Most F&B founders already know something is off. They can't pinpoint it. That uncertainty is not a feeling, it is a financial position. And it compounds every month.
Here is what buyers actually discount when they look at a business like yours.
Kelvin Lane Growth Partners, The Programme
You've spent years building it.
You've spent years building it.
Do you know what a buyer would actually pay?
Most UK F&B founders carry hidden value suppressors that only become visible when a buyer starts pricing the business. The Programme identifies what is holding value back, quantifies the gap, and shows you what to fix first, in 12 weeks.
For UK F&B founders turning £2m–£50m who want a defendable valuation, not an accountant's guess.
Join the waiting list, details sent within 48 hours
12 weeks · 6–8 founders per group · F&B only · Full refund guarantee
You'll receive the dates, structure, fee range, and suitability criteria. No commitment required.
UK F&B founders
£2m–£50m turnover
5+ years in the business
Serious about the outcome
The cost of doing nothing
Every month without a plan is a month you cannot get back.
Customer concentration
Any single customer above 25% of revenue is structural risk in every buyer's model. It reduces the multiple and introduces earn-out provisions nobody wants. Most founders know it exists. Few have a plan to fix it before they go to market.
Founder dependency
If the key relationships, decisions, and institutional knowledge run through you personally, the business is not an asset, it is a job with overhead. Buyers price that in, usually as an extended earn-out that locks you in for years.
Weak management accounts
Management accounts that don't reconcile, EBITDA that includes personal expenses, and unaudited figures create uncertainty in due diligence. Uncertainty delays deals and gives buyers leverage to chip the number.
Margin volatility
Declining or inconsistent EBITDA margin signals structural cost or pricing pressure to every acquirer. It compresses the multiple and raises questions about the underlying quality of the business that are hard to answer under deal pressure.
The valuation gap
"My accountant says it's worth X. I'm not sure that's right."
It probably isn't. The gap between an accountant's view and a buyer's price can be material. Each suppressor carries a specific, quantifiable cost that almost no founder has been shown, until it is too late to act.
Multiple reduced by each suppressor left unaddressed
The timing trap
"I keep thinking I'll deal with this next year."
Next year becomes the year after. Buyer appetite moves by category. Going to market six months too early or two years too late costs the same thing, a materially worse outcome. The founders who get the best results started preparing when there was still time to act.
Millions left on the table
The due diligence disaster
"The deal was going well until they sent in their advisers."
Undocumented customer contracts. Management accounts that don't reconcile. No credible second tier of management. Every one of these is a price chip, a deal delay, or a deal failure, discovered in due diligence, when it is too late to fix anything.
Deals chipped or killed in due diligenceThe founders who get the best outcomes are the ones who prepared early.
They knew their suppressors before a buyer found them. They addressed the problems when there was still time. They arrived at the table with clean numbers, a capable management team, and a buyer universe already mapped. The Programme builds that preparation in 12 weeks.
Before you read further
The two things most founders think before they join.
I'm not thinking about selling yet. This probably isn't for me.
Now is the right time. The founders who get the best outcomes started building the right way 2–3 years before they went to market. The Programme is not about selling. It is about building a business that is worth significantly more, whether you exit in two years or ten. The exit is the destination. Growth is the journey.
I don't have time for 12 weeks of sessions on top of running the business.
Two hours per week. That is the commitment. Ten group sessions, two face to face visits at your location. Most founders spend more time than that worrying about the exact questions this programme answers. This is the answer, structured, time-bounded, with a complete plan in your hands at the end.
How it works
12 weeks. You build the plan. Expert facilitation every step.
This is not a course and it is not a workshop. It is a structured group programme, a small number of non-competing F&B founders building their Picture together, with expert facilitation every session. Two face to face visits at your location. Ten group sessions. One complete written plan in your hands at week 12.
01
You find out what your business is actually worth
Not an accountant's estimate. A real buyer's number, normalised EBITDA, deal-terms valuation range, and a buyer universe map built on live UK F&B transaction data from your sub-sector.
You leave knowing the floor, midpoint, and ceiling, and exactly what drives each one.
02
Every suppressor is identified and quantified
Customer concentration, founder dependency, financial hygiene, margin profile, management depth, contract quality. Every factor reducing your multiple is named, costed in enterprise value terms, and given a specific action plan.
You leave knowing exactly what is holding the number back, and what fixing each one is worth.
03
You build the sequenced plan to close the gap
The Runway, a complete roadmap from current position to exit ambition. Every action in order, every milestone with an owner, every dependency mapped. Not a list of recommendations. A plan you can execute the week after week 12.
You leave with a document that tells you what to do next, and in what order.
04
Two face to face sessions, one at the start, one at the end
Week 1 is a face to face diagnostic at your location, your timeline, your number, your constraints. Every session that follows is built around what came out of that conversation. Week 12 is a face to face review, the completed Picture presented in person, next steps agreed, the plan in your hands.
Two private sessions that no group setting can replicate.
05
You do it alongside founders at the same stage
Every group is screened so every founder is at a similar stage, in a non-competing sub-sector, and serious about the outcome. The peer challenge, hearing how other founders are solving the same problems, is consistently the part members value most.
You leave with a network of F&B founders who understand your situation, because they are in it too.
06
Every session includes a guest who has been where you are
Each group session features a guest speaker, an exited F&B founder who has been through a transaction, or a senior investor who sits on the other side of the table. Not theory. Direct experience from people who have lived the outcome you are building toward.
You leave with perspective that no framework or document can replicate.
Want the programme details?
Join the waiting list →
The expertise behind The Programme
Built by someone who spent years on the other side of the table.
