Who is the course designed for?
鈥淎 small or medium-sized business owner considering whether to sell your business.
This course will guide you through the process of preparing your business for sale, finding the right buyer and maximising the value achieved from your exit.鈥
Professor Stephanie Hussels
Professor in Entrepreneurship, Director of Business Transformation and Growth and Director of the Business Growth Programme
The Business Exit Programme (鈥淏EP鈥) is a two-day residential course for SME business owners or managers who are considering whether to sell their business in the next 12 to 36 months.
Each cohort of up to 20 businesses will be carefully chosen and curated to ensure that the participants are able to share information and ideas freely, thereby ensuring the maximum value is derived from the programme and achieved from the eventual sale of the business.
Programme information
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- Dates
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- 07 - 08 Jul 2026
- Duration2 days
- Location探花精选 campus
- Cost£4,150 per participant, including dinner and accommodation
What you will learn
On completion of the course, you should:
- Be able to understand the options available to you as you complete you latest phase of growth;
- Understand more clearly your exit motivations and own “magic number”;
- Have created a route map, timelines and potential pitfalls of the process’;
- Gained insights into how businesses are valued and value maximised dressing them for the sale process; and
- Assessed how “deal fit” you are and what are your next steps.
Programme supported by
We are delighted that for this course our experienced faculty will be supported by some truly amazing specialist advisors across the core areas of legal, accountancy and wealth management that will join us for the course as well as dinner:
Azets is an international outsourcing, compliance, and advisory group. Our 7,600 smart talented people support over 100,000 clients through our network of 189 offices in the Nordics, UK, and Ireland. In the UK, Azets is a Top 10 accountancy firm and employs more than 3,800 people, with 90 offices nationwide.
We provide trusted advice and personalised client services across accounting, tax, audit, advisory, people, and technology, saving companies and business owners precious time, so they can focus on achieving their ambitions. We exist to improve the lives of our colleagues, clients, and communities, in a sustainable way. And everything we do is underpinned by our investments in people and technology.
Coutts is a wealth manager and private bank with three centuries of experience, providing customised solutions for its clients. These include discretionary and advisory investment management services as well as advice on philanthropy, family businesses, succession planning and commercial banking services to corporate clients. Headquartered in London, Coutts is part of NatWest’s wealth businesses. For further information please visit www.Coutts.com
Programme details
This programme is split across two days and will cover the following content:
Day 1 – Getting Ready for Sale
The first day of the course is focussed on providing the background and knowledge needed to guide your business through the sale process. From establishing what your “Magic Number” is through to how to value your business and maximise its value the focus is on understanding the landscape of Mergers & Acquisitions (“M&A”).
Topic 1 – Scene setting
Core modules include:
- The Magic Number
- The M&A Marketplace
- Exit Options
- Sale Timeline
Topic 2 – Preparing for sale
Core modules include:
- Quality vs Quantity
- The Valuation Process
- Due Diligence Process (Guest Speaker)
Over Dinner
As well as being given the chance to network with your fellow participants, faculty and our professional advisors and their colleagues you will benefit from the experience of our vast alumni network as a previously exited entrepreneur talks about the lessons they learned from their exit(s) whilst enjoying dinner in a private dining room.
Day 2 – Managing a Successful Process
The second day of the course is ensuring that you understand what the process for selling a business is all about and establishing the key pitfalls which can damage the prospects of achieving a sale at the value you want or at all. From there we finish our time together by looking at what to do after you have exited and outlining some of the things you might want to look at after you have delivered your desired exit.
Topic 3 – The Sale Process
Core modules include:
- Securing the Right Advice
- Competitive Tension
- Deal Structuring and Negotiation
- Heads of Terms and Legal Process (Guest Speaker)
Topic 4 – After Exit
Core modules include:
- What to do!
- NED and Angel Investing
- Options for Wealth (Guest Speaker)
Who should attend
This programme is designed for business owners or senior managers with the ability to put in place change and who are looking to refresh their knowledge across key business areas and engage with a leading applied business school.
We welcome applications from businesses of all sizes, but the focus is on SMEs with business from 5 to 250 staff and each cohort will be carefully curated to ensure the most benefit can be derived from the course.