David Hopkins
Franchise Manager, LJ Hooker Operations
“I have known Craig West for the past 21/2 years during my time as Franchise Manager for LJ Hooker. During this time I have formed a successful working relationship with Craig and his company, particularly in the areas of succession planning for our offices.
Craig has shown his ability as an effective presenter on succession planning as well as his intimate knowledge of the subject, especially with regards to the complexities of tax and legal issues that arise out of setting up this type of business plan.
Craig has also proved himself invaluable to our Company in providing the message particularly to Regional areas, where he has conducted a series of introductory educational seminars in Newcastle, Northern New South Wales and the Far West as well as a follow-up program of half day workshops and mentoring programs.
Through these initiatives Craig is now working closely with a number of our offices in setting up the structures required for an effective succession plan.
His abilities, combined with an approachable manner and continual follow up is no doubt going to benefit our Company for many years to come especially in the area of retention of offices as the succession plan comes to fruition and the shareholders become our next generation of Franchise Owner.
I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Craig and the important service that he provides to small and medium enterprises.”
Phil Dash
CEO, Clearwater Filter Systems
“My business, Clearwater Filter Systems has been working with Craig West for approximately 5 years. During that time in his role as strategic adviser, Craig has helped us successfully position our business for sale. Two years ago our Succession Planning started when our CFO was introduced as a shareholder in the company, and therefore my partner was able to retire and sell down his equity earlier this year.
We then worked with Craig to identify key prospects for a sale of the entire business and position ourselves to maximise the value we could extract on sale. We have recently completed a sale to a NZ listed company in a very similar business and with very similar goals and beliefs to ourselves.
Craig introduced the opportunity to them, presented the information and managed the negotiation and due diligence stage. We have now sold our business to Just Water in a win-win deal for both parties that now sees me becoming a major shareholder and acting as a director for both Australian and NZ companies as well being able to extract maximum value for the equity in our business.
Craig has project managed this whole process for us and coordinated the various advisers and parties on both sides of the Tasman. He has always acted with professionalism, good judgment and with our best interests at heart. I have no doubt we have had a far more successful succession planning experience, and realised a greater sale value through our involvement with Craig and would highly recommend him.”
Wayne R Dowling
Principal, LJ Hooker Commercial, Central Coast
“I met Craig West 3 years ago at a Seminar he held covering various topics including Asset Protection, Employee Incentives and Succession Planning.
I found these topics very interesting and of significant importance to our business.
Having personally experienced the anguish of selling a business (and the associated problems that arose with staff retention and achieving what we believed to be a reasonable price) the idea of a Succession Plan for our current business was particularly appealing.
We have key staff members that I was keen to both retain and reward for their individual contributions to the success of our business.
Following some further discussion, we decided to proceed with a Succession Plan in November 2007. Craig subsequently introduced the concept to our key staff members and offered advice to enable us to tailor our Succession Plan to suit our needs. He also provided templates for all the associated documentation and established the Peak Performance Trust.
Our staff are all appreciative of the opportunity given to them and are committed to the growth and improved profitability of our business.
I am very comfortable with the action that we have taken to introduce the Succession Plan and I look forward to the time when I can step back from fulltime work knowing the business is in good hands.
Craig has extensive experience in the areas of Asset Protection and Succession Planning gained over some 18 years of providing advice to small business owners and I recommend Succession Plus if you have any need for assistance with these key issues.”
LJ Hooker Commercial Central Coast has had a Peak Performance Trust in place for four years and was recently awarded 2010 Employee Share Plan of the Year by the Australian Employee Ownership Association.
Steve Matthews
Former Managing Director, Display & Storage Solutions Pty Limited
“Craig, I just wanted to write and express my appreciation for the work done by you and the team during the sale of our business.
As we all know only too well, there are a lot of intangibles involved in business, and getting value for these when you are selling (after many years of building them up) is never easy. Your help in reviewing our sale tactics and exit plans helped us form a strategy that worked exceptionally well, and we managed to sell both our businesses and exit within our required time scale.
