Paul Collins

Paul is the Founder and Chairman of Equiteq. He leads the Board of Directors, contributes to company strategy, and supports the leadership team in executing the business plan. Externally, Paul works closely with client boardrooms and shareholders, helping them capitalize on the businesses they’ve built. Drawing on his own journey—growing and selling his $100m firm—Paul has personally led 15 companies to successful transactions.

Value to clients

Paul provides strategic direction to owners and board members on M&A, valuation, exit strategy, scaling up, equity growth, raising investment and equity realisation.

• Has been there - grown, sold and acquired his own consultancies
• Ability to assess a firm and its potential equity value
• Knows how to plot a course to a successful liquidity event
• Knows how to strike a deal and maximize the end result
• Injection of entrepreneurial flair and business creativity to the boardroom

Experience

Paul learned how to create value through continuous improvement when he was in charge of IBM’s ‘just in time’ manufacturing initiatives in the UK. After learning the consulting ropes at AT Kearney, he then established his own consultancy World Class International (now WCI Group). He grew WCI to £63m (consulting and IT services sales revenue) and 350 staff and then sold part of the business to Private Equity in 2002. Paul resigned from his CEO role in WCI in 2004 and founded Equiteq LLP in 2005. In Equiteq he has been instrumental in helping many clients to prepare and become ready for a liquidity event, with 15 having crossed the line to transaction success to-date and many more now well on the way.

Other things about Paul

• Through the sale of WCI, he made 11 millionaires in his senior team
• Won the FT Top 100 ‘Fastest Profit Growth’ company award
• Two times winner of the Sunday Times ‘Best Company to Work For’ award
• Prior to Equiteq, had founded 3 consulting and technology firms, bought 2 and sold 4 where he was the principal shareholder
• He is a keen saltwater fly fisherman and is usually to be found on or in the water somewhere in the world peacefully catching fish
• He has a daughter working for a PhD at Cambridge, gainfully striving to cure the world of cancer