Systematic buy-side origination, built inside PCB Partners
An acquisition thesis goes in. A verified, scored longlist comes out, with the outreach letters, CRM records and meeting-ready target profiles behind it.
Built at
PCB Partners, a UK M&A advisory firm, where he was an analyst
Built by
Henry Qin, now Founding Partner, Finance & Investment Banking at Algosoup
Scope
An investment banking operating system, buy-side first
Status
Running on PCB's live mandates, published with their agreement
In short
7 analyst days per longlist became 3 hours 42 minutes. On one recorded batch: 124 companies verified against statutory filings, 68 cells revised against source precedence, the client-ready workbook finished unattended, then 51 personalised approach letters the same day. The 2 preceding batches, built by hand, ran to 19 letters and 14.
“Henry built our buy-side origination into something systematic. Work that took an analyst most of a week now runs in an afternoon.”
Dave Hannah · Senior Manager, PCB Partners
7 → <1
analyst days to build a longlist
51 vs 19
letters in a day, autonomous against analyst-drafted
£1.1m
of fee capacity unlocked a year, on a 5 analyst desk
2.1 FTE
of analyst time back onto deal flow
What comes out of it
The client tab of one mandate's workbook. Every row is verified in the register that owns the claim, scored against the mandate rubric, and carries the evidence it was scored on. Unknowns get a dash rather than a guess.
Exeter-based delivery consultancy and application support provider specialising in Atlassian tooling, working with regulated financial services, housing and utilities clients across the south west. Runs toolchain migrations as fixed-scope engagements, then holds the resulting estates on long-running support retainers. Delivery is in-house with no offshore arm.
74
Exeter, UK
Atlassian Solution Partner
£6.2m
£0.9m
Companies House, FY25
Family owned
UK Ltd company incorporated 2008 (30643842). Held by ████████████ per the Companies House register, with the holding banded rather than exact and no institutional layer above.
Cork-based revenue systems consultancy specialising in HubSpot, providing CRM implementation, reporting and integration for subscription and SaaS businesses across Ireland and the UK. Holds Diamond tier, which is unusual at this headcount. Work is billed largely on project rather than retainer, so revenue is lumpier than the peer set.
19
Cork, Ireland
HubSpot Diamond Partner
TBC
TBC
CRO, FY24
Privately held (no backing)
Irish Ltd company incorporated 2016 (547796). Held by ████████████ per the CRO register, with the holding banded rather than exact and no institutional layer above.
Derby-based business software and training provider working across Zoho and Xero, covering finance, practice management and workflow tools for accountancy firms, wholesalers and professional services clients. The training practice runs alongside implementation and carries its own margin, which is uncommon in this segment. Employee owned, with no external capital.
128
Derby, UK
Zoho Premium Partner; Xero partner
£14.6m
TBC
Companies House, FY25
Employee owned
UK Ltd company incorporated 1994 (69066483). Held by ████████████ per the Companies House register, with the holding banded rather than exact and no institutional layer above.
Stuttgart-based process and integration consultancy specialising in SAP Business One, serving Mittelstand manufacturers and industrial suppliers across Baden-Württemberg. Maintains a documented integration accelerator resold through two regional partners, alongside annual support contracts on the installed base. Founder-led and single-site.
46
Stuttgart, Germany
SAP Silver Partner
€5.4m
€0.6m
Bundesanzeiger, FY25
Family owned
German GmbH incorporated 2005 (HRB 34310). Held by ████████████ per the Bundesanzeiger register, with the holding banded rather than exact and no institutional layer above.
Swansea-based workflow and integration consultancy specialising in ServiceNow, working with public sector bodies, housing associations and healthcare trusts across Wales and the south west. Framework access carries a material share of the pipeline, so transferability would need diligence. Incorporated 2021 and grown without acquisition.
31
Swansea, UK
ServiceNow Specialist
TBC
TBC
Companies House, FY24
Corporate-owned
UK Ltd company incorporated 2021 (72977509). Held by ████████████ per the Companies House register, with the holding banded rather than exact and no institutional layer above.
Aberdeen-based analytics and reporting consultancy built on Qlik and IBM, serving energy, engineering and logistics clients across Scotland and the north of England. Combines dashboard build-outs with a long-standing support book billed on annual contracts, which accounts for the majority of gross profit. Elite tier since 2016.
