Players usually sign up for a two-year deal with SEM – and the company receives up to 10 per cent of the after-tax value of the contract between the player and the club. Additionally, SEM can make up to 20 per cent on commercial and media contracts that it negotiates. The company had sales last year of around £2.7m and pre-tax profits of around £300,000 – predicted to rise to around £840,000 for 2001.So what does Anderson believe has been the secret of the firm’s success? “It’s always been a people business. The number one thing is to understand that clients are people with feelings,” he says “In effect, clients become family. We help them deal with problems.”As well as handling players’ business affairs SME prides itself on organising different aspects of clients’ lives off the field, taking care of everything from au pairs for children to tickets to West End shows. Anderson says one of his proudest moments was at the press conference held by Ian Wright following the hat-trick he scored to earn the Arsenal striker a place in history as the club’s highest scorer. Wright hurled the prized match ball at Anderson – positioned inconspicuously at the back of the packed room – and thanked him for his help “We’re privileged to work with the players we have.

They’re you’re marketing tool when you’re signing a new client. It’s a big thing for them to know you’ve looked after Wrighty or Henry,” Anderson adds.But in a changing market identifying the next wave of talent will be crucial to the company maintaining long-term prospects. In addition to its 22 Premier League Players, SEM has signed up a further 24 players in the first and second Divisions who, it hopes, will move up the production line. Up-and-coming players already realising their potential include the likes of England under-21 Francis Jeffers and Portugal’s Luis Boa Morte.Anderson maintains that sports management is becoming an increasingly professional industry, particularly since the introduction of accreditation schemes endorsed by the Football Association and football world governing body, FIFA. “It’s moved on from the Jerry McGuire syndrome and the one man and his client.

There’s going to be consolidation in the next few years,” says Anderson. The float will provide funds for acquisitions, although Anderson insists these would have to be “earnings enhancing”.But it looks like SEM will be battling it out with rivals such as First Artist and Proactive Sports, which floated on Ofex and AIM respectively earlier this year. Other contenders include CSS Stellar, which floated last year, and Clear Channel-owned SFX Entertainment. SEM’s expansion plans are already underway: last month the company entered the boxing ring with the acquisition of Cloudmanor Ltd, which handles the boxing business affairs of Lennox Lewis.The firm is moving into other potentially lucrative sporting arenas.

It recently hired Jessica Vaughan, commercial and public relations agent for Eddie Irvine, to spearhead a move into motor racing. More recently it has signed up golfer Jamie Spence to help develop the company’s activities in that field.SEM is looking at further football opportunities in Spain and Portugal, where it already has 14 players on its books. The company is watching developments that may see a relaxation of the current work permit regulations for players from eastern Europe. And in a bid to boost revenues SEM is seeking to develop its clients’ potential beyond the sporting arena into media and entertainment.The company has continued its longstanding association with Ian Wright, who is building a career as a talk-show host, most recently with his BBC show Friends Like These. As the company’s existing clients approach the end of their sporting career Anderson is already preparing the way for the company’s other properties to tread in Wright’s footsteps “Ian Wright is now known as an entertainer. A number of artists will be able to do that as the years unfold.