About Us
BF Consultancy is a boutique advisory firm offering full-service M&A solutions. With a focus on strategic outcomes, we support clients through every stage of the deal lifecycle.
Our Mission & Vision
Our Vision
Our Mission
Core Team Members
Find out more about our team of specialists
Barry Feltham
Barry founded the BF Consultancy in 1998 having gained considerable experience in the Mergers and Acquisitions field, during his extensive career.
Holding senior key positions at the OE Company Ikon (including Acquisitions Director and joint MD of the Slough division) he held full P&L responsibilities. Ikon’s key focus was rapid growth, essential to strengthen its UK dealer base. Barry honed his knowledge and practical experience of M&A at this strategic corporate level.
His early career provided a solid base in the sales process, and personal development through many vocational training courses allowed him to progress rapidly up the management ladder. During this time Barry also attended the London Business School on a senior managers finance course.
Barry realised he had a natural flair for motivating people and over achieving on targets, such that he soon advanced to Sales Manager and Sales Directors roles in several major OE Companies including SCM, Roneo Alcatel, Rank Xerox and Nashua.
BF Consultancy was therefore a natural progression as he decided to plot his own independent future. Having assembled a wealth of contacts at senior business levels throughout the industry, the BF Consultancy was soon able to establish and consolidate itself.
Tom Allen
Tom joined BF Consultancy in 2015 and has played a key role in the firm’s growth over the past decade. As a core member of the team, he is closely involved in the day-to-day running of the business and contributes across all areas – from deal execution and client engagement to internal operations and strategic planning.
With a strong background in technology and a pragmatic approach to M&A, Tom has helped shape the firm’s direction, working closely with clients to identify opportunities where there is genuine synergy and long-term fit. His combination of technical insight, commercial awareness and creative thinking has been central to the firm’s evolution.
Tom continues to enjoy working hands-on with business owners and leadership teams, and is committed to helping both clients and the consultancy grow sustainably.
Michael Smart
Michael is a highly experienced sales professional with considerable Sales Director and Managing Director experience gained during his career in consumer electronics, telecoms, business equipment and document management business solutions.
Michael has held senior key management positions with many key industry players, such as Sales Director at Gongjin Electronics (Schenzen, China), Strong International & Pace PLC, and Managing Director at Sagem Communication UK Ltd and Muratec UK Ltd amongst others.
Michael brings to BF Consultancy a wealth of experience gained over many years having established and developed a number of leading businesses in the industry.
Our Consultants
Find out more about our team of specialists
Ericka Datu
Ericka joined our team in 2025 and plays a key role in research and analysis.
With a natural curiosity and an eye for detail, she supports our projects by digging deep into market trends, financial data, and company dynamics. What Ericka enjoys most about her role is the variety—no two days are the same and the opportunity to engage with a wide range of people across the industry.
Her approachable nature and analytical mindset make her a valuable asset to both our team and our clients.
Colin Bevan
Colin studied at the Medway College for his HNC in telecommunications and then forged his early career with British Telecom before moving to the French company Alcatel. Alcatel proceeded to acquire the ailing Roneo Vickers sales and service network. Liaising between London and Strasbourg in order to launch, market and develop their products, Colin found it a very interesting period.
The 1990’s saw him move into a more sales oriented role as key accounts manager, then the Senior Consultant, for the American utilities cost control company NUS. His depth of knowledge of the telecom industry ensured that the market analysis and savings proposals of blue chip companies’ utilities costs were accepted and implemented, thereby delivering long term shared revenue for NUS.
In the year 2000 Colin was headhunted by the Croydon based IT Consultancy Informed Telecom, before moving back into the City, where he crossed paths with Barry at the internet service company BIS, and hence joined BF Consultancy.
Louis Martin
Louis joined us in 2019 but had previously had a spell with the company in 2017 during a transition period.
Louis has had extensive sales training and experience, most recently experiencing first-hand the telecommunications field with a medium-sized enterprise in London.
He is eager to expand his knowledge of the Office Technology sector, allowing him, along with his already strong knowledge of the communications sector, to help the company to push forward. Louis thoroughly enjoys being part of the team, and hopes that with his added knowledge and expertise, they can reach their maximum potential.
Mike Ashworth
Mike joined BF consultancy after a successful career in the recruitment industry culminating in the sale of his own business – so he knows the process well.
