Dean Hoyle sold his greetings card business for £400m in 2010. It is now listed on the stock market and worth more than £1bn. Does he have any regrets? “None at all,” the co-founder of UK retail chain Card Factory says. “What can you do with £1bn that you cannot do with £400m?”
Mr Hoyle, 50, is lucky to feel so sanguine. Many entrepreneurs find it hard to leave their “baby” behind. Some are forced to remain for a time as part of the sales agreement because buyers want to ensure the company does not collapse without the founder’s guiding force. Others insist on staying, simply because they are not ready to go.
Research by Coutts, the private bank, in 2012 found that only a quarter of UK entrepreneurs retire following the sale of their business. The rest pursued a number of roles: 74 per cent advised another business, 65 per cent invested in one and half undertook philanthropy. More than half go on to start another business of their own.