Lyrical achieved its founder’s early ambitions, moving from printed magazines to a high-growth digital media business, whilst scaling large exhibitions.

"Collingwood has been extremely beneficial to us as we chart our direction of travel. The business has changed significantly thanks to the advice of the team at Collingwood. It’s always useful to have an impartial, and often non-emotional, view of the business decisions we are making."

Eoin McManus, Founder and CEO, Lyrical Communications

Challenge

Lyrical Communications, led by founder Eoin McManus, had a respected presence in the UK heating and plumbing sector through The Installer magazine and InstallerSHOW. But growth had stalled. Re-bookings were low, and the business was operating more like a lifestyle venture than a scalable asset. Eoin turned to Collingwood for support to shift gears and unlock growth.

Solution

Collingwood helped Lyrical move from steady to scalable. Before he began working with Collingwood in 2019, Eoin lacked a long-term business plan. However, working closely with the leadership team, we defined a clear direction of travel, built a stronger commercial model, and positioned the business for growth and sale. Our team provided practical advice and served as an impartial sounding board throughout the process.

With Collingwood’s support, one of the first moves Eoin made was to bring in Mike Costain, now Lyrical’s MD. Collingwood then helped Eoin and Mike build a growth plan that was underpinned by data and insight. Defining and breaking down Lyrical’s market opportunities, customer value propositions, and commercial strategy, the team now had clear goals and plans to achieve them. 

The changes in the business sparked interest in the market and, just two-and-a-half years into the three-year partnership with Collingwood, Eoin began to receive interest from prospective buyers. Collingwood helped Eoin and Mike explore and understand their options to sell the business, and later ran a formal process that led to the sale of Lyrical to Nineteen Group in 2022. 

Results

Growth of the event and the move from print advertising to an integrated digital media offering contributed to revenue growth of more than 400% over the last five years, with a high-growth sales and marketing strategy expanding market share. Their compelling investment narrative and increased enterprise value led to a successful sale to Nineteen Group in 2022.

Collingwood continues to support Nineteen post-sale, helping to build on Lyrical’s momentum. The development of an expansion strategy for Lyrical’s InstallerSHOW accelerated growth and built a defensible, market-leading position. This has seen the event expand beyond the biggest hall in the UK’s NEC and led to a 130%+ onsite rebooking rate.

ROI

  • 400% revenue growth in under three years.
  • 130%+ onsite rebooking rate.
  • 65% growth in enterprise value over 12 months.