James Trickett

Hands-on Business Investor.

I work with business owners looking to grow or sell.

Hi, I'm James.

I'm based in Leicestershire. I've been investing, buying and building businesses since 2008.

I enjoy rolling up my sleeves and working on established businesses to unlock performance. Improving how the business finds, sells and serves its customers, or acquiring complementary businesses that expand services, geography and capability.

My experience of buying and selling companies can also help owners who are looking to exit. That typically involves understanding your ambitions, building a strategy and finding the right buyer, whether that's me or a third party.

Whether you want to grow your business or sell your business,
I'd love to hear from you.

Let's Talk

Ways of working together.

Two paths to discuss, depending on your ambitions and direction for the business.

Introduction

The First Conversation

A conversation about you and your business objectives. The direction you want to take and how I might be able to help you achieve it.

Growth

“I want to grow the business.”

Maximising the performance of your existing business, or acquiring a complementary one.

Organic Growth

Hands-on work to generate more leads and sales, and to streamline delivery through systems and technology.

Acquisition Growth

Acquiring complementary companies to add customers, capability or capacity faster than building it.

Capital Investment

Investment to fund growth where required, whether that comes organically or through an acquisition.

Exit

“I want to sell the business.”

Planning the sale of your business, and finding the right buyer on the best terms.

Succession Strategy

Starting with your goals and priorities, then valuation, buyer options, risk and the improvements worth making first.

Private Sale

Selling the business to me, if we both agree it's the best outcome for you, the business and your team.

Sell-side Advisory

Supporting you through a sale to a third party: preparing the business, positioning it and negotiating the final deal.

Want to know more about me? I've included some professional and personal background information below.

Get in touch

Business background.

18+ years investment
experience

10+ businesses acquired and operated

Acquisition and Exit
Strategy

Marketing, Sales and Systems Improvements

Timeline

2008 – 2018 Property Investment

I began investing in property during the 2008 financial crisis. While prices were falling and investors were selling, I made the decision to buy and build my property portfolio instead.

2012 – 2019 Sales Consultancy

As confidence returned to the property market, demand for investment education exploded. I continued to invest but chose to diversify into property consultancy, delivering sales, marketing and mentoring for an education company. Coincidentally, a company I'd later acquire under Assetree.

2018 – 2022 Business Acquisitions

As property prices rose, investment returns compressed, and my interest in property waned. I wanted to leverage my financial and sales experience to drive growth, and investing in businesses was the obvious choice.

This led to co-founding an investment firm called Assetree Group, which bought established businesses and grew them through operational improvements and smaller, synergistic bolt-on acquisitions.

We acquired 10+ companies, £300k–£12M in revenue, across multiple sectors from 2018 to 2022. Some were well established and stable. Others more challenged and fragile. In every case the work was the same. Understand the business properly, identify the areas of improvement, develop them and scale up.

2018 Marketing £2M Turnaround

Programmatic advertising across major transportation hubs.

2019 Construction £12M Established

High-end commercial fit-outs.

2019 Engineering £4M Established

Commercial mechanical and electrical consultancy.

2019 Leisure £1M Asset Purchase

High-end fitness studio.

2019 Education £12M Turnaround

Real estate training company.

2020 Construction £3M Bolt-on

Office fit-out.

2021 Recruitment £2.5M Established

Engineering and construction recruitment.

2021 Engineering £1M Bolt-on

Commercial mechanical and electrical consultancy.

2022 Recruitment £300k Asset Purchase

Construction health and safety recruitment.

2022 Engineering £1M Bolt-on

Domestic M&E consultancy.

2022 Law £300k Turnaround

Corporate law practice.

2023 – 2025 Exited Assetree

In 2023, I received an offer to acquire my Assetree interests, which I accepted. My wife gave birth to our first child four months later, and I took the opportunity to take a few years off to enjoy the rollercoaster that is parenting.

2026 – Present Hands-on Investor

The break gave me time to think about what I actually wanted to do next. The decision was to use my operational and acquisition experience to serve business owners in more than one way: growing a business organically, growing it through acquisition, supporting a sale to someone else, or buying it myself where appropriate.

Each week I research a handful of businesses and send them a letter. In fact, if you're reading this, you've likely already received one.

So whether you want to sell, grow, or simply enjoy a like-minded conversation, I'd be glad to hear from you.