Guy Bartlett

Guy Bartlett is a seasoned entrepreneur, M&A expert, military veteran, and founder of Fidelis Advisory, a fractional M&A firm that helps ambitious business owners grow through acquisition, exit successfully, and navigate the complex realities of buying, selling, and transitioning companies.

Guy is not simply an adviser commenting from the sidelines. He leads a team of acquisition experts with hands-on experience in strategy, sourcing, negotiation, finance, deal structure, and post-acquisition integration. Through Fidelis Advisory, his team acts as a complete bolt-on M&A capability for established businesses that are ready to grow by acquisition but do not have the time, experience, or internal team to manage the process themselves.

With nearly 30 years in business and more than two decades of transaction experience, Guy brings a rare combination of commercial insight, deal-making expertise, and people-first leadership. His career began in sales, marketing, direct response, and data-driven growth, where he helped scale an agency from £32,000 in fee revenue to almost £7 million in turnover within six years. That journey gave him his first exposure to shareholder structures, acquisitions, and the realities of building business value beyond day-to-day revenue.

Since completing his first acquisition in 2006, Guy has bought, built, advised on, and guided businesses across multiple sectors. He later founded Business Buyers Club, where he helped entrepreneurs understand acquisition as a serious growth strategy, with coached clients acquiring an estimated £145 million in transition revenue. Through Fidelis Advisory, he and his team have supported further client acquisitions, helping business owners identify the right opportunities, avoid costly mistakes, and structure transactions that work for the buyer, the seller, and the business being acquired.

Guy’s work is driven by a clear mission: to help good people acquire good businesses, protect the legacy of retiring owners, and prevent valuable companies from disappearing simply because there is no succession plan. He believes business is ultimately about people, and that every successful transaction must consider not only the buyer and seller, but the company itself - its team, customers, culture, and future.

Alongside his commercial career, Guy served for 42 years in the military, including commissioned service in the Royal Engineers, infantry leadership, UK operations, resilience, and liaison work with counterterrorism teams. That experience shaped his approach to leadership, resilience, communication, and decision-making under pressure.

As a podcast guest, Guy brings a grounded, candid, and deeply experienced perspective on acquisition-led growth, business legacy, leadership, resilience, and the human side of M&A. He speaks with authority, humour, and hard-earned honesty about what really happens when people buy and sell businesses - including the mistakes, risks, opportunities, and life-changing outcomes that rarely make it into the headlines.