SME Advisory & Exit Planning
Aranstone is a specialist SME advisory and exit planning firm. We help businesses grow profits, increase shareholder value, and prepare for succession, sale, merger, or owner exit.
We work exclusively in Southern England with privately owned businesses generating between £1.5 million and £25 million in annual revenue.
Welcome to Aranstone
Aranstone supports founder-led and family-owned businesses in Southern England. We help business owners improve performance, increase enterprise value, and prepare for growth, retirement, or sale.
We provide senior-level advisory support to address trading and structural issues, professionalise operations, and build equity value ahead of sale, succession, or other capital events.
We support business owners planning for retirement, considering an exit, or finding it difficult to attract a buyer.
Our approach is advisory-led with an option to progress to scaling and exiting the business. We are engaged to stabilise performance, develop a strategic roadmap, and create the conditions for a well-managed transition.
Where appropriate, and where long-term value exists for all parties, we may participate more directly, through success-based arrangements, equity partnerships, or co-investment.
What We Do
We provide strategic input and commercially grounded support to help businesses become more resilient, scalable, and valuable. We help owners clarify direction, align teams, improve profitability, and reduce reliance on their day-to-day involvement.
We work with a small number of businesses at any one time to provide senior-level support that delivers measurable results.
Our clients are typically established companies that have grown steadily and are now focused on strengthening performance, preparing for succession, or planning a future sale or merger. We provide mentorship, advice and owner support in the following areas:
Strategic & Operational Advisory
We provide experienced, commercially focused support to improve profitability, solve performance issues, and enhance the overall strength of the business.
Exit & Succession Planning
We prepare companies for succession, management transition, or exit by ensuring readiness for due diligence, improving governance, and maximising enterprise value.
Performance Improvement
We help businesses refine pricing, improve margin, reduce cost inefficiencies, and optimise working capital to support growth and long-term value creation.
M&A Support & Capital
We support growth through acquisition, group formation, or investment. Where needed, we introduce trusted professionals, acquirers, and capital partners.
Build Scalable Systems & Teams
We introduce stronger systems, reporting, and management capability to reduce dependency on the owner and support consistent delivery.
Equity Participation
Where interests align, we may participate more directly, through success-linked fees, minority or majority equity involvement, or structured acquisition.
Our Approach
1. Advise
We act as a retained strategic adviser, providing board-level input, practical support, and experienced challenge. We focus on stabilising performance, improving systems, and increasing profitability. We help owners implement structured improvements that create a stronger business, reduce day-to-day reliance on the founder, and unlock future growth.
2. Prepare
We help businesses build the financial, operational, and leadership foundations required for future transition. This includes enhancing reporting, strengthening governance, and preparing for succession or sale. For owners planning to exit, we develop a clear roadmap that improves resilience and enterprise value.
3. Participate
Where aligned, we may support or lead strategic moves that increase long-term value. This includes identifying acquisition targets, creating group structures, or introducing acquirers or investors. We may participate through success-based fees, equity, or structured co-investment.
How We Work
We combine the perspective of a private equity investor with the discipline of a strategic adviser. Our revenue model is based on monthly retainers, defined project work, and, where aligned, success-based fees or minority equity. We work closely with owners to improve performance, increase value, and, where appropriate, share in the outcome of the success we help deliver.
Who We Work With
We work with privately owned businesses in Southern England with revenues between £1.5 million and £25 million. Our clients typically include:
- → Businesses where the owner remains deeply involved in daily operations and is looking to retire or plan for succession
- → Family-run companies navigating generational transition or preparing for future exit
- → Owner-managed firms that need strategic input to improve performance, strengthen systems, and unlock growth
- → Companies preparing for sale but not yet structured for buyer or investor readiness
- → Businesses with the opportunity to acquire competitors, consolidate the market, or build a larger group
Our Services
We provide strategic advisory and selective investment support to help business owners grow, improve, and prepare for future transition.
Our core services include:
→ Strategic and operational advisory
→ Profit improvement and performance enhancement
→ Succession and exit planning
→ M&A support and capital introductions
→ Business structuring and group formation
→ Equity participation or success-linked involvement
We work on a tailored one-to-one basis, adapting our support to each owner’s and business’s needs. Our support is structured to deliver measurable improvements that build long-term value.
About Us
Aranstone was founded in 2024 by Jonathon Inskip to provide professional, strategic support to SME owners navigating growth, succession, or exit. As a trusted adviser to boards, CEOs and investors, Jonathon leads the company, working closely with a syndicate of investor partners who share a long term, value focused approach to the UK SME sector.
With over thirty years of cross-sector experience, Jonathon has advised business owners, boards, private equity firms, government departments and national charities. He has delivered multimillion pound savings, recovered underperformance, increased profits and guided senior leaders through complex commercial and strategic challenges.
His work spans performance improvement, structural change and long term value creation. Jonathon is also a Director of Aptis Consulting, where he advises larger organisations on complex change and commercial performance, bringing the same rigour and strategic discipline to Aranstone’s SME clients.
Aranstone works with a small number of privately owned businesses where strategic input and focused execution can materially improve outcomes. Where appropriate, we introduce trusted professionals, investors or corporate finance partners to support the wider needs of the business.
We operate an advisory and investment led model, focused on building long-term shared value. Where there is a strong strategic fit and shared alignment, we may extend our role beyond advisory support, working with selected investor partners through success-based arrangements, equity participation, or structured transactions that deliver long-term benefits for all parties.
Investment & Capital Support
We understand that capital plays a critical role in scaling, succession, and shareholder transition. Through our network of trusted investors, lenders, and corporate finance partners, we help businesses access the right capital for the right purpose.
We support:
→ Introductions to growth capital and working capital providers
→ Strategic acquisitions and buy and build initiatives
→ Management buyouts and ownership restructuring
→ Sale preparation and buyer identification
Our involvement is shaped by the business’s strategic priorities and the long-term goals of its owners. Where appropriate, we help lead capital discussions, structure deals, or introduce aligned partners to support a successful transaction.
Our involvement is guided by the strategic priorities of the business and the long term goals of its owners. We only explore investment participation or capital support when there is a clear strategic fit, a strong commercial rationale, and agreement on how value will be created and realised.
Get In Touch
Considering Growing Your Business Ahead of an Exit?
For general enquiries, you can reach us by phone at 02392 064 917 or submit your details using the enquiry form above.