GROW YOUR BUSINESS
Every business has different challenges and different opportunities. Which is why, at Firebird, we believe that every team seeking sustainable growth needs a bespoke approach to drive optimal results.
We start a working relationship with each client we take on by conducting a meticulous review of every aspect of the company. Over the course of that review we benchmark the performance of the business, identifying risks and opportunities.
The Firebird approach is completely unique to your business and always will be.
Read on for examples of that approach in practice
Teach & Travel Group (TATG)
Focused, rapid growth
The Firebird team provided advice for TATG management that led to a successful MBO. This was followed by a focused strategy to deliver as much rapid growth as possible. Six months later we sold the business after achieving a year-on-year growth in EBITDA of 1,035%.
Artisan
MBO & strategic acquisition
Firebird started working with Artisan in 2020, and focused on addressing the issue of its seasonal cash-flows, identifying a strategic acquisition to provide year-round positive cash.
We introduced a full set of management information (MI) and data-based decision-making. In 2023, we additionally guided the team to a successful MBO, which secured major financial backing and support from a leading private equity house.
RezKit
From startup to commercially structured company
Firebird director Chris Thompson joined RezKit in a NED capacity in 2022, helping it move from an early-stage, pre-revenue venture to a more commercially structured company with a rapidly growing turnover.
The strategy has so far combined commercial clarity, strengthened financial planning, and greater credibility for growth and fundraising, including the achievement of a successful SEIS raise in 2023.
Since then, the focus has included providing ongoing support around planning for a future funding raise, along with the introduction of a new senior executive to strengthen the board and help guide the next stage of growth.
French Waterways
Team restructure
Firebird’s growth strategy for French Waterways saw the appointment of a new MD and a team restructure, driving rapid sales growth. Annual bookings have since grown 61% across two years.
One Traveller
Successful growth & exit
Given an exit mandate, we worked alongside One Traveller’s management for the duration of the process, introducing management accounts and board meetings.
Firebird’s Ian Finlay took a chair position, providing corporate governance, producing budgets for the first time and creating a financial model.
Firebird’s bespoke strategies drove growth so successfully that we achieved a valuation far in excess of the owner’s expectation, in an exit process led by Firebird co-founder Stewart Lambert.
At the point of sale the business was set to deliver growth of 42% revenue in the next financial year.
McCabe Pilgrimages
Responsive, adaptive growth
Firebird began working with McCabe during the pandemic, when it was a B2B business. After identifying heavy reliance on a single destination – the Holy Land – we supported the introduction of the first new products McCabe had seen for a decade. We also helped launch a B2C product range.
Together these changes enabled the team to weather the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine. Today B2C is the biggest part of the business. In addition, we facilitated a successful MBO and the recruitment of a new MD.
Over time, Firebird’s roles on the board have shifted, with co-founder Ian Finlay and director Safia Bhutta stepping in at different stages to adapt to what the business needs: from cash management and lockdown strategy, to product marketing and crisis management.
Travel Editions
Successful growth & exit
The founders of Travel Editions had a clear remit for Firebird: to achieve a specific exit value within two years. We identified the strategy to achieve that: improving the business’s yield management and growth margin.
In that two-year period we not only doubled the growth margin percentage but also drove topline growth. The business was subsequently sold for an amount in excess of the founders’ target valuation.
Absolute Escapes
EBITDA boost
Firebird introduced management information (MI) and a management accounts pack for the business, as well as focusing on improved marketing, improved sales KPIs, and efficiency around tracking - plus how enquiries are dealt with. As a result of our strategy EBITDA has risen dramatically, with a forecast increase of 2,600% between the year before the team began working with Firebird and the year to date.
Read more about management information on the Firebird blog.
Peter Sommer Travels
Foundations for growth
Like many SMEs, the team at Peter Sommer Travels historically made business decisions without any management information (MI).
Firebird quickly introduced a full set of MI, namely management accounts, trading KPIs, marketing dashboard and yield management tools. We have also helped with the staffing structure, reorganising the business to spread responsibilities and activities beyond the founders.
Bon Voyage
A trading turnaround
With Firebird’s support, the owners of Bon Voyage appointed a new MD in 2025. As a result, the business is currently trading 166% up year on year for 2027, and has seen no negative trading months – reversing the trend of the previous 18 months.
Activ4
Growth into new market
Historically, Activ4 were a ski and sports operator. Firebird guided the business to expand into educational travel, which offers a significantly larger market than ski or sport – as well as supporting the team with management information, analysis, and data to drive decisions around marketing. Their budget for the current financial year has 44% growth targeted.
GET IN TOUCH
For an initial consultation to discuss plans for your company, contact Firebird today.
Email: ian@firebirdpartnership.com
stewart@firebirdpartnership.com
Phone: 07736 226118