebrating 20 years of supporting our clients in the middle market globally. Let the countdown continue! #ClairfieldCelebrates #WeAre20 #DefinedByYourSuccess #Mergersandacquisitions #Crossborder  

It's a big week for family businesses, with the start of the Family Business UK Summit of the year. Looking forward to chairing a panel on how great family businesses grow from great cultures. Unpacking how we connect our organisational culture and all dimensions of diversity to collaborative, consumer and competitive advantage. With up to five generations in the workplace for the first time in history, family businesses hold lessons in generational diversity for us all. The influence and impact of family businesses, the world over, is extraordinary. UK Family Businesses account for 90% of all private firms in the UK, employing nearly 14m people and generating over £200bn As ever, FBUK convenes a phenomenal community in London from across the world, with the opportunity to get inspired and share ideas across cultures, industries – and generations. It's a power-packed agenda talking culture, governance, skills, succession, next generation and more… Do lean in, get involved in discussions and case studies that are about how we can all be part of more systemic and sustainable growth and solutions for all. #brands #culture #collaboration #generations #innovation #leadership #familybusiness #familyoffice #nextgen #generationaldiversity