Mike’s knowledge helps business owners to maximise the value attained when an exit strategy is formed. He enjoys working with clients to tailor this plan to arrive at a mutually beneficial result.
He also has knowledge of the IT sector and enjoys expanding this while conversing with business owners in the industry. Mike works primarily for our retained clients conducting market research and analysis in order to discover acquisition opportunities.
Why talk to us?
If you are selling, we will:
- Help you focus on your market strengths and assets, to attract would-be buyers.
- Help you formulate a preferred exit strategy.
- Assist in preparation of accounts, prior to valuation.
- Guide you in gauging the best time to market.
- Help you in quantifying the true value of your company.
- Ensure you are fully briefed during negotiations, so as to maximise the price achieved.
If you are acquiring, we will:
- Help you to establish a workable acquisition strategy.
- Research and identify key businesses in your target area.
- Determine the vendors’ aspirations and further plans.
- Negotiate the price and assist with the Due Diligence process.
- Formulate a post-acquisition strategy.
- Assist you in expanding with new products, markets or geographically.
Expert Support for Business Sales and Acquisitions
Our business comprises a service to assist in either the sales or acquisition of privately owned businesses. The complete process is naturally different, depending on whether you are seeking to grow rapidly in a non-organic fashion, or conversely if you are wishing to realise and dispose of an asset. However, the key areas where we will help you can best be outlined in the following non exhaustive list.
- Researching, sourcing, and initial appraising of business targets.
- Initial negotiations; setting parameters between buyers and sellers.
- Preparation of Marketing Data.
- Mediation between both parties
- Creation of Letter of confidentiality through to agreement.
- Pre due diligence project management.
- Operational reviews highlighting:
- Company profile
- Sales credibility
- Service revenues
- Customer base interrogation
- Financial overview
- Indicative offer breakdown.
- Post due diligence arbitration.
- Instruct Legal advisors.
- Progress sale through to successful completion.
The Benefits
There are many good reasons for growing your business through an acquisition or merger, and a couple that should be noted before any acquisition takes place.
M&A is a tactic to execute strategy. it is not the strategy itself.
Companies need to have a clear, well-defined strategy for their specific business vertical. As part of this process, it needs to consider all possible alternatives: Build in-house, License, Partner, Co-invest, Acquire, etc., and come to the conclusion that a specific acquisition is the best way to go. For example if your business is underperforming and if you are struggling with regional or national growth it may well be less expensive to buy an existing business than to expand internally.
There are two primary motivations for companies to make acquisitions
1) Fill a strategic gap in the company’s product, resources (people) and capabilities by obtaining quality staff or additional skills, knowledge of your industry or sector and other business intelligence. Organic growth can be accelerated – businesses in the same sector or location can combine resources to reduce costs, eliminate duplicated facilities or departments and increase revenue.
2) Help the company enter a new market, with diversification of the products, services and long-term prospects of your business – a target business may be able to offer you enhanced products or services which you can sell through your own distribution channels. Accessing a wider customer base and increasing your market share – your target business may have distribution channels and systems you can use for your own offers.
Financially, viability is as important as strategic fit
It is critical for the deal to make financial sense.
Reducing your costs and overheads – through shared marketing budgets, increased purchasing power and lower costs.
Reducing competition – buying up new intellectual property, products or services may be cheaper than developing these yourself.
Accessing funds or valuable assets for new development – better production or distribution facilities are often less expensive to buy than to build. Look for target businesses that are only marginally profitable and have large unused capacity which can be bought at a small premium to net asset value.
Knowing the “Value Drivers” the deal is a critical element of success.
The acquirer will spend a huge amount of due-diligence effort to identify the sources of value (Intellectual Property, People, Brand, etc) from the deal. It is essential for the acquirer to structure the deal and the resources to maximize these value drivers.
More than half of all M&As fail.
Research indicates that the failure rate (as measured by creation of post-merger financial value) is > 50%. Some obvious key reasons are: High valuations, lack of well understood value drivers, cultural misfit etc, so let us help you to be as sure as possible that any acquisition is the right acquisition.
Employee Turnover in Target Companies is Usually High.
This is a concern in the years after the merger; hence the need for retention programmes for the key employees who drive the sources of value.
