Business Development Associate

ALMA Mergers & Acquisitions; Basingstoke; Remote; GBP 54,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous holiday allowance

Leadership support

Opportunity to grow

Tools to succeed

Workplace pension

Job summary

ALMA Mergers & Acquisitions seeks a proactive, client-facing sales professional to drive new business opportunities with target firms across the UK. You will contact owners via email, LinkedIn and phone, and schedule qualified discussions for Brokers and Directors.

A strong communicator with resilience to rejection will excel in this high-volume, structured environment. You will work from home initially, then transition to a hybrid setup once the Basingstoke office opens, earning £35,000 base

Qualifications

• Previous experience in client-facing or B2B roles.
• Confident, engaging communicator able to talk with business owners and senior decision-makers.
• Proactive, persistent with the ability to generate and follow up opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Contact potential clients via phone, email and LinkedIn to generate new opportunities.
• Log all touches and outcomes in the CRM on the day they occur.
• Arrange qualified meetings with Brokers and Directors and provide clear notes.
• Follow up consistently and decide when to pursue or pause opportunities.
• Improve data quality by flagging gaps and sharing insights with leadership.
• Continuously refine approach based on feedback and performance data.

Skills

Client-facing

B2B sales

Phone outreach

Communicator

Target-driven

Relationship-building

Ownership

Tools

CRM system

LinkedIn

Email outreach

Job description

£35,000 basic salary plus uncapped commission with realistic earnings of £60,000-£75,000. Full-time, permanent, 9am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday. Home-based in the UK initially, moving to hybrid (three days in the office, two at home) once our Basingstoke office opens.

ABOUT ALMA

Alma is a UK buy-side M&A brokerage. We help ambitious buyers find and acquire great businesses in the accountancy sector, with more sectors on the way. We are a small, founder-led team that is growing quickly, and this is an early hire into a role that plays a vital part in generating opportunities for the business.

Our values - Authenticity, Legacy, Momentum and Adaptability - guide how we work and how we treat people. For us, that means being honest and straightforward, doing what we say we will do, taking ownership, embracing new ideas and treating everyone with respect.

We are building a business that combines commercial ambition with a genuinely people-focused approach, and we are looking for people who want to be part of that journey.

THE ROLE

You start the conversations. You will contact the owners of target firms by email, LinkedIn and phone, establish whether they might be open to discussing the future of their business, and book qualified first conversations for our Brokers and Directors. Done well, you will generate relevant, qualified opportunities, allowing our Brokers and Directors to concentrate on valuations and deals.

You will work through around 75 firms a day. It is a high-volume, high-standards role: every owner you speak to is forming their first impression of Alma through you.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Contact potential clients through a combination of phone calls, emails and LinkedIn messages, following a structured approach to generating new opportunities.
• Log every touch, reply and outcome accurately in our CRM on the day, so the data is something the whole team can trust.
• Speak confidently and respectfully with owners and partners, understand their situation and explain why a confidential conversation could be worthwhile.
• Arrange qualified meetings with our Brokers and Directors, providing clear, accurate notes so they are well prepared for each conversation.
• Follow up consistently and professionally, recognising when to pursue an opportunity, when to revisit it later and when to respect someone's decision not to proceed.
• Help improve the quality of our prospect data by identifying gaps, flagging inaccuracies and sharing useful insights with the Director’s.
• Continuously develop your approach, using feedback and performance insights to improve your response and conversion rates.

SALARY AND COMMISSION

£35,000 basic salary, plus uncapped commission for every qualified conversation you arrange. R ealistic earnings of £60,000-£75,000

Your commission rate increases as you achieve higher volumes of qualified conversations, rewarding you for your success.

We will explain the commission structure in full during the recruitment process.

BENEFITS

• Generous holiday allowance: 21 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing to 23 days after two years and 25 days after four years, with additional time off when we close between Christmas and New Year.
• Supportive, approachable leadership: Work closely with founders who genuinely care about your success, with regular one-to-ones, ongoing feedback and support to help you develop.
• The opportunity to make a real impact and grow: Join us at an exciting stage in our journey, with the chance to help shape how we work, contribute ideas and make a meaningful difference as the business grows.
• The tools you need to succeed: We will provide the equipment and resources you need to do your job well.
• Workplace pension: With employer contributions in line with our pension scheme.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• Previous experience in a client-facing or B2B role, such as recruitment consultancy, B2B sales, sales development or professional services, with the confidence to engage business owners and generate new opportunities.
• A confident and engaging communicator who is comfortable picking up the phone and speaking with business owners and senior decision-makers.
• A proactive, persistent approach, with the resilience to handle rejection and the motivation to keep generating new opportunities.
• The ability to quickly build rapport, ask good questions and generate enough interest to secure a meeting.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail, with the discipline to follow up consistently, manage a pipeline of prospects and maintain accurate records.
• A results-focused mindset, with the drive to achieve targets and be rewarded for your performance.
• A willingness to learn, respond positively to feedback and continually improve your approach.
• Enthusiasm for joining a small, growing business where you'll be expected to take ownership, show initiative and contribute to the team's success.
• An interest in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). You don't need previous experience in the sector as we will teach you what you need to know.