88
Aberdeen, UK
Qlik Elite Partner; IBM partner
£9.7m
£1.4m
Companies House, FY25
Privately held (no backing)
UK Ltd company incorporated 1987 (89926083). Held by ████████████ per the Companies House register, with the holding banded rather than exact and no institutional layer above.
Norwich-based content and experience software consultancy specialising in Adobe, working with publishers, membership bodies and consumer brands on web estates and digital asset management. Small but wholly recurring licence base, unusual at this size, which makes revenue quality better than the headline figure suggests.
12
Norwich, UK
Adobe Solution Partner
TBC
TBC
Companies House, FY24
Privately held (no backing)
UK Ltd company incorporated 2019 (86496822). Held by ████████████ per the Companies House register, with the holding banded rather than exact and no institutional layer above.
Ghent-based cloud infrastructure and support provider working across Red Hat and AWS, serving mid-market clients throughout Flanders and the southern Netherlands. Two acquisitions made in 2019 and 2022 remain unintegrated on separate toolchains, which is the principal reservation on an otherwise clean asset.
57
Ghent, Belgium
Red Hat Advanced Partner; AWS Select
€8.1m
TBC
KBO, FY25
Privately held (no backing)
Belgian BV incorporated 2012 (BE 0681474968). Held by ████████████ per the KBO register, with the holding banded rather than exact and no institutional layer above.
Preston-based data engineering and consultancy business built on Snowflake and Tableau, working with retail, manufacturing and public sector clients on warehousing, pipelines and reporting. The data platform practice was grown organically rather than bought and is now the larger half of revenue. Family owned since 1979.
140
Preston, UK
Snowflake Select Partner; Tableau partner
£18.3m
£2.6m
Companies House, FY25
Family owned
UK Ltd company incorporated 1979 (85766880). Held by ████████████ per the Companies House register, with the holding banded rather than exact and no institutional layer above.
Dundee-based service desk software and support provider reselling Freshworks and Zendesk on per-seat contracts with three year terms, to education, charity and small enterprise clients across Scotland. No owned hosting estate, so the cost base is light and gross margin sits above the peer set. Incorporated 2023 after a management spin-out.
26
Dundee, UK
Freshworks partner; Zendesk partner
TBC
TBC
Companies House, FY24
Corporate-owned
UK Ltd company incorporated 2023 (30938054). Held by ████████████ per the Companies House register, with the holding banded rather than exact and no institutional layer above.
TBC
2023
10 of 214 rows, UK and mainland Europe. Columns, order and cell register are the sheet's own. Links are live in the workbook; these 404.
And what the client sees
The fortnightly update, assembled from the workbook above rather than rebuilt: shortlist matrix, engagement summaries, targets qualified out, profile slides. Same record, same render path.
Fortnightly client update
1 / 8
Client check-in
Buy-side mandate, UK and Ireland technology services
Prepared for the acquirer
18 March 2026 · Strictly private & confidential
01
Fortnightly
Client update 18 March 2026
02
Pipeline
Summary of shortlisted targets
24 companies carried into outreach across technology services, cloud and data, and security. Counts move at every checkpoint.
Shortlisted
24
Across 3 capability archetypes
Tier 1
9
Meeting held or scheduled
Tier 2
10
Approached, awaiting reply
Qualified out
5
Kept on the deck with the reason
03
Engagement
Targets engaged with the client
Target
Status
Client view
Target view
Next
█████████████████
Second meeting held
Strong cultural fit. Wants to understand delivery utilisation before moving to indicative terms.
Open to a deal in the next 12 to 18 months. Founder wants a role post-completion.
Share indicative structure. Follow up on FY26 forecast.
██████████
First meeting held
Regulated client base is attractive. Wants a second look at the support book.
Cautious. Declined a trade approach 18 months ago on price.
Arrange technical session with the client's CTO.
████████████████
Intro call held
Delivery coverage fills a real gap in the south west.
CEO engaged. Two non-operational family shareholders to persuade.
Direct approach to the CEO ahead of the wider shareholder group.
████████████████
Second meeting held
consultancy practice is stronger than the size suggests. Wants the delivery team retained.
Founder open in principle, wants to understand earn-out mechanics first.
Model an earn-out structure against FY26 forecast.
