Leading with accountability, developing people and building enduring relationships.
Founder, IMA Industries
Ishil founded IMA in 2009 following the global financial crisis, motivated by a determination to build an independent enterprise and take responsibility for his own economic future.
The founder's vision is to build a diversified group of businesses with the institutional strength to achieve meaningful scale and sustained growth.
This ambition is underpinned by a belief that enduring success requires strong foundations, disciplined execution and an entrepreneurial approach to opportunity. IMA Industries seeks to combine these qualities to build businesses of lasting value.
A considered approach to opportunities, capital allocation and long-term ownership.
Property, People, Processes and Policies underpin our approach to oversight, safeguarding, compliance and operational consistency.
Real estate expertise that informs site selection, ownership and investment decisions.
A focus on the practical requirements of expansion rather than growth for its own sake.
IMA’s development reflects an entrepreneurial approach shaped by experience, changing economic conditions and the willingness to adapt.
The withdrawal of graduate opportunities following the 2008 financial crisis prompted Ishil Mehta to reconsider the security of a conventional career. He established IMA in 2009 with limited experience but a clear ambition: to build a business and take charge of his own economic destiny. Early experience in financial services and residential property helped establish the relationships and practical knowledge on which the business grew.
IMA’s early property activity began with the refurbishment of individual residential units, progressing to conversions, acquisitions and larger development opportunities. Property trading also formed part of the business during periods when market conditions supported it.
King’s Avenue in Clapham was a defining development, supported by external investment. The completed properties were originally intended for sale. Following the Brexit referendum, market conditions disrupted those plans and IMA was compelled to retain the units. The business rewrote its plan, stabilised the development and managed the assets over the following five years. This was a response to an adverse market, not the original strategy.
Experience of successive market disruptions sharpened IMA’s focus on recurring revenue and diversification. Following the pandemic, the Group explored sectors with enduring demand and supportive long-term policy fundamentals, identifying early years childcare and education. The acquisition of Bo Peep Nurseries was funded through refinancing existing property assets, enabling a cash acquisition without borrowing against the nursery business.
Bo Peep represents more than the acquisition of an individual nursery. IMA’s ambition is to develop a multi-site early years education business, combining high-quality care and learning with consistent operating standards, accountable leadership and disciplined expansion.
The Bo Peep Operating System and Bo Peep Leadership Academy are being developed to support that ambition through operational oversight, professional development and succession planning. The aim is to build organisations capable of sustained growth, supported by systems and people rather than dependent on the founder’s daily involvement.
Explore our education business →Our people are central to our ability to grow. We invest in developing capable leaders, encouraging accountability and creating opportunities for professional progression.
The Bo Peep Leadership Academy puts this commitment into practice within our early years business, providing structured competencies, professional development and succession planning to support its continued growth.
The Bo Peep Leadership Academy →Our approach to governance distinguishes day-to-day operational management from review, executive oversight and strategic direction. Within our early years business, setting leaders gather operational information, a dedicated governance function challenges and reviews it, and executive leadership assesses performance and risk.
This structure supports accountability, safeguarding, consistent standards and informed decisions as the Group grows.
We bring surgical precision in execution, pragmatic stewardship and astute decision-making to the businesses and assets entrusted to our care.
Contact the group ↗IMA’s next phase is focused on strengthening leadership, systems and accountability across its activities — combining the initiative of an entrepreneurial business with the foundations required for sustainable growth.
