Business owners must always have an eye on their exit strategy – but gut instinct also has a crucial role to play.

This was the message from the founder of the Johnston Quarry Group, who was the keynote speaker at an event for entrepreneurs in Bristol.

Hosted by Evelyn Partners, the leading integrated wealth management and professional services group created from the merger of Tilney and Smith & Williamson, the seminar was targeted at business owners who are considering an exit.

Nicholas Johnston - who sold the quarry group to SigmaRoc plc earlier this year with advice from the firm – talked about his personal experience of building and selling his business.

“As an only child I had the incredible good fortune to have a family business to enter into on a diverse agricultural estate, on which there was a tiny old limestone quarry,” he said.

“In my first summer, several sturdy men drilled and split large rocks of stone and for all their toil and sweat, they then paid us a rather handsome cheque. This immediately seemed like a business opportunity worth pursuing further, and in the months and years that followed, it turned out that the quarry was a unique source of ironstone building stone.”

Mr. Johnston said the sale to SigmaRoc plc – which was completed in January - was an extremely demanding but ultimately rewarding process.

“Eventually, after several long days of negotiation leading up to Christmas, the deal was concluded and exchange took place on 4th January and completion on 31st January. Evelyn Partners, my solicitors at Wansbroughs and my in-house accounts and management teams had all done a brilliant job to get this done in such a purposeful manner in such a short period of time.

“Nobody going into a sale of their business should be under any illusions of how time consuming and tiring a detailed due diligence process is. There is also a key necessity to have real leadership and clarity around the legal process.

“Ensure your business is set up for a potential future exit from the start and take good professional advice. You should always have an eye on the future and what feels right in terms of an exit, but in the final analysis everyone needs to have a gut instinct about when the time is right.”

The seminar was hosted by Sam Cooper, head of Evelyn Partners’ entrepreneurs’ group in Bristol.

It also featured presentations from Paul Stagg, an associate director in the firm’s corporate finance team, who offered expert advice on the exit process and improving value; Rebecca Foley, an associate director in business tax services, who explained the tax consequences of different exit options; and Leigh Cecil, an associate director in the firm’s financial services team who offered advice on financial planning for the future.