01 · Build
Build the position
Brand position, portfolio architecture, pricing and the commercial organisation that every later move depends on.
Owners · Boards
Growth, transformation & strategic M&A · Building products
Build stronger market positions in a consolidating industry & volatile markets.
The Kitchen & Bathroom industry is being reshaped by consolidation, channel disruption, private-label pressure, technology change and succession.
The competitive question is no longer how to grow, but where to play, what to build, what to acquire — and how to turn the answer into a platform that scales.
With deep expertise across the global industry and its local players, I advise companies, investors, founders and owners in the Kitchen & Bathroom industry on growth, transformation and buy-and-build.
- 30+ years as an operator
- Senior leadership across interior building products and technology worldwide
- Growth · Transformation · Buy-and-build
- Advising from growth strategy and transformation through transaction and integration
- Specialised team & global network
- A small team of experienced specialists, and trusted relationships across Europe and the Emerging Markets — investors, corporates, owners, distributors and specifiers
The market
The market is being redrawn faster than most plans assume.
What is changing
- Consolidation
- Supplier and distribution bases are being rolled up. Scale is becoming the price of entry rather than an advantage.
- Volatility
- Construction and renovation cycles, input costs and financing are harder to plan against than at any point in a decade.
- Price pressure
- Margin is compressing across the value chain, and cost position increasingly sets the terms.
- Private label
- Retailers and buying groups are building their own brands, shifting bargaining power away from manufacturers.
- Channels and route to market
- E-commerce, direct sales, buying groups and the professional trade are reordering how products reach the customer.
Where I help
- Growth and buy-and-build
- Where consolidation opens a position: the platform thesis, the target profile and the pipeline behind it.
- Fewer, better-founded moves
- The growth case and the deal case built together, before capital is committed to either.
- Commercial and pricing
- Margin rebuilt through clear positioning, portfolio architecture and the price ladder that follows from them.
- Brand and portfolio
- Differentiation defended through distinctive brand positioning, technology, design and specification — not through discount.
- Route to market
- Channel structure and commercial organisation rebuilt around how customers actually buy.
Growth gets harder. Scale and clear differentiation matter more. Transformation makes scale work — and M&A accelerates a strategy when building a position organically is too slow.
Specification
The mandate, in one clear proposition.
- Sector
- Interior building products with design and technology aspiration
- Categories
- Kitchen · Bathroom · Sanitary · Related technologies
- Situations
- Growth · Transformation · Market entry · Expansion · Acquisitions · Carve-outs · Buy & build · Partnerships
- Clients
- Owners · Family businesses · SMEs · Corporates · PE-backed companies · Investors
- Professional ecosystem
- Professional advisers and transaction teams seeking building-products sector depth
- Decision makers
- Strategic buyers · Investors · Owners · Boards · Management teams
- Geography
- Europe ↔ Middle East · Eurasia · Asia · China · Africa · India
- My role
- One principal, personally involved throughout — supported by a small specialist team and a global expert network.
My test is simple: the business makes sense, the category matters, and something material has to change. If that is not the situation, I am probably not the right adviser.
About
I advise independently and personally.
Julian Henco
Founder & owner
My working life has been built around growth and transformation — more than three decades in the building products industry, including leadership roles at GROHE, hansgrohe, KLUDI and most recently HÜPPE.
I have worked across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, China and Africa, and seen businesses from several sides: as a commercial leader building markets and channels, as a CEO accountable for the whole business, and as a leader taking organisations through change.
Growth came from sharper brand positioning through technology, design and innovation; from new markets, channels, customers and products; and from acquisitions and buy-and-build.
- 30+ years
- Growth · Internationalisation · Transformation · Buy-and-Build
- Leadership
- Senior operating leadership · CEO · Commercial
- Focus
- Entrepreneurial · Family-owned · Corporate · PE-backed
- Categories
- Kitchen · Bathroom · Sanitary · Technology · Heritage brands
- Global
- Europe · Middle East · Eurasia · China · Asia · Africa · India
How I work
A different kind of advisory.
I have deliberately built Julian Henco Advisory differently from a traditional consultancy or advisory firm. I am not there to produce a strategy deck and leave. I bring the perspective of someone who has sat on the management side, had responsibility for results and dealt with the practical realities of implementing change.
The starting point is usually a specific business situation or opportunity — where can the next growth come from, how can market share be won, should we enter a new market, is an acquisition right, how should it be integrated, or what needs to change in the organisation to support the next phase?
I work directly with owners, boards and senior management teams, in a focused and hands-on way. There is no large consulting team between the client and the person doing the work. I bring my own experience, judgement, industry perspective and network to the situation.
That also means being prepared to challenge assumptions. Sometimes the answer is a new strategy. Sometimes it is a sharper commercial focus, a different market approach, an acquisition, a change in leadership or organisation — and sometimes it is simply doing fewer things and doing them better.
