Thinking of selling your business?

In short: there are three ways to sell a UK company. Run an open process through an adviser, approach buyers you already know, or work backwards from buyers who have already stated what they want to acquire. The third route is the quietest, usually the fastest, and is the one this platform exists to support.

The three routes to a sale

A full sale process. An adviser prepares an information memorandum, approaches a long list of buyers and runs a competitive timetable. It can raise the price where several buyers want the same asset. It also costs a retainer plus a success fee, takes nine to fifteen months, and puts your name in front of parties who will not buy.

A direct approach. You contact the two or three acquirers you already know. Cheap and discreet, but you are negotiating with an audience of one, and you rarely discover the buyer you had not thought of.

A demand led approach. You read what acquirers have already published about what they want, and you respond only where the fit is genuine. You stay anonymous while you look. You approach from a position of knowing the buyer is funded and actively looking, because their requirement has been reviewed and approved before publication.

Who is buying, by size of business

The single most common question owners ask is whether buyers exist at their size. This is the current distribution of target turnover across every approved requirement on the platform. The largest concentration of demand sits at £5m to £10m of turnover.

What a buyer examines first

• Adjusted EBITDA over three years, and whether the adjustments are defensible.
• Revenue concentration. One customer above a quarter of turnover reduces price or moves money into deferred consideration.
• Owner dependence. If sales, pricing and key relationships run through you, the buyer prices the risk of your departure.
• Recurring or contracted income, and the renewal record behind it.
• Quality of the financial record. Management accounts that reconcile to statutory accounts save weeks in due diligence.
• Staff, premises and any regulatory permissions that must transfer.

A realistic timetable

• Weeks 0 to 4: preparation. Accounts, management information, a short business summary and a view on what you want from a sale.
• Weeks 2 to 8: first conversations with acquirers whose stated requirement fits.
• Weeks 6 to 12: heads of terms, covering price, structure, deferred elements and exclusivity.
• Weeks 10 to 26: due diligence and legal documentation, ending in a share purchase agreement.
• Completion, followed in most cases by a handover period of three to twelve months.

The legal stage is covered in detail in our guide to share purchase agreements, and the full cost picture in our article on the true cost of selling a business.

What this platform does, and does not, do

BusinessWanted.com publishes approved acquisition requirements and introduces owners to the buyer behind one. It does not list your business, market it, value it, or negotiate on your behalf. Where a conversation becomes a transaction, you should take your own corporate finance, legal and tax advice.

Common questions from owners

Source and date. Figures on this page are counted from approved acquisition requirements currently published on BusinessWanted.com, read 9 October 2026. They exclude unapproved enquiries, withdrawn requirements, historic records and third party data, and they change as requirements are added, updated or retired. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. How a requirement is approved is set out in our methodology.

Where to go next

• See current demand in your sector before you decide anything.
• Read how buyers behave, by type, before you speak to one.
• Tell us about your business in confidence if you would rather we looked for the fit.

Who is buying businesses like mine · How to find a buyer · Demand by sector · Business guides · Current UK acquisition demand figures · All owner guidance