Building an Acquisition Platform with Financial Confidence

Case Study – HSH UK Holdings Ltd

With ambitions to build a portfolio of engineering and manufacturing businesses, HSH needed more than operational and commercial expertise. This case study shows how Tectona became a key part of the acquisition process, helping the team evaluate opportunities, challenge assumptions, and invest with greater confidence.

The Business

HSH Holdings was established in early 2024 by Paul and Gary Holmes and Julian Stevens – a team of experienced business leaders with a clear ambition: to acquire, strengthen, and grow high-quality engineering, manufacturing, and industrial businesses.

Drawing on expertise in operations, commercial leadership, finance, and mergers and acquisitions, the directors created a platform designed to identify opportunities and build a portfolio of successful businesses.

But with growth through acquisition comes complexity.

Every opportunity carries financial risk, hidden assumptions, and critical decisions that can significantly affect future performance.

The Challenge: Making Better Decisions Before Signing the Deal

HSH evaluates dozens of acquisition opportunities every year.

In 2025 alone, the team reviewed more than 70 businesses through its initial evaluation process.

While the directors brought extensive commercial and operational experience, they recognised the need for deeper financial analysis before progressing opportunities.

“We could all look at a P&L and a balance sheet, but the more detailed modelling and analytics were a different level entirely.” Says Paul.

The challenge was not simply understanding the numbers.

It was understanding:

  • Whether those numbers were sustainable
  • What assumptions sat behind them
  • How resilient the business would be under different market conditions
  • Whether the acquisition genuinely represented a sound investment

The Turning Point: Adding Financial Due Diligence to the Process

The HSH team recognised that financial expertise needed to become a formal part of its acquisition framework.

Following discussions with Tectona, Redvers (Red) Best was brought in as a fractional Finance Director to provide independent financial assessment and modelling.

His role quickly evolved beyond simple financial review.

The Solution: A Financial Lens on Every Opportunity

Today, Red forms an integral part of HSH’s acquisition process.

Once a business has passed the initial commercial and operational assessment, Red conducts a detailed financial review.

This includes:

  • Evaluating management accounts
  • Reviewing balance sheets and profitability
  • Identifying hidden assumptions
  • Stress-testing performance scenarios
  • Assessing funding requirements
  • Highlighting financial risks and opportunities

“He’s fantastic at looking at the numbers and saying: it works, but it only works on these assumptions.”

This approach helps the directors move beyond headline EBITDA figures and understand the true financial health of a business. In several cases, Red identified issues that were not immediately obvious.

“We’ve seen situations where profits appeared strong until you realised there were no directors’ costs included.”

The Impact: Reducing Risk and Improving Decision-Making

The additional financial rigour has significantly strengthened HSH’s acquisition process.

Instead of relying solely on historic performance, the team can now evaluate:

  • Future resilience
  • Financing structures
  • Cashflow implications
  • Market sensitivity
  • Operational sustainability

“It helps us de-risk our acquisition process.”

More importantly, it provides confidence that acquisition decisions are being made on a sound financial basis.

As HSH moves toward future acquisitions, financial due diligence has become a core part of its decision-making framework.

The Outcome: Fractional Expertise, Permanent Value

One of the aspects HSH values most is the flexibility of the arrangement. Rather than employing a full-time Finance Director, the group can access senior financial expertise when required and scale support according to workload.

“We have all the capability of having an FD available without carrying the cost of having a full-time FD.”

The result is a model that combines agility, expertise, and commercial value.

Conclusion

For HSH, Tectona has become more than an outsourced finance resource.

The relationship provides a trusted sounding board, an experienced financial adviser, and a key part of the group’s acquisition strategy.

“It wasn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. It was about understanding what we needed and providing the right level of support.”

As the portfolio continues to grow, that expertise will remain central to the group’s future plans.

If your business is growing and you need greater clarity, confidence, and control over your financial future, Tectona Partnership provides experienced part-time CFO and Finance Director support to help you scale with certainty.

If you’d like to explore what that could look like in practice, a short, informal conversation with Tectona can often surface insights long before any commitment is made. Email mark.nicholls@tectonapartnership.com and we’ll call you back within 48 hours to have a free, no-obligation conversation to understand your needs and advise you of the best course of action.