You built it. Your team built it. Your clients trust it. Make sure it ends up in the right hands.
Most practice owners worry about three things when they sell. Their team. Their clients. The name on the door.
All three are why most acquisitions go wrong. All three are why we built Obsessed differently. Start with a conversation – direct to the founder, completely confidential, on your timeline.
Strictly confidential · Direct to the founder
10,000+
BBC · Channel 5
250+
Metro Bank
Confidential
Obsessed is a group of qualified accountants, advisors, and operators – building an active acquisitions programme across the UK.
We’re not a one-off buyer. We’re not a fund. We’re a working group with three live products, a real client base, and an active acquisitions programme run directly by the founder.
The group operates accounting, advisory, and acquisitions under one roof – qualified accountants regulated by the global body for professional accountants, advisors with operating experience, and a programme designed to acquire and continue accountancy practices properly. The advisory side has been running for years. The practice is ACCA regulated. The acquisitions side is what brought you to this page.
Every practice we acquire becomes part of that group. Same standards. Same systems. Same operating discipline. Same direct line to the founder for the seller, after completion as well as before.
The Obsessed Group
Three products: Accounting · Advisory · Acquisitions
Ben Jacob-Smith
Operator · Active acquirer · Direct-deal principal
ACCA · FCCA
ACCA-regulated practice
Active acquisitions programme
UK-wide. Run directly by the founder. Strictly confidential at every stage.
What we buy. How we buy. What we don’t.
A clear view of the kind of practice we’re looking for, the way we structure deals, and the small list of things we don’t acquire. If you’re outside the lines, the conversation can still happen – we’ll just be straight with you up front.
If you’ve built a UK practice and you’re thinking about selling – for any reason – start the conversation. We’ll tell you straight whether we’re the right buyer for what you’ve built.
UK practices, anywhere in the country. Typically £500k–£1.5m turnover, though smaller and larger are considered case-by-case. Compliance, advisory, or mixed – the work mix is rarely the issue. We acquire from owners retiring, exiting the industry, dealing with ill health, emigrating, or simply moving on. Stay-on or walk-away – both work. We fit the structure to your situation.
Direct to the founder. Every enquiry, every call, every contract – same person. Valuations done in person, eye-to-eye, with the working shown. Cash and earn-out structures both used – the mix gets agreed with you, not imposed. Plain English contracts. Lawyers who actually return calls. Most deals signed in weeks, not months.
Audit-only firms – we don’t hold audit registration and aren’t planning to. Overseas practices – UK only. That’s it. Everything else is a conversation.
An Obsessed acquisition, end to end.
Five stages, in plain language, with the timing each one typically takes. We’ve designed the process to be quick where it can be and slow where it should be – meaning the parts that need care get care, and the parts that shouldn’t drag, don’t. Most deals complete inside a few months. Some inside weeks. The pace is set by what works for you.
01
A 15-minute conversation. Nothing more, until you’re ready.
Direct with the founder. We listen, ask a few honest questions, and tell you straight whether there’s a fit. No pressure, no hard sell. If we’re not the right buyer, we’ll say so. If we are, we agree the next step.
02
We meet face to face. We understand the firm properly.
A proper visit – not a video call. We meet at your office or a venue you choose. We go through the firm: clients, team, systems, numbers. We share an honest valuation, eye-to-eye, with no lowballing afterwards.
03
Everyone’s on the same page before any contract gets drafted.
We set out the terms in plain English. Price, structure, timeline, what happens to your team, what happens to your clients, what happens to your name. You ask every question. We answer every question. Nothing moves until you’re satisfied.
04
Legal documentation, handled properly. No months in a lawyer’s waiting room.
Once terms are agreed, contracts move quickly. We use lawyers who actually return calls. You’re never stuck waiting on us. The whole process – from agreed terms to signed contracts – typically takes weeks, not months.
05
Handover handled with care. Your firm is in safe hands from day one.
Handover process agreed with you, not done to you. Clients communicated to with the message you want them to hear. Team welcomed properly. The transition reflects the work you put in – not a corporate templated email pack.
From first conversation to completion in as little as two weeks. Or longer, if that’s what works for you.
The work that matters most starts the day the deal closes.
For most buyers, the deal is the goal. For us, completion is the start. This is what we do with the firm in the first ninety days, and the year after that.
Every client gets a real conversation.
Not a transition pack. Not a templated email. We pick up the phone, introduce ourselves properly, and listen to what each client actually needs.
The team is welcomed, not restructured.
