The acquisition of McConnel Ltd. established a very profitable European base on which to build.  McConnel’s largest UK competitor was the Bomford Company located in Salford Priors, a small village near Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire.

A UK traded holding company had gotten control of Bomford.  However, this business was unlike its other businesses and outside of the expertise of the holding company.  I saw Bomford as a great fit with our company.  So, we made what turned out to be a very successful bid to buy then to profitably operate Bomford.

Since Bomford and McConnel were competitors, we had to make the case with the UK Monopolies Commission that the combination was not anti-competitive.  In addition, we had to keep our plans “under wraps” so as not to upset Bomford’s management and the market place.

The next several weeks, I was a one-man acquiring team who was able to overcome the obstacles and successfully combine the businesses.  The business model developed has continued to flourish for more than 15 years.

Although the first weeks were very busy, my wife, who had accompanied me, and I made time to get to know the area.  So much history still lives in Stratford-upon-Avon and its surrounds.  Our weekends were spent seeing the physical history. Our nights (when not attending business dinners) were consumed by live theatre or just soaking up local color in the pubs.