Brokerage firm has big plans

LINK Business Bay of Plenty is expanding into the Waikato after becoming one of the biggest business brokerages in the country outside of Auckland.

It has grown from three brokers in 2009 to 13 now.

Mr Matthews and business partner Nuree Allen were quick to pitch their suitability to the Link franchise managers in Auckland when the opportunity arose to buy the Waikato Link franchise.

The managers agreed and gave the Bay brokerage responsibility for most of the central North Island.

"We recognised very early on that that was going to be a growth area for us so we've been dabbling our toes in the water over there for the past two or three years and we've got about 30 or 40 listings over there but we need brokers on the ground over there in Hamilton," Mr Matthews said.

Mr Matthews said there were more large businesses on the other side of the Kaimai Ranges because of the strong dairy industry and the University of Waikato, whereas prospective buyers in the Bay were often looking for a "buy yourself a job" opportunity.

These smaller businesses generally sat in the range of $100,000 to $300,000 and returned between $50,000 to $100,000 profit a year, providing their owners with a livable income and a great lifestyle.

"Having said that I think the size of businesses here are growing," Mr Matthews said.

Higher value businesses built up by the baby boomer generation were starting to come on to the market as the owners looked to retire.

Mr Matthews, who was named Broker of the Year at the New Zealand Business Broking Awards this year, formed a small team within his brokerage to deal specifically with businesses over $1 million in response to the trend.

Link Business is one of three specialised business brokerages operating in the Bay.

ABC Business Sales BOP sales manager Malcolm Gordon said he had not noticed an increase in the number of larger businesses coming to the market.

Many owners were opting to hold on to their businesses for a couple more years in an effort to reclaim some of the value lost during the recession.

Tabak Business Sales Tauranga managing director Kevin Kerr agreed but said it was unlikely many businesses would be able to return to their pre-recession profits.