The M&A Team
Mark Sainthill
Managing Partner - M&A
Mark has over 15 years experience in the agency world, with expertise in corporate, commercial finance and strategy and planning, working extensively across selling, buying and fundraising.
His background spans across sale side, fundraising, buy side and due diligence having also worked in-house as a head of corporate development.
A qualified accountant, Mark has acted as Finance Director to numerous agencies, developing strong commercial acumen and financial modelling skills as he’s progressed.
He has gained extensive knowledge of the market and buyer/investor landscape from his career and takes a very hands-on and proactive approach to working with founders/business owners, to support them long term ambitions and exit planning.
Mark’s background has exposed him to significant deal experience across digital marketing, ad/martech and creative services..
Pete Hoole
Founding Partner
Pete helped grow and successfully sell Bluhalo alongside Spencer and since co-founding Cactus, has helped hundreds of agencies to grow and hit their financial targets.
Since then, Pete has focussed his efforts on guiding agencies to financial stability, acting as an agency CFO and financial advisor, helping agency owners to either scale up their agency through acquisition or realise value through an exit of some form.
Pete’s methodical and analytical mind makes him an excellent problem solver and when coupled with his commercial acumen and knowledge of the industry, he’s able to play a pivotal role in guiding agencies through every stage of a deal. He’s acted as an advisor for multiple deals and has personally steered some of the most recognisable transactions in the last couple of years.
Spencer Gallagher
Founding Partner
Spencer founded and exited top 8 uk digital agency, Bluhalo, scaling it from the ground up before taking it through an acquisition in the mid 2000s. Over the past 10 years, he’s dedicated his time to supporting independent agency founders to scale up their own businesses and realise the value they’ve created.
Incredibly empathetic in what it takes to scale an agency, Spencer has the experience and wisdom to help guide and shape the right deal for the businesses he works with.
Having been in the industry for more than 20 years, he has a huge network which he draws on to inspire and educate other agency founders and help them achieve the visions they set. Incredibly well connected and deeply personal, Spencer maintains a close presence with every transaction he’s involved with, ensuring a unique and bespoke journey for each client that is right for them.
Rain Crowson
Business Manager - M&A
Rain is the glue of the M&A team, an analyst and researcher who manages the operational processes and communications throughout all our transactions.
Highly organised and detail-oriented with a deep understanding of business operations, Rain's expertise lies in overseeing the entire M&A process, from initial deal origination to post-merger integration, ensuring that every step is executed seamlessly and efficiently.
With a keen eye for detail and a commitment to excellence, Rain meticulously manages all aspects of our M&A operations. She is a master of process optimisation, constantly seeking ways to streamline operations and reduce inefficiencies. Rain plays a pivotal role in ensuring that every transaction is executed smoothly and efficiently.
Mark Probert
Managing Partner - Consulting
Mark is a qualified accountant who thoroughly enjoys and cares about helping his clients achieve their ambitions.
Whether that be a sale of the agency, merger, acquiring an agency, management buy-out, management buy-in, employee ownership trust or employee share schemes, Mark has advised a number of agencies in each of these areas over many years.
His pragmatic and experience led approach has guided a number of agency founders through the tax, accounting and legal complexities in an easy to digest, non-jargon approach.
Having also developed a wide ranging network of agency owners over the years, Mark is also an excellent connector. His broad agency experience combined with a keen eye for identifying collaboration opportunities means he’s someone to have in your corner.
Alfie Wenegieme
Managing Partner - Consulting
Alfie is an ACCA certified chartered accountant with over 15 years of finance experience working with agencies both in-house and from an external consulting position.
With his strong strategic approach to business operations Alfie supports the M&A team with due diligence matters throughout transactions.
Alfie has worked within two global PR agencies, Edelman and Weber Shandwick where he formed strategic business partnerships with the leadership teams, supporting them in streamlining the commercial finance operations across the entire business.
He has also supported numerous small and medium sized agencies through his consulting, increasing their profitability by optimising pricing, staff utilisation and financial structures.