My role is to help identify the real opportunity, make the important choices and support the organisation in turning them into results. Where appropriate, I stay involved through implementation, M&A and integration rather than handing over a set of recommendations.
Why Julian Henco Advisory
Industry depth. Operator experience. Cross-border access.
- 01
Operator experience
30+ years of hands-on operating and leadership experience across building products, technology and international markets.
- 02
Deep industry expertise
Interior building products — kitchen, bathroom and sanitary technology — where category, channel, design and technology dynamics matter.
- 03
Growth and M&A together
Strategy first. Acquisitions, market entry and transformation tied to one commercial strategy, so the growth case and the deal case are built together.
- 04
Cross-border access
Long-standing relationships with owners, investors, corporates and decision-makers across Europe and growth markets.
- 05
Discreet and personally involved
Sensitive situations handled personally and discreetly, staying close to the client, the target and the decision-makers throughout.
- 06
Direct and pragmatic
Straightforward to deal with and hands-on throughout — decisions and execution move at the pace the situation requires.
07 Independent and loyal — from growth strategy to completed transaction.
Mandates — the four moves
Build the position. Grow the core. Expand the footprint. Scale through M&A.
02 · Grow
Grow the core
Share, channel economics, key accounts and margin in the markets already served — before anything new is added.
Owners · Management
03 · Expand
Expand the footprint
New geographies, channels and customer groups, and the right entry mode for each: organic, partner, distributor or acquisition.
Corporates · PE
04 · Build & Buy
Scale the platform
Where building a position organically is too slow: buy-and-build, carve-outs and the transformation that makes scale hold together.
Owners · PE · Investors
Mandates — how they start
Three ways a mandate usually starts.
Strategy
Find the next source of growth
I establish where growth can realistically come from — brand positioning, technology and design, portfolio, pricing, channels and customers — then separate the few moves that matter from the rest.
Owners · Boards
Strategy → Entry
Enter a complex market with the right route to market
I assess the market, competitive landscape, customer access and channel structure, then define whether the right answer is organic entry, local partnership, distribution, acquisition or a combination.
Corporates · PE
Execution
Change how the business competes
Where growth needs more than a plan: repositioning the brand and portfolio, rebuilding the route to market, resetting the organisation — and staying involved through implementation.
Owners · Management
However a mandate starts, the work resolves into the same four moves — build the position, grow the core, expand the footprint, scale the platform. That is where the scope gets defined.
Transformation as foundation
Transformation is the foundation, not a service line.
Across three decades as a commercial leader and CEO, growth and transformation were never two separate agendas. Every period of real growth I have been part of followed a change in how the business competed — its position, its portfolio, its route to market or its organisation. That is why I do not sell them separately.
01
Reposition
Where the business plays
Brand position, portfolio architecture, technology and design content, and the price ladder that follows from them.
02
Rebuild
How it reaches the customer
The customer journey, channel structure, the commercial organisation, and the capability and leadership to run it.
03
Grow
Where the next volume comes from
New markets, channels and customers — and acquisitions where building a position is slower than buying one.
Restructuring
More recently that has included restructuring — cost, footprint, portfolio rationalisation and difficult organisational decisions. I take it on where it is the honest precondition for growth. It is not what I look for, and I will say so before we start.
Mandates — M&A
Acquisitions that accelerate the strategy.
M&A
Build the acquisition thesis
I identify the capabilities, channels, brands and relationships a company needs to establish or accelerate a position — then define the target profile, acquisition logic and value-creation case.
Boards · Investors
Ongoing
Acquisitions and buy-and-build
I identify and approach targets across the Kitchen & Bathroom industry, assess strategic fit, ownership dynamics and integration potential — then support the transaction and platform strategy.
PE · Platforms
Transaction
Carve-out and strategic sale
I separate a premium business or brand from a larger group, establish the standalone logic and position it with the strategic and financial buyers that understand the category.
Corporates · PE
I help to identify, build and scale industry platforms in the globally fragmented market of kitchens, bathrooms and sanitary technology.
Mandates — value creation
The deal is the start, not the finish.
Pre & post-deal
Make the transaction create strategic value
I translate the strategic rationale into a credible operating plan: commercial growth, portfolio, distribution, manufacturing and integration priorities — before and after the transaction.
Owners · Strategic buyers
Post-deal
Turn the acquisition into performance
I stay involved after signing: brand and portfolio decisions, channel and customer overlap, organisation and leadership — the work that decides whether the acquisition case actually holds.
Owners · Management
My objective is a stronger, defensible position in the market — not simply a completed transaction. I use acquisitions, partnerships and strategic cooperation as the tools to get there faster.
Involvement
Three depths of involvement.
01 · Adviser
Alongside the team
The decisions, the key moments and the difficult judgements. Management runs the business; I am there for the calls that determine the outcome.
