Elo from Melo

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Elo from Melo

We work with ambitious financial planning firm owners in the UK, helping them to Build Better Businesses. Our Progress department works with firm owners to understand where they are now, where they want to be and agree a plan to get there. Whether you're looking to improve business efficiency and profitability, or lay the foundations to expedite growth, our team are here to support. Using the Melo PPPT framework, we can help you to define and build your target operating model. Of course one day everybody has to exit and that's where our Exits team can help. Working exclusively for our sellers, without any financial conflict or bias, we help firms to Exit Right; at the Right Time, in the Right way, securing the Right Deal. With over 130 years experience working in regulated firms, we've been in your shoes, and can't wait to support more of you to build, scale and exit the firms of your dreams.

© 2025 Melo Advisory Services Limited. Content created by Melo Advisory Services Limited is protected by copyright. Third-party materials, if included on our posts, remain the property of their respective owners.

09/09/2026

Mentor and trainee can work brilliantly for years. Succession eventually needs a different dynamic 👀

At some point, succession requires the dynamic to change. The founder needs to step back from always being the expert in the room, and the successor needs to stop waiting for permission.

Becoming genuine leadership peers, with clear authority on both sides, can be one of the hardest parts of a handover.

Some firms struggle to make that shift fully. The founder stays involved longer than planned. The successor never quite feels like it is really theirs.

Sound familiar? We are looking at this throughout September, including founder dependency, successor confidence and the shift in authority that needs to happen before a handover works properly.

📅 Join us on 23 September with Victoria Hicks and Becca Timmins. Link below. 👇

08/09/2026

In many financial planning firms, some of the most important succession conversations are still waiting to happen.

The firm owner may have one view of how the handover will work, while the successor has another. Meanwhile, the team are waiting to see where authority really sits.

Those expectations may never have been discussed directly.

Conversations about identity, expectations, authority and trust are often postponed. There is always something more pressing on a Monday morning.

By the time they feel urgent, they are harder to have.

We see this regularly in firms preparing for succession. The legal and financial plan may be in place while the people conversations have barely started. That can leave founders, successors and leadership teams with very different expectations of how the transition will work.

This month, we are focusing on the people side of succession and exit planning, including founder dependency, successor confidence, authority and the conversations that need to happen earlier.

Join us on 23 September with Victoria Hicks and Becca Timmins for our next Melo Exit Session 👇

02/09/2026

September is here and we have got a big month lined up.

This month we are talking about the bit of exit planning that nobody puts on a spreadsheet. The people. The conversations that keep getting put off. The successors who look ready on paper but have never really been handed the keys. The founders who say they want to step back but still sign off everything.

Sound familiar?

We are kicking off with a question worth sitting with after the long weekend.

If you were not in the business tomorrow - really not in it, phone off, two weeks away - what would actually happen?

Swipe through. Be honest with yourself👇

And if you want to get into this properly, join us on 23 September for our next Melo Exit Session with Victoria Hicks and Becca Timmins. It is going to be a good one.

Register below 👇

27/08/2026

September is almost here, and this month we’re talking about the bit of exit planning that can be hardest to put on a spreadsheet: people 👀

A successful exit doesn’t just need the numbers, structures and paperwork to stack up.

It needs an owner who is ready to step back. Future leaders who are ready to step forward. And a wider team who understand what is changing, what isn’t, and where they fit into what comes next.

Sounds simple. Rarely is.

Conversations get postponed. Assumptions go unspoken. Founders struggle to loosen their grip. Successors can look ready on paper while quietly wondering whether they really are.

And when those things are left until succession or sale becomes urgent, they have a habit of becoming much harder to untangle.

So throughout September, we’re looking at preparing people for exit - from founder identity and successor confidence to leadership development, team dynamics and the conversations worth having much earlier.

We’ll also be bringing Victoria Hicks and Becca Timmins together for our next Melo Exit Session on 23 September.

September is about the people behind the plan. And we’ve got plenty to talk about ✨

25/08/2026

We launched our Fee Increase Calculator this month to show how a change in ongoing fees could affect your firm's value. Put in your recurring income, your current charge percentage and the rate you are thinking about moving to, and it shows the potential uplift at a 3.75x multiple. It takes around 90 seconds.

Give it a try if you haven't already. Link below 👇

The fee number is only part of it 🫣

When a buyer sits down with your firm, they are going to want to know a lot more than what you charge. They want to know whether the clients will actually stay once you step back. Whether the team can hold things together without you in the room. Whether the income is as clean and predictable as it looks on the page.

For many owners, those are the harder questions to answer. These are also the areas Melo helps owners work through well before a sale.

We have written about it this week, looking at the factors buyers assess beyond the fee line and what firms can work on before they go to market. Read the full article below 👇

17/08/2026

A small fee change can make a big difference to what your firm is worth.

We built a calculator that shows you exactly how much. Put in your recurring income, your current charge and the rate you are thinking about moving to. A few seconds later you have an indicative uplift figure - the potential increase in your firm's value on top of what it may already be worth.

You could be surprised by the number.

Find out yours below 👇

03/08/2026

Five signs your fee structure could be weakening your firm's value👇

Most firm owners review their fees occasionally. Some review them rarely. A significant number haven't reviewed them in years.

That's not unusual. Fee conversations are uncomfortable. Clients push back. It feels like a risk.

But the firms that go to market and attract strong interest tend to have one thing in common: their pricing reflects what it actually costs to deliver a great service, and their margin shows it.

This month, we're exploring the connection between fees, margin and future exit value - starting with five signs the numbers may not be working as hard as they should.

Swipe through. Then ask yourself when you last looked properly.

🔗 More on this on our website - link below.

20/07/2026

Buyers look at tech stacks differently to the people who built them 🔍

Where is the client data actually held? Who owns the technology decisions internally? Are tools used the same way by every adviser, or does each one work in their own way? Are processes documented anywhere a stranger could follow?

The questions feel operational. In a sale process, they shape something far more material: how much confidence a buyer has that what they are paying for will still work the same way the day after the deal completes.

A firm with a coherent, documented tech stack signals control. A firm without one signals risk, regardless of how well it runs day-to-day.

If you missed last Thursday's digital event on this, the replay is now available.

03/07/2026

The reasons people sell are changing 🔄

In 2019, most firm owners selling were doing so to retire.

Today, about half still fit that profile. The other half are different. Owners who want a capital event but still have ambition.

We call these "sell and stay" deals. The owner exits ownership but stays in the business. Sometimes for a second capital event. Sometimes just to get back to the work they loved before they had a firm to run.

For the right buyer, this is music to their ears. They value the people as much as the clients.

29/06/2026

Buyers see things owners don't 🔍

Financial planning is guided more than it is ruled. Firms develop their own ways of doing things, and most of those ways serve clients well.

But buyers look at the same business at a level of detail owners rarely apply themselves.

The most useful thing a future seller can do is look at their firm through a buyer's eyes long before going to market. The gaps become visible while there is still time to do something about them.

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