And he has spent eight months identifying and finalising Twenty's first acquisition - a £10m reverse takeover of the integrated data-driven customer relationship management specialist Dataforce.
The deal, completed last month, marks a return to Lancaster's business roots. In 1990, after a few years at global design agency Fitch, he left to found The Ultimate Prospect (TUP) Group, a database marketing business focusing on the automotive sector. He sold this business 10 years later to a trade buyer for £50m. TUP Group had close to 300 employees, a turnover of just over £17m and profits of £4m.
Lancaster then helped to establish Richard Branson's Virgin brand in the retail car sector, developing key supplier relationships and creating a consumer online direct car sales business. He sold this company in a trade sale in 2004 and then attempted to buy two other database marketing services groups with the backing of venture capital and personal funds.
Neither deal came to fruition, leading him to establish Twenty last year.
The business listed on Ofex in July, but its shares have since been admitted for trading on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and the business now has a market capitalisation of £9.7m.
Twenty's plan is to acquire businesses in customer relationship management, data acquisition, direct marketing and data modelling. Lancaster is looking to focus on developing and strengthening data services for sectors in which Dataforce already has a presence, namely the charity, telecoms, utilities, FMCG, travel and automotive industries and the public sector.
"There are a number of challenges in the data market and we are aiming to be an expert in certain sectors," says Lancaster. "Consumers are more difficult to reach now - some lists have been over-marketed and lifestyle data has run its course. The industry needs to come up with smarter processes, such as analysing transactional data and using pooled data. The Dataforce acquisition offers us a business with operational CRM that we can combine with data intelligence."
Lancaster is also relishing the exposure and access to capital that an AIM listing offers. "Marketing services businesses that are data- rather than agency-based trade on attractive multiples and, as a public company, we can achieve faster levels of growth," he says.
Former colleagues are in little doubt that Lancaster will achieve his aims. Mark Patron, the founder of Claritas and a non-executive on the Twenty board, says Lancaster is "focused and energetic". Mark Wogan, managing director of software business Crystal Mapping and a former partner at TUP Group, believes Lancaster "has a clear-sighted vision of what he wants to achieve and the ability and energy to deliver it".
Professor Martin Clarke, the founder of business modelling consultancy GMAP, which was later sold to EuroDirect, is also a non-executive of Twenty.
He says tenacity and persistence are among Lancaster's key strengths.
"Ian is a born entrepreneur with a sharp eye for exploiting business opportunities," says Clarke. "He combines a rigorous approach to business transactions with a personality that means he is liked by most people he does business with.
His enthusiasm and hard work rub off on the people he collaborates with."
Persistence has certainly paid off for Lancaster so far - he fought off 11 other bidders to acquire Dataforce. While he admits there are very few marketing services businesses available for acquisition, he already has his eye on other opportunities.
"My time now is dedicated to Twenty and to building a sizeable business," he says. "We want to be the powerhouse behind the data that attracts customers."
LANCASTER'S CHALLENGES
- To strengthen Dataforce's CRM proposition with increased data intelligence
- To identify further acquisition targets for Twenty as it pursues a buy-and-build strategy
- To develop systems to exploit transactional data.
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