In this conversation, Gareth shares his extensive journey from sales to successful CEO, detailing the pivotal moments and lessons learned during his career.

Gareth and Rach talk about the challenges of scaling through acquisitions and the emotional impact of exiting a business. He talks to his current venture, BizCrunch, which aims to innovate the process of buying and selling businesses, and reflects on the need for better government support for SMEs in the UK.

You can follow Gareth here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-hawkins/

His latest business BizCrunch: https://www.bizcrunch.co/

Got a story to tell about your exit? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠

-

More of Rachel Murphy

⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠The Grafter

Kathryn Strachan started CopyHouse in 2020. This was weeks away from a global pandemic kicking off. What began as a solo venture quickly scaled into a content marketing agency with 32 team members and over £2 million in revenue. But behind the scenes of that rapid growth was a founder learning to let go, to lead, and eventually, to walk away.

In this conversation, Kathryn shares how she shifted from practitioner to CEO and built a team that could operate without her. She talks openly about burnout, identity loss, and what happens when your life's work is no longer yours - no one talks about the emotional fallout!

Now an author of Scaling Success, she reflects on the lessons that matter most: building intentionally and prioritising what should really count and that's your personal relationships and yourself.

You can follow and reach out to Kathryn here: www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-strachan/

Her book, Scaling Success from Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/a2HyZHo

Got a story to tell about your exit? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠

-

More of Rachel Murphy

⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠The Grafter

Knowing how to survive is one thing, but knowing how to succeed is something completely different.
She wasn’t handed a network, a mentor, or a safety net. What she was given? Grit. Hunger. And a stubborn refusal to accept her circumstances.

At 24, Sally Wynter went from the idea of creating the first CBD-infused gin to a 7-figure exit in less than a year. This was all without funding, connections, or a clue how the drinks industry worked.

Since selling the brand, she’s taken that same fire into recruitment, building a business that defies convention and puts people first.

This is a story about reinvention, risk-taking, and rewriting the rules of what success has to look like.

You can follow and reach out to Sally here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-wynter/[email protected]

Got a story to tell about your exit?Email us at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

-

More of Rachel Murphy

⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠

⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠

⁠⁠X⁠⁠

⁠⁠The Grafter

Stephen Critchlow built and sold not just one, but two companies. One to a major healthcare software firm, and another that developed wind farms. Both were highly profitable exits. But what happened after the sale?

In this powerful and honest conversation, Rachel and Stephen explore the real story behind the headlines: what it feels like to walk away from a company you've poured decades of your life into, the identity crisis that can follow, and why the biggest exit of your life might leave you feeling completely empty.

Together, they dive into:

• What Stephen calls the Bermuda Triangle of Business Growth and why most companies never make it through
• How to know if you are the right person to scale your business past 20–40 people
• The crushing emotional aftermath of selling a company and losing your purpose
• Why Stephen regrets the timing of his exit from Ascribe and how losing board control changed everything
• What founders must consider before they sell (hint: it’s not the number)
• Why his second exit - a wind farm company - was faster and more lucrative than his first
• How Evergreen Life is using AI, DNA and GP-linked data to add years to people's healthy life expectancy
• And why Stephen believes this UK tech company can rival the likes of Amazon and Google

This isn’t a story about success. It’s a story about intention. About building something that matters, walking away too soon, and then finding the clarity to start again, with purpose at the centre.

You can follow more of Stephen below

LinkedIn

Got a story to tell about your exit?Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠

-

More of Rachel Murphy

⁠LinkedIn⁠

⁠Instagram⁠

⁠X⁠

⁠The Grafter

Niraj Shah has been on both sides of the deal table with building, buying, and selling businesses across real estate, wellness, and technology. In this episode, he sits down with Rachel to share what it really feels like to go through an exit - emotionally, financially, and personally.

From suffering a stroke at 30 that changed the course of his life, to exiting a wellness business that was deeply tied to his identity, Niraj opens up about the wins, the regrets, and the moments of “what now?”

You can follow more of Niraj below

https://www.linkedin.com/in/niraj5hah

nirajs.com

And his book recommend - Exit Strategy by Sherry & Rob Walling let us know what you think!

Got a story to tell about your exit?Email us at [email protected]

-

More of Rachel Murphy

LinkedIn

Instagram

X

The Grafter

Here in the UK, we don't talk about money and we certainly don't talk about planning to sell our businesses. You may not have even thought about selling but if you're running your own business, succession and exit plans are necessary.

Being approached by another company wanting to buy what you've built happens all the time and that's where the Exiteers™️ come in. With over 10 businesses sold between them, Rachel Murphy got together with Exiteers™️, Caroline Carruthers, and James Gairdner, to dissect the anatomy of an Exit - what does it really entail and what should you be looking out for?

Jumped to your burning questions:

05:20 Key defining moments in business (COVID!)

25:50 Rachel: The technical process of going through an exit

28:23 Caroline: The technical process of going through an exit

31:07 Earn outs with be challenging

32:26 James: The technical process of going through an exit

33:40 You've got to plan for after you exit

38:40 Motivations on Exit shift over time

39:57 Exit culture: USA vs UK

42:56 Question time: how has recent volatility (Brexit/Covid/Trump) altered valuations & do buyers take this into account?

49:05 Question time: what would you do differently next time around in selling a business?

Got a story to tell about your exit?

Email us at [email protected]