At the “Succession or Sale” conference put on by Family Business Place in Yorkshire in May, Jim Keeling interviewed Chris Longman, who recently sold Challenge Energy, the business he and his wife, Denise, had built up with their co-founders Nick and Sue Hooke.  Chris explained how he and his fellow shareholders, having received various approaches for their business over the past couple of years, finally reached the decision to sell. In a frank and honest interview, he described the process involved and the various hurdles that had to be jumped before the deal was finally signed. He closed by outlining how Corbett Keeling had been able to steer the transaction to enable them as selling shareholders to get the highest price from the best bidder.

As one guest commented “What always makes Family Business Place events like this really special is that the speakers are completely honest and open with their stories. It’s stuff that comes from their years of hard work at the helm of a family firm, great business advice based on real experience – it’s stuff you can’t find on Google.”