Water hygiene and Legionella control
Selling your water hygiene or Legionella control business
Richmonds buys well-run UK water hygiene and Legionella control businesses from owners who want to retire or step back. We keep your engineers, your customers and your trading name, and agree a clear exit with you in plain terms.
The kind of business we buy
We look for firms whose income comes mainly from planned, recurring Legionella control work for commercial customers. Typically that means:
- Legionella risk assessments and written control schemes, carried out to the HSE's Approved Code of Practice L8 and HSG274 Part 2
- Monthly temperature monitoring, sampling, showerhead cleaning and TMV servicing
- Tank cleaning and disinfection, remedial works and log book management
- Registration with the Legionella Control Association for the services you deliver
If you also carry out water treatment or fire safety work, that is welcome too. These are all areas we invest in.
What happens to the things you have built
Your LCA registration
LCA membership is held by the company named in the LCA directory, and it is renewed every year with an external audit. When we buy the shares of your company, the company that holds the registration stays the same. We keep its registration, audits and service standards in place, and tell the LCA about the change in ownership. Our guide on what happens to LCA registration and BAFE certification when a company is sold explains this in more detail.
Your engineers and office team
Your people are the reason customers stay. We plan for them to stay on their existing terms, with a clearer route to progress. Their training and competence records stay with the business, as the LCA Code of Conduct expects.
Your customers and their records
The same faces stay on the same contracts. LCA members must keep site records for at least five years after the work is done, so continuity of log books and records matters to your customers as much as it does to us.
Your name
Your business can keep trading under its own name as part of Richmonds, so customers and staff see continuity, not a takeover.
Guides for owners
Questions owners ask
Will my LCA registration continue after the sale?
In a share sale the company that holds the registration stays the same, so its LCA membership normally continues, subject to annual re-registration and audit. We would tell the LCA about the change in ownership and check its requirements before completion.
Do I need to tell my customers before I sell?
No. Conversations with us stay confidential, and customers only hear about a sale when you decide. Your solicitor will check whether any contracts need consent on a change of ownership.
What size of water hygiene business do you buy?
Usually turnover from £500k with no upper limit, consistently profitable, with most income from planned maintenance contracts. If you are close, we would still like to hear from you.
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.
Start a confidential conversation
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.