████████████████
Intro call held
Training practice is the draw. Margin needs testing.
Interested, no timetable. Board meets in May.
Re-approach after the May board.
█████████████
First meeting held
Overlaps the existing estate more than expected. Consolidation case is real.
Two founders, one keen and one not. Needs handling.
Separate conversation with the second founder.
04
Engagement
Targets engaged with Kingsmere
Target
Status
Client view
Target view
Next
██████████████████
Qualification call held
Not yet shared with the client.
EOT structure makes a sale complex. Trustee approval required.
Confirm trustee appetite before taking to the client.
██████████████████
Qualification call held
Not yet shared with the client.
Interested. Public sector framework exposure to be checked.
Verify framework transferability, then present.
05
Qualified out
Targets recently qualified out
Names stay on the deck with the reason attached. Deleting one is how it gets re-approached in 6 weeks by someone who was not in the room.
Target
Status
Reason
███████████████
Out
Institutional backing since 2022. Outside the ownership gate.
████████████████
Out
410 FTE. Above the size band.
█████████████████
Out
Sub-scale at 17 FTE. Partner claim did not verify in the vendor directory.
████████████████
Out
Sponsor-owned. Approached by another adviser in Q4.
06
Sell-side
The same deck, sell-side
The same skeleton with the arrows reversed. Buyers rather than targets, approach status rather than engagement, and the reason a buyer was set aside kept on the page for exactly the reason a qualified-out target is.
Buyer
Type
Status
Position
██████████████████
Trade
NDA signed
Bought twice in this space in 18 months. Management meeting requested for week of 24th.
██████████████████
Sponsor
IM released
Fund IV, mid-programme. Focused on the recurring share and contract terms. Questions submitted.
██████████████████
Trade
Approached
Strategic fit on paper, no transaction history since 2019. Second approach through a warmer route.
█████████████████
Sponsor
Set aside
Portfolio company competes with the client's largest account. Conflict raised and accepted.
█████████████████
Trade
NDA signed
Acquisitive in adjacent verticals. Wants the security practice specifically.
████████████████
Sponsor
Declined
Below their minimum cheque size. Asked to be kept on for the next process.
07
████████████████
Technology consultancy, software and support provider to mid-market clients across the UK and Ireland
Tier 2
Company Overview
Technology services provider to mid-market clients, Atlassian-first estate, recurring per-user contracts, no break-fix legacy
HQ’d in Leeds, UK Second office in Manchester, opened 2024
42 FTEs 100% UK-based
Founded 1996
Verticals
Professional Services
Manufacturing & Engineering
Public Sector & Housing
Logistics & Distribution
Legal & Accountancy
Healthcare
Services
Recurring 64% · Projects 36%
Consultancy and delivery, day-rate and fixed-scope
Application support, per-seat, 3 year terms
Software licensing and renewals
Data and reporting build-outs
Training and enablement, classroom and remote
Projects: system rollouts, migrations, integrations
Named Clients
Partnerships & Accreditations
Financials & Ownership
Revenue (£m)EBITDA (£m)
9.6
1.4
FY23
10.8
1.7
FY24
12.4
2.1
FY25
13.9
2.4
FY26E
Companies House filed accounts to FY25. FY26 estimate, flagged.
£12.4m revenue, £2.1m EBITDA (FY25)9% revenue CAGR, margin steady as the consultancy mix grows.
Ownership & Equity
███████████████ (Founder, CEO) 48%; ███████████ (Technical Director) 31%. No institutional capital, no debt on the equity.
EMI pool of 21% across 14 senior staff, vested on a change of control. Ordinary shares only, no preference.
Key Management
███████████████ · Founder & CEO (29 years)
███████████ · Technical Director (9 years)
████████████ · Head of Delivery (16 years)
Adviser Insights
Founder is 58 and has raised succession unprompted. No adviser appointed, so genuinely off-market. Expectation 7 to 8x.
Sources: Companies House, vendor partner directories, company website
01
Neutral advisory house: teal on white, hairline rules, no firm mark, narrative column leading.
If a chunk of your analysts' month goes on sourcing, checking and formatting rather than judgement, the same shape of engine applies. A 30 minute call is enough to work out whether it does.
Dave Hannah · Senior Manager, PCB Partners