Owners · Boards
02 · Programme direction
Running the agenda
A PMO under my direction — workstreams, owners, milestones and reporting — so the value-creation plan is driven rather than tracked.
Owners · PE · Management
03 · Operator
In the seat
Line responsibility as CEO, Managing Director, Chief Sales Officer or Chief Transformation Officer for a defined period, with a named successor and handover built in from day one.
Boards · PE · Owners
The depth follows what the situation needs, and most mandates move between them. An interim appointment makes me accountable to the board like any executive — and rules me out across the category for its duration.
Position
Growth logic and deal logic need to fit the industry.
What the question requires
- Sector knowledge at the start, not after the process is under way.
- The commercial question and the transaction held by the same person.
- Local relationships and distribution power read accurately, not modelled.
- A buyer case built on how the business actually wins, not on the multiple.
- One unconflicted line of advice, from strategy through execution.
How I am set up
- I understand category, channel and ownership dynamics from the first conversation.
- I tie the M&A rationale to the commercial reality of the target market.
- Thirty years inside these channels, on the operating side of them.
- I connect market entry, acquisition logic and value creation.
- I do not take a mandate that competes with one I have already acted on. The commitment costs something, which is what makes it one.
In many target markets, local players hold the relationships, distribution networks and market knowledge that determine access. My objective is not to find an asset — it is to establish a durable growth position.
Access
The right target is only valuable if the conversation starts.
In building products, many attractive acquisition targets are relationship-led businesses. The first approach to an owner or family shareholder can determine whether a strategic conversation ever happens.
My role is to understand the owner, the business and the market context — then make the right approach, in the right register, at the right moment.
What it actually means
I use relationships selectively and sparingly. An introduction can only be spent once, so it is only made when the logic is real.
No client, target or relationship is ever named in a document.
Geography
Nicosia at the crossroads.
Home
European base
I am based in Nicosia, Cyprus — an EU member state positioned between Europe and the growth markets, fully inside the single market and the EU legal and regulatory framework.
Core
Established markets
I work across European markets, for companies seeking targets, partnerships, platforms and routes into new growth markets.
Growth
Growth markets
I advise European companies seeking growth abroad — and, equally, growth-market companies building durable European platforms.
Corridor
Outbound → European companies growing abroad
- Europe
- Nicosia
- Middle East
- Eurasia
- China
- Asia
- Africa
- India
← Inbound growth-market companies entering Europe
Expert support
Sector depth behind your team.
Consulting firms, investment banks, law firms and transaction teams can add senior Kitchen & Bathroom industry expertise to their own teams — discreetly, to their scope and timetable, without competing for the client relationship.
Your client. Your team. Our sector depth.
I deliver to your scope and timetable, behind your team and without competing for your client relationship.
No ramp-up
No learning curve on the sector — I can frame and deliver a deep dive in days, not weeks.
Conflicts first
I run a conflict check and NDA before any substance, including where a target sits near an existing mandate.
Market deep dives
Category, channel, competitive and customer-access analysis across kitchen, bathroom and sanitary technologies and brands.
Target assessment
Screening and validation of named targets: strategic fit, ownership dynamics, distribution position and integration feasibility.
Commercial due diligence
Sector input to CDD — market sizing sanity checks, channel economics, pricing structure, brand and specification realities.
Expert input
Market context for boards, investment committees and legal teams, including local practice behind distribution and agency arrangements.
Terms of engagement
Built for confidential growth and transaction decisions.
Direct
One senior adviser
As the one accountable principal, I connect strategic rationale, market intelligence, target assessment and transaction execution — with a small team of specialists behind me.
Confidential
Discretion by construction
I sign an NDA before substance where appropriate. No public client lists, logos or references without permission.
Fee
Aligned economics
I work on a retainer or fixed strategic fee, with a success component where appropriate on transactions. Interim mandates run on a monthly rate. No large-team overhead.
Capacity
Selective mandates
I take a limited number of mandates, which keeps my attention on the critical decisions — and protects discretion throughout.
Structure & continuity
Julian Henco Advisory is a small specialist firm. I lead every mandate personally, supported by an experienced professional team and a global expert network, and I can provide a PMO to run the execution of the value-creation agenda. Specialists are named and approved by you in advance; documentation stays current and belongs to you.
Fit
When the conversation makes sense.
A good fit
- Companies, founders and owners seeking growth, international expansion, transformation or a stronger strategic position.
- Investors, boards and management teams weighing an acquisition, carve-out, partnership or buy-and-build platform.
- Consulting, investment banking, law and transaction teams needing senior Kitchen & Bathroom industry depth.
- Cross-border situations where local relationships, distribution or market knowledge materially affect the outcome.
Not a fit
- A commodity business where sector differentiation is limited.
- A mandate that needs process capacity without senior ownership of the decision.
- A generic strategy exercise without a real decision behind it.
- Anything requiring public disclosure of clients, targets or relationships.