What we do - Apiary Capital

Our strategy

Our mission is simple and clear – to support businesses as they transition from being founder-led to founder-inspired, and embark on their next phase of growth.

These are typically businesses worth up to £75 million in our target sectors – business, financial, technology, education and healthcare services – that have impressive customer retention, high barriers to entry, and either recurring revenues or strong revenue visibility. These businesses differentiate themselves through the quality of service they provide and make solid platforms for acquisition strategies in large, fragmented markets.

We take the best of our extensive experience, together with our capital, to help unlock the potential of our portfolio companies, whether that is through building out the management team, investing in the operational infrastructure, or providing hands-on support for their capital-led growth strategies.

Building for future success

As partners, we will be as passionate about your business as you are. We care deeply about creating a positive and sustainable future for all our investments and we want to see the companies we support continue to thrive long after our involvement. Our team works collaboratively with management to ensure the best outcomes for each unique situation and strategic plan.

Over the years, we have built an extensive network of entrepreneurs, advisors and mentors – people who have been there and done it – and we ensure the management teams we support benefit from their experience, too.

Our approach is built on more than 150 years’ combined experience in operational improvement, buy-and-build and international expansion at more than 60 companies. We are committed to continuing to make a positive contribution to empowering management and growing businesses.

Capital-led growth

Scaling our businesses through a buy-and-build strategy is core to our goal of building high quality, well-invested businesses with demonstrable long-term growth prospects.

We work with management to identify the most attractive and attainable acquisitions to create significantly larger businesses. This may be to expand geographically, vertically, or access new markets with new products, further reinforcing their growth trajectory.

Throughout the business services sector, companies are increasingly benefitting from technological innovation and its impact on operational efficiency and customer service. We are attracted to those companies that provide essential or value-added services to their customers, thereby generating relationships with longevity. The companies we support all have the potential to become sizeable and distinctive operators in their markets.

Our investments range from companies in specialist travel services to outsourcing and compliance led services.

Responsible partners

We aim to build strong, enduring relationships with management teams, based on mutual trust. We have a focused approach, investing our capital steadily and responsibly and ensuring we work closely with each business in our portfolio.

Our integrity is as important as our capital. We vow to be open and frank from our first meeting, all the way through to exit. Building long-term, sustainable businesses is fundamental to our partnerships and our ability to deliver outstanding returns for our investors.

Ultimately, we are driven by doing the right thing for our partner companies, our investors and the communities in which they exist.

Focus on ESG

We take the stewardship of a company’s environmental, social and governance development as seriously as the company’s strategy, particularly so as we are often a company’s first institutional investor.

We proactively support our partner companies to put in place appropriate policies and procedures, in the same way we strengthen operational and management information systems and processes. We recognise that companies face different challenges and each requires a bespoke approach.

Our ESG committee leads this work, focusing on continuous improvement through training and education, and consulting with experts to keep abreast of the latest developments. We aim to share best-practice across our portfolio so we constantly improve our ESG performance. Apiary is a proud signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, demonstrating our commitment to ESG as a crucial and fundamental part of our investment activity.