The Meliora Group is a group of print companies that provide packaging, labels and commercial print to a wide ranging client base, covering extensive work to the public sector (through NHS and schools) as well as the private sector where the client base ranges from blue chips to local SME businesses.

Barrons were first approached by Ian Conetta, Director who sought our assistance in his intent to undertake a form of Management Buy Out which would see the majority stakeholders of the Group sell their stake and exit the business.

There were differences of opinion between the Buyer and the Seller around the valuation of the Group that the exiting stakeholders had externally instructed, and challenges around how the deal would be commercially funded.

Barrons initially scoped the assignment, identifying the need for meticulous pre-planning of the implementation through our Head of Payroll, Tina Pontin, and our client.

We secured the relevant registrations prior to the transitional week, notifying and communicating with all interested parties to the payrolls themselves in advance to ensure that areas such as Auto Enrolment were in place and functional in advance.

We were able to assist the client in their communication processes by utilising employee confidential portals to send all communications to ensure all employees received the same data at the same time.

Meanwhile, one of our Payroll Managers, Emily Hunt, commenced the transfer of standing data to specially created “holding files” pending the completion of the consultation outcome – these files were ultimately used to automate the amalgamation of the thirteen payrolls down to two seamlessly over the course of a few days.

The payrolls ran seamlessly the following week post transfer.

Ian Conetta, the Managing Director said:

‘In the summer of 2021, an opportunity arose to lead an MBO of the business I was Managing Director of. The executive board were a cohesive group who had been working together for many years, but the team needed advice on how to structure the deal and assistance in providing a fair, but commercial, valuation.

Having worked with Gary Raven previously, I reached out to Barrons for advice. Gary’s pragmatic approach enabled the team to fully understand the dynamics of the deal whilst also managing the expectations of the outgoing stakeholders, solicitors and bank.

During our negotiations we were faced with some internal obstacles, notably the resignation of the FD and FC. At this point Barrons role became more than that of an advisory one. Gary was able to take the pain away and provide an infrastructure that enabled the business, and most importantly, the new MBO team to regain confidence in its accounting operations. This, he, and the team did seamlessly.

The transaction was completed without any hiccups and the business remained on a stable financial footing thanks largely to the proactive and professional response from the Barrons team.

Today, some three years later, the Barrons team remain incredibly influential in the running of our business. Gary remains the quasi FD and in his team we have the benefit of expert advice and assistance on all things financial and accountancy related.

I would, without hesitation, recommend the team at Barrons to anyone in need of business related support.