During the sale process and particularly when due diligence was being performed, you were again immediately available with sound advice and a common sense approach to the problems that we encountered along the way.
At the end of the day, whilst the process was certainly not free from stress, without your assistance we are sure it would have been considerably more difficult and may even have resulted in a different outcome.
Thanks again for everything, Craig.”
Larry Hedges
Managing Director and Chairman, Brewtopia Limited.
“I write in relation to Craig West & Peak Partners and Capital Raising – we have recently successfully listed on the Newcastle Stock Exchange and raised $750,000 of new capital.
They have managed this entire process for us, from the initial strategy, to writing, graphic design and layout of the prospectus. They also acted as compliance, ASIC and support advisers.
During this four month process we relied heavily on the advice from the team in all respects and have found their approach to be proactive, innovative and results focused.
A successful NSX listing was a key part of our growth strategy and we would not have been able to complete this process without the hands on involvement of the Craig and his team
I would have no hesitation in recommending them to any organisation and would be happy to expand on our experience, should you require any further detail.”
Andrew Clark
Principal, Clark Jacobs
“Craig West and his company have shown a high level of expertise in the advice they have provided and I have been extremely impressed at the results that have been achieved for our clients. We have particularly required specialist assistance in providing succession planning advice to some of our clients in the SME market and the services and solutions provided by Craig have been well researched, knowledgeable, clearly communicated and very effectively delivered.
I have most recently called on Mr West to provide advice to a small but growing company, which requires $3m to $5m of funding to allow it to expand by bringing in new technology from overseas. That technology will allow it to dramatically grow its market in Australia and Asia. Craig West has responded to the client with a well thought through strategy that does provide outcomes and advice that the client has not received from any other service provider before.
Of particular interest to my client and myself is the knowledge that this level of specialist advice has not previously been available in the SME marketplace.
I look forward to Craig providing ongoing services to our clients and will be very happy to work with his firm over the next couple of years on the program they are designing.”
Mark Pinhorn
Partner, Harvest Accounting Group
“Over the past 15 years in Public Practice I have had many clients ask for our help in developing and implementing an Employee Share Plan and/or Succession Plan for their business. In the past it had always been too hard.
However, a couple of years ago, fortunately, I was introduced to Mr Craig West and his team at Succession Plus.
They have developed a unique structure known as the “Peak Performance Trust” (PPT), to overcome these problems.
We now have several clients who have successfully implemented the PPT into their business, which has resulted in these businesses being able to attract, retain and motivate key employees.
Succession Planning was traditionally a key weakness in many of our clients businesses, and the use of the PPT has facilitated the gradual introduction of new Equity Partners and successful “Locking In” of key employees in a number of cases.
I strongly suggest you look at this structure and its benefits.”
Nicholas Bedggood
Client – ICA Group of Companies
My organisation and I work closely together with Craig to deliver products and services to my clients. His team and expertise have enabled us to turn business ideas into reality. We look forward to furthering our professional relationship in the future.
Peter Sheahan
Author & Business Consultant
Craig is the Accountant’s Accountant. His strategic insight and trouble shooting ability make him an extremely valuable member of any business’s support structure. I not only strongly recommend his work, but his worth as a human being. A man of integrity.
Craig Rispin, CSP
Business Partner
Craig West is a real thought leader in his industry. Just take a moment to talk with Craig and you’ll know why. Unlike others in his industry, Craig looks to the future, not the past, with powerful ideas in strategic financial accounting.
Warwick Pelly
Director, Business Momentum Consulting
I have been fortunate enough to incorporate some Succession Plus seminar material into a number of my submissions. The clarity with which this material is delivered has created real value for my clients and provided them with an insight into how to manage the growth of their business and plan for their future.
Alan Jones
Broadcaster, Radio 2GB
I am pleased that the seminars were so successful and I congratulate you on the splendid feedback statistics, which reflect thorough preparation and excellent presentation.
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