Mike Ferguson
Founder, Kelvin Lane Growth PartnersThe Programme is led by Mike Ferguson, five years approaching Food and Beverage founders as a buyer at CDI Global, one of the world's largest M&A advisory firms focused on founder-led businesses. He sat across the table from dozens of F&B founders at the most important moment of their professional lives.
The pattern he saw, consistently, was founders arriving without the information they needed. Financials that could not be reconciled. Customer concentration that nobody had addressed. Founder dependency driving earn-outs nobody wanted. Every one of these was fixable. None had been fixed, because nobody told these founders early enough.
Kelvin Lane Growth Partners was built to fix that, bringing buyer-level knowledge to the founder's side of the table. Every engagement is in Food and Beverage. No generalists. No brokers chasing completion fees.
ACCA Qualified
17 Years Corporate Finance
Ex Morgan Stanley
Ex BlackRock
CDI Global, F&B M&A
Other questions founders ask
Answered directly.
Can I trust sharing my financials in a group setting?
Every participant signs a mutual NDA before session one. Every group is screened so no two founders operate in the same F&B sub-sector. In practice, founders consistently say the peer dynamic is one of the most valuable parts of the programme. The shared challenge is what makes it work.
I've worked with advisers before and it wasn't worth it.
This is structurally different. You build everything yourself, with expert facilitation alongside you. You understand every number in the document because you built it. And there is a full refund guarantee if we do not deliver every component of The Picture. No adviser offers that.
Be honest with yourself
This programme is not for everyone.
✕
You are already in a live sale process
If you are in active conversation with a buyer or working toward a near-term transaction, contact us directly, we will advise on what is appropriate for your situation.
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You need immediate cash flow support
The Programme is a growth and value-building tool. An acute short-term financial problem needs resolving before strategic planning is meaningful.
✕
You are not willing to share financial information
Every participant signs a mutual NDA. The programme requires founders to be open about their numbers in a confidential group setting. If that is not comfortable, this is not the right fit.
✕
You want validation, not honest assessment
The programme will tell you what it sees, directly and without softening. If you are looking for reassurance rather than an honest view of your business, this will be an uncomfortable 12 weeks.
✕
You are in hospitality or food retail without a branded product
The Programme is built for F&B businesses with a product, a brand, or a manufacturing operation. Restaurants and food retail without a proprietary product are outside scope.
✕
You cannot commit two hours per week for 12 weeks
Consistent attendance is required. If the timing is wrong now, join the waiting list for a future group.
Next group starting
Join the waiting list.
Group places are confirmed on a first-come basis. Leave your details, we'll send programme details and everything you need to make a decision within 48 hours. No commitment required.
What The Programme includes
- 10 weekly group sessions with 6–8 non-competing F&B founders
- 2 face to face sessions, diagnostic at week 1, Picture review at week 12
- Normalised EBITDA, deal-terms valuation range, and buyer universe map, built by you
- Value gap analysis with every suppressor quantified in enterprise value terms
- Exit readiness scorecard and sequenced Runway roadmap
- Guest sessions with exited founders and investors
- Mutual NDA and non-compete screening before session one
Full refund guarantee, unconditional
If The Programme does not deliver all six components of The Picture, the full fee is refunded. No partial refunds. No admin fees. No questions asked. The guarantee exists because the outcome is specific and measurable.
8 places per group. The waiting list closes when the group is full. If you are considering it, do not wait.
You'll receive the dates, structure, fee range, and suitability criteria. No commitment required.
Details on their way.
Expect an email within 48 hours with programme details and dates. No commitment required.
FAQ
Every question, answered directly.
When does the next group start?
The next group starts . Everyone on the waiting list receives the exact date and full programme details by email. Places are confirmed only when you choose to proceed. Joining the waiting list creates no obligation.
Are the sessions online or in person?
Weekly group sessions are delivered online, structured, time-bounded, and focused. The two individual sessions (week 1 and week 12) are in person at your location. Travel for UK mainland businesses is included.
Who are the guest speakers?
Each session features a guest speaker, either an exited F&B founder who has been through a transaction or a senior investor who regularly sits on the buy-side of F&B deals. Guests are drawn from the F&B founder and investor community and selected for direct relevance to each session topic.
How is it ensured that group members are not competitors?
Every founder is screened at intake before a place is confirmed. No two founders in the same F&B sub-sector are placed in the same group. A craft brewer and a speciality ingredients supplier can sit together. Two craft brewers cannot. This is enforced without exception.
Do I need to be thinking about selling to join?
No. Most founders who join are 2–5 years away from any transaction. The programme builds a more valuable business, growth, margins, capital, management, structure. Exit readiness is what a well-run business looks like. The exit is the destination. Growth is the journey.
How is this different from hiring an adviser directly?
A traditional adviser produces a report you may not fully understand and may never act on. The Programme is different, you build every component yourself, with expert facilitation alongside you. You understand every number because you built it. The plan gets executed because you own it. The group creates accountability a standalone engagement never does.
The guarantee
If The Programme does not deliver all six Picture components, normalised EBITDA, deal-terms valuation range, buyer universe map, value gap analysis, exit readiness scorecard, and sequenced Runway roadmap, the full fee is refunded. Unconditionally. No partial refunds. No admin fees. No questions asked. The guarantee exists because the outcome is specific and measurable.
The best outcomes go to the founders who prepared early.
The Programme tells you exactly what your business is worth, what is holding the number back, and the precise steps to fix it. The plan is in your hands by week 12.
8 places per group · Next group: · No commitment required