On Thursday 02 November 2023, Gerald Edelman hosted the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Awards (ETA Awards). The first awards ceremony of its kind. 

Founded by Carl Lundberg, over 100 people attended the ceremony, which celebrated the achievements of search funds and entrepreneurship through acquisition. 

The winners were: 

• Deal of the year <£10m (self-funded)
  Coniston Peak’s acquisition of Workpays 
• Deal of the year >£10m (self-funded)
  Jim Ward and Euston Ventures’ acquisition of Hammond Chemicals Ltd 
• Deal of the year (traditional)
  Soris Capital Partners’ acquisition of Water Direct 
• Intern of the year
  Samay Patel 
• Lender of the year
  Shawbrook 
• ESG Excellence
  Euston Ventures’ acquisition of Safe Spaces Limited 
• Investor of the year
  Ethos Partners 

Carl Lundberg, Partner at Gerald Edelman and Founder of the ETA Awards said “Entrepreneurship through acquisition provides opportunities for searchers, investors, business owners and the wider community, making it the most stimulating area of business in which I have advised in all my years as a Chartered Accountant. 

At Gerald Edelman, we love nothing more than the satisfaction of achieving an outcome for a client. Working with search funds and self-funded searchers makes achieving that outcome even more enjoyable. We have had the opportunity to work with some fantastic entrepreneurs who I am sure will go on to do great things with the businesses they have acquired; and we also assist serial acquirers whose experience and network is highly regarded in the industry. So now is our opportunity to recognise these people and celebrate this community and the value that is unlocked for business owners, that might otherwise not have been there, were it not for this acquisition model.  

Many congratulations to all those who were shortlisted and especially, of course, to our winners! All of which demonstrated a commitment to the industry that achieved desired outcomes for all parties involved.”