Robert Ward is a man who knows his stuff. Not just about his chosen profession, but about buying and selling businesses too, having started, sold and bought back his own company.
Robert says he drifted into the financial services industry after finally realising he was never going to make it as a professional cricketer.
“I joined a firm of estate agents back in the 70s and set up a mortgage and insurance department,” he says. “It was a very innovative thing to do at that time – no one else had really done anything like that.”
Robert drifted into financial services after realising he would never make it as a professional cricketer
When the owner of the estate agency chain died, Robert found he didn’t really get on with the new owners and so he set about looking for something new.
“Because of my work with the estate agency I had knowledge of running a business and financial services. I joined a friend from school and helped him set up a business.
“We worked together for a while, and then I thought this is silly I might as well do it myself. So I started Robert Ward & Associates on my own, in Cheltenham on 10 October 1984.”
A wealth management business, Robert Ward & Associates has clients that range from “Mr and Mrs Middle England up to very wealthy individuals”.
Taking it public
Robert had always planned to sell his business into public ownership, but was delayed as events overtook him.
“My aim was to take it public, and that was thwarted by 2001 following September 11 and the effect those events had on the financial world.
“I ended up selling in July 2003 to a quoted company.”
The company that bought Robert Ward and Associates, SP Holdings, was a sport and media company heavily involved in rights and sponsorship deals. It bought Robert’s company to be its finance arm, to provide financial services for its clients.
Although Robert had been looking to sell, he was reluctant to let the business go unless he negotiated a reasonable price.
“I had been toying with the idea of actually selling for a while when I was approached.
“We had a conversation. I told them I wasn’t going to entertain selling unless I got a certain figure. They agreed to it and I sold the business.”
Like many business owners who sell their company to another firm, Robert was asked to stay on.
“Part of the sale was that I was asked to join their business as CEO of the financial services division. It all seemed like a great idea in principle.”
A great idea it may have been, but the goalposts were soon moved.
“The chairman turned out to not be very nice,” recalls Robert. “At my first board meeting he informed me that the plc board had decided that they didn’t want me to be CEO, and that instead, they wanted me head up mergers and acquisitions. I spent a very unhappy 18 months producing businesses for them to buy.
