Guides
Guides for owners thinking about selling
Plain answers to the questions owners of UK water hygiene, water treatment and fire safety businesses ask about selling. Written by Sanjeev Desour, founder of Richmonds.
All guides
Who should you sell your compliance business to?The main types of buyer, what each means for your team and customers, and what to ask.
How to sell a water hygiene or Legionella control business in the UKYour options, how to prepare, how buyers value the business, and share v asset sales.
How to sell a fire safety business in the UKFire alarms, emergency lighting, extinguishers and risk assessment: options, preparation and certification.
Preparing your compliance business for sale: a checklistWhat to sort out years ahead, months ahead, and the documents buyers will ask for.
What is my water hygiene or fire safety business worth? What buyers look atHow buyers reach a figure, what moves it up or down, and the gap between headline price and what you receive.
Customer concentration: when one customer is too bigWhy buyers ask how much depends on one customer, and what to do about it before you sell.
Share sale or asset sale, and what TUPE means for your engineersWhat changes for your staff, contracts, certification and tax in each type of sale.
What happens to your staff when you sell your businessTUPE, pensions, when to tell your team, and how key people are kept on.
Deferred payments and earn-outs, explained plainlyCompletion payments, fixed deferred payments, earn-outs and retentions, and what to ask before you sign.
What happens to LCA registration and BAFE certification when you sell your company?What changes in a share sale and an asset sale, and what to check before you sign.
Glossary: Legionella, fire safety and business sale termsPlain definitions of the standards, schemes and deal terms owners meet when they sell.
This page is general information about how Richmonds works. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and nothing on it is an offer to buy any business. All discussions are subject to contract. Take advice from your own accountant and solicitor, and see our website terms.
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Sanjeev reads every enquiry personally. There is no cost and no obligation to talk, and we sign a confidentiality agreement before you share any figures.