Copy article

Is now actually a good time to sell your business?

ended 13. September 2026

The UK M&A market is sending mixed signals.

PwC's latest figures show that the value of UK M&A more than doubled in the first half of 2026, despite the number of deals falling by around 13%. Meanwhile, the Bank of England says acquisition finance remains readily available, although uncertainty continues to delay M&A activity.

For business owners who may already be considering an exit, does that make now a good time to sell?

I'm looking for views from business owners, corporate finance specialists, accountants, M&A professionals and financial planners:

  • Is now a good time to sell a high-quality UK business?
  • Are buyers becoming more selective about the businesses they're prepared to acquire?
  • Are good businesses still achieving attractive valuations?
  • How important is certainty of completion compared with achieving the highest possible headline price?
  • Should an owner who is financially ready to exit accept a good deal today rather than hold out for a potentially better one tomorrow?
  • What should business owners be doing now if they expect to sell within the next few years?

Real examples and contrasting views particularly welcome.

5 responses from the Newspage community

Copy all

Star Quote
Copy

Pro
Scott GallacherVerified
Director at Rowley Turton
Whether now is a good time to sell depends less on the headline M&A market and more on the individual owner’s position.

One of the biggest mistakes business owners can make is focusing too heavily on what their business is worth.

In reality, there are three very different numbers to think about: what the business is valued at, what someone is actually prepared to pay for it, and how much the owner personally needs from the sale.

Those figures can be miles apart.

A business might be valued at £5 million, but the best credible offer could be £4 million. Equally, once the owner’s pensions, investments and other assets are taken into account, they may only need £3 million from the sale to achieve financial independence and fund the life they want.

That changes the conversation completely.

The key question isn’t simply, “What is my business worth?” It is, “What can I realistically get for it, and how much do I actually need?”
Copy

Pro
Francis WestVerified
CEO at Security Everywhere
Cybersecurity has quietly become one of the biggest swing factors in these deals, and most owners don't see it coming. I've watched a recruitment company get a strong multiple partly because when the buyer's due diligence team dug in, the business had proper security controls in place, no skeletons, nothing to worry about. I've also seen the opposite. A buyer finds the company's data already sitting on the dark web from an old breach nobody dealt with, and suddenly the conversation isn't about the multiple anymore, it's about whether the deal happens at all, or at a much lower price. If you're planning to sell in the next few years, get your house in order now. Buyers pay for certainty, and nothing kills certainty faster than a nasty surprise in due diligence.
Copy

Pro
Tony RedondoVerified
Founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange
The UK M&A market in 2026 is two-speed. Deal volumes fell 13%, yet values doubled to roughly £124bn, as cautious buyers piled capital into a smaller pool of resilient, high-margin assets. Top-tier businesses with recurring revenue, clean balance sheet, and strong management should sell now. Competition among acquirers is fierce, and premium businesses are commanding peak multiples. But buyers are picky, probing customer concentration, margin sustainability and tech disruption. Average or cyclical businesses face discounts and heavy earn-outs. Execution certainty beats headline price. Take the clean cash offer from a committed buyer over an inflated one loaded with earn-outs. Eyeing an exit within three years? Get the vendor audit done, cut founder reliance, and lock in recurring revenue. Financially ready with a strong offer today? Take it. Holding out for a better multiple means betting against macro risk, execution risk and whatever Healey does on 28 October.
Copy

Pro
Tony SanchezVerified
Founder at Bridging Loan Directory
I wouldn’t decide to sell a business because the value of UK deals has risen over six months. The more important question is whether the business and its owner are ready.

From an owner’s perspective, preparation means building recurring income, keeping clean accounts, documenting how the company operates and reducing its dependence on one person. If the business cannot function properly without its founder, that will inevitably affect its value and the number of credible buyers.

The highest headline offer may not be the best deal if it relies on an uncertain earn-out, lengthy conditions or funding that could disappear. Certainty of completion, the timing of payment and what happens to the business afterwards all matter.

Owners expecting to sell within the next few years should start preparing now. The right time to sell is when a good buyer and a genuinely sale-ready business meet, not simply when the M&A headlines look encouraging.
Copy

Pro
Adrian HancockVerified
CEO at Clear VC
It's always a good time to sell a good-quality business because there are always sellers regardless of what the market is doing. What owners need to do if they expect to sell in the next few years is to remove themselves from the operations side of the business by creating a management structure tha runs the day-to-day, meaning they could disappear from the business for 3 months and the company wouldn't miss a beat. This is fundamental. Make sure you have incredible reporting so you can see the headlines of how the business is performing, with patterns and trends. When it comes to certainty, what's interesting is that only 11% of businesses put up for sale in the last 12 months with business brokers were actually sold. That's because they're given the highest possible headline price. However, the reality is that business owners aren't in a position to achieve that price, as they haven't put the structures in place.