The Ownership Journey

What if your best employees walked out tomorrow — and there was nothing you could do to stop them? In this episode of The Ownership Journey , host James Lamb sits down with Laura Tutt , founder of The Partnership, to break down why people and culture aren't just an HR checkbox — they're the single biggest lever in business ownership, employee retention, and long-term growth. Laura spent 20 years b...

Selling Your Business for Millions begins with a single observation in a New York corner store — and ends with a £250 million exit. Mark Mills turned 3 ATMs into Carpoint, a £100M Empire dispensing nearly half a billion pounds monthly across 6,500 machines in the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , Mark shares the complete entrepreneur success story — the b...

How to grow an accounting firm is one of the most pressing questions for practice owners in today's rapidly consolidating market. In this episode of The Ownership Journey, host James Lamb sits down with Edmund Cartwright , Partner at Acumen — a firm that has scaled from 15 staff to nearly 90 and revenue from £1.2 million to over £9 million in just five years. Edmund unpacks the dual-engine strateg...

What does it take for an entrepreneur who lost his house and everything he owned to rebuild a multi-million pound property empire? In this episode of The Ownership Journey, host James Lamb sits down with Andrew Scott — founder of Ascot Group, serial entrepreneur, and business turnaround specialist — who reveals how he overcame £100,000 in debt after 9/11 destroyed his business overnight and built...

Sam Turner's business acquisition strategy is reshaping how specialist technical services companies in the built environment get scaled. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , Sam shares his complete roadmap for buying a business, integrating it, and repeating the process until his group hits £150M. After 22 years in global corporate roles — including scaling a travel tech business from €7...

Buying a business is one of the most powerful — and most misunderstood — paths to entrepreneurial wealth. In this episode of The Ownership Journey, serial acquirer and M&A coach Guy Barlett reveals exactly how he went from an accidental Army career and a gap-year sales job to building and acquiring multiple companies — including a £3.5M national services firm and a £3.5M construction business. Guy...

What does it really take to own an architecture firm — and is buying one smarter than building from nothing? In this episode of The Ownership Journey , James Lamb sits down with Nick Johnson , architect and owner of Johnson Pinney Architects, to unpack the reality of running an architecture business, from surviving the 2008 financial crisis to buying into an established practice and transforming i...

Buying a business is one of the most complex decisions an entrepreneur can make — and most sellers get the process completely wrong. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , Saul Cohen , a chartered accountant and M&A specialist who has worked on over 150 deals, unpacks what really happens when you buy or sell a business. From unrealistic valuations to deferred consideration traps, Saul reveals...

Knowing your business exit strategy before you need one can be the difference between a life-changing sale and a costly mistake. Selling a business requires legal foundations most founders overlook — and that's exactly what corporate lawyer turned entrepreneur Sarah Jane breaks down in this episode of The Ownership Journey . From building Firing for Legal with 30 team members across four continent...

Entrepreneur resilience under pressure is the defining theme of this powerful conversation with Angela Middleton , who left a secure corporate career at BP Oil and Barclays to build a recruitment empire from scratch. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , Angela shares the unfiltered reality of what it takes to pivot from employee to entrepreneur — and how resilience under pressure became the...

Business growth doesn't require a silver spoon — it requires relentless execution, creative sales tactics, and the courage to start from nothing. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , James sits down with Andrew , the founder of Pareto, who built a facilities management business from his bedroom to a £50 million turnover before exiting at just 37 years old. Andrew's story is one of the most c...

Buying a business is one of the most powerful wealth-building strategies available — and in this episode of The Ownership Journey , serial entrepreneur Sacha reveals exactly how he does it. From his very first hustle selling photocopied football autographs at school, to acquiring distressed companies and turning them around in as little as a week, Sacha's story is a masterclass in buying a bus...

Tax efficiency is the single most important lever small business owners can pull to protect profits in 2026 — and most are leaving thousands on the table. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , Ben Crampin , Managing Partner of Folio Partners, breaks down exactly how SMEs can use R&D tax credits, choose the right business structure, and plan for succession in an increasingly hostile tax enviro...

Serial entrepreneur Richard Woods has bought and sold multiple businesses — and his journey from schoolyard hustler to acquisition entrepreneur is packed with lessons for anyone looking to buy a business, scale with virtual assistants, or master lead generation. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , Richard shares how a financial crash forced his first pivot, how appearing on The Apprentice s...

Buying a business is one of the most powerful ways to accelerate wealth — but it can also destroy you if you get it wrong. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , Steven reveals how his family business collapsed after reaching £35 million in revenue, and how that devastating loss became the foundation for his career in business acquisition and M&A. Steven grew up sweeping warehouse floors at 13...

Power dialogues are the single most important skill for anyone serious about business acquisition, deal making, and closing deals. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , Des Vadgama reveals how mastering the art of conversation — not spreadsheets, not pitch decks, not legal templates — is what actually gets deals done. If you've ever wondered why some entrepreneurs convert leads into deals whi...

Business rescue is the critical process that can mean the difference between a company surviving or closing its doors forever. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , insolvency practitioner Nick pulls back the curtain on how business rescue actually works — from liquidations and administrations to Company Voluntary Arrangements and moratoriums. Whether you're a business owner facing financ...

In this episode of The Ownership Journey , host James Lamb sits down with Dr. Allan Presland — an entrepreneur who was told off in corporate life for being too profitable, and went on to build Parental, the largest independent provider of vocational training, software, and marketing services to the childcare business sector in the UK, with nearly 200 staff. Allan shares his entrepreneurship journe...

In this episode of The Ownership Journey , Colin Harding shares his entrepreneurship journey from founding Q Building Services in 1990 to executing a 7-figure business exit strategy. Colin built an MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Public Services) consulting practice from scratch — no external funding, halved salaries, and working 16-hour days — and eventually navigated the complex process of sell...

Gauri went from engineer to entrepreneur through a deliberate, gradual transition — dropping from 5 corporate days down to 1 before going full-time into business ownership. In this entrepreneurship journey episode, she shares how her mother's beauty therapy business taught her people management and financial literacy, while her father's struggles initially made her fear entrepreneurship. She intro...

Starting a business is one thing — keeping it alive for 20 years through economic crashes, a pandemic, and a cost-of-living crisis is another. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , host James Lamb sits down with Simon Rogers , founder of Fiducia, a commercial interiors company that has weathered every storm the UK economy has thrown at it. Simon's business ownership journey is a masterclass i...

Lee Brownlie started as a 16-year-old apprentice carpenter at Jubilee Projects. Today, he is the business owner of a UK-leading hospitality and commercial fit-out contractor generating £15M in annual revenue with a 50-year legacy. In this episode of The Ownership Journey , Lee explains why he refuses to micromanage — and how building trust, a no-blame culture, and empowering his team became the fo...

In this episode of The Ownership Journey , host James Lamb sits down with Shoaib Ahmed — the solopreneur behind a LinkedIn personal branding company that has generated over 300M impressions across LinkedIn, all as a one-person business with zero employees. Shoaib reveals the LinkedIn personal branding strategy that took him from geography graduate to solopreneur freedom. After building an agency (...

What does it really take to turn a small business into a £9M exit? In this episode of The Ownership Journey , host James Lamb sits down with Ken Gorman — equity partner and global business broker at Transworld Business Advisors — to break down the real process of selling a small business, business exit strategy, business valuation, and business acquisition that most owners never hear about. Ken ha...