Tim Ward | Harrison Clark Rickerbys

A bit about me

For me, deal making is the beating heart of organisational growth and allows me to work with business leaders with the courage and drive to grow their business. I am, at heart, a frustrated entrepreneur, so I love the infectious energy and enthusiasm of entrepreneurs whose ambitions stretch my imagination, tenacity and insight.

I focus on:

helping people to deliver their goals
providing a great service
making the process as painless as possible for the customer
engaging fully with their objectives
getting the deal done.

My experience with a wide range of clients, from start-ups with great people in charge, to firms needing to grow and those ready for sale, means that I am both flexible and technically strong and have seen most things before. So I know when to challenge the status quo and how to think beyond what clients see as possible in order to achieve their goals.

Outside work, I am an incredibly proud dad, a keen cyclist, runner and tennis player – I’m no Nadal, but I’m OK – and I take any chance I can get to be outside or on a campsite; it gives me a totally different perspective on life.

Want to know more?

Believe in your own vision

Decide what really matters and stick to it – don’t get side tracked

Work with those that speak your language, work in the way that you want, will deliver for you and won’t become a drag.

Ensure that your support team can open doors for you and have connections.

How can I build on and retain my key team?

Just bunging them lots of cash is not the best plan – consider EMI share options or growth shares, because they deliver long term buy in.

How can I attract investment and grow?

EIS investment is always worth trying; don’t underestimate the possibility of people being out there who may be interested in taking a punt and might be like minded enough to provide funding solutions.

What equity should I give away at an early stage?

Who knows? There is a lot of talk about how you value a business and lots of discussion about the process, but in my view you might as well stick a finger in the air and count to 10 – business owners should not get too fixated on valuation methods.

Teams I work with