Long-serving staff stay. Roles get clearer, tools get better, careers get developed. We don’t manage out the senior people to cut payroll.
Systems get unified, not stitched.
One CRM. One workflow. One reporting standard. Fragmented tools replaced with the systems we run across the group – quieter for the team, faster for clients.
Marketing actually runs.
Content, paid acquisition, lead capture, automation – running from week one. The firm becomes pipeline-driven, not luck-driven.
Compliance backstopped. Advisory added.
Standalone compliance is being automated industry-wide. We position acquired firms with advisory work and deeper relationships – value that holds when AI changes the work.
The founder stays available.
After completion, you’re not handed off. Ben stays the direct contact – for transition, earn-out clauses, anything that comes up months down the line.
Sheetal · business consultant
Why I’m doing this. Why it’s not a hobby.
Ben Jacob-Smith
I’m an operator who’s bought, run, and built businesses. I’m not a financial buyer. I’m not a roll-up doing a hundred deals to flip a portfolio. I’m acquiring practices because the lower-mid accountancy market has been catastrophically underserved – and I’m building the group I’d want to be part of, one acquisition at a time.
Obsessed has three live products: accounting, advisory, and acquisitions. They share a team, a standards document, and a single operating discipline. The practice is ACCA regulated. The advisory side has been running for years and works with founders directly. The acquisitions side – this side – exists because the firms we’re acquiring deserve to continue properly, and most buyers can’t make that happen.
I take every enquiry myself. I do every valuation in person. I sign every contract. I stay involved after completion, every time. Not because it scales perfectly – but because it’s the only way to actually deliver what the page in front of you is promising.
If you’re considering selling, what you should want from a buyer is someone who understands the work, can complete the deal, and will continue the firm. That’s what I’m building. If we get the chance to talk, I’ll be straight with you about whether we’re the right buyer for what you’ve built – and if we’re not, I’ll say so.
Acquired with care. Continued with discipline. Run by the same person from first call to years afterwards.
The straight answers to the questions worth asking.
Practical, honest, brief. If your question isn’t here, it’ll get answered properly on the call.
What’s your typical valuation approach?
Our valuation approach is standardised. We use a scoring system built in conversation with financers, banks, and industry standards – applied the same way to every practice. Recurring revenue, client mix and quality, team continuity, profitability, and transition work all factor in. The valuation is presented in person, eye-to-eye, with the working shown – and the price we work to is the price you see. Not pitched low to be negotiated up later.
Do I have to stay on after the sale?
No. We acquire from owners who want to walk away cleanly and from owners who want to stay involved for a transition period. Both work. We’ll agree the structure that fits your situation, not the other way around.
What happens to my team?
Your team transfers across to Obsessed – TUPE protections apply where relevant, and the contractual basis is agreed at completion. We don’t restructure long-serving staff out to cut payroll. The team you built is the team that continues. Better tools, real career paths, stability.
What happens to the practice name?
We agree this with you up front. Some sellers want the name retained for client continuity. Some are happy for a clean rebrand under Obsessed. Some want a transitional period of dual branding. All three are normal. We’ll discuss what fits.
How long does the process actually take?
From first conversation to completion is typically a few months – sometimes weeks if both sides are ready. Initial call is 15 minutes. Valuation visit is half a day. Terms are usually agreed within a fortnight. Contracts run two to four weeks after that. The pace is set by what works for you.
Is everything confidential before I commit?
Yes. Every enquiry comes directly to Ben. Information is never shared with the wider team, never used in marketing, never disclosed to anyone inside or outside the business. Conversations are protected by confidentiality from the first email onwards. If you decide not to proceed, your information disappears with you.
Ben reads your enquiry, personally.
Usually within 24 hours. No team triage, no automated assignment. The same person reading your message is the person who’ll be in touch.
He’ll be in touch – your way.
Phone or email, whichever you’ve said you prefer. He’ll suggest a 15-minute initial call to understand your situation.
From there, the pace is yours.
If we’re a fit, we move forward at your speed – fast or considered. If we’re not the right buyer, we’ll say so straight, and your information disappears with you.
Tell us about your practice.
A short form. Goes directly to Ben Jacob-Smith – the founder. No team, no admin, no funnel. He’ll be in touch within two working days – or sooner.
Your enquiry is read only by Ben Jacob-Smith. Never shared with the team. Never used in marketing. Never seen by anyone else inside or outside the business. If you decide not to proceed, your information disappears with you.
Read only by Ben Jacob-Smith · Reply within two working days