Companies For Sale London & Home Counties
Axis Partnership are specialist business transfer agents that help business owners find suitable buyers for their businesses. We also act for buyers seeking to acquire particular types of business to add to their portfolio. For many of these buyers looking for companies for sale London and the Home Counties hold particular attraction due to their location and large customer base.
We currently have many companies for sale in London and the Home Counties as well as many other parts of the UK including East Anglia, the South East, Cambridgeshire, the Midlands and the North West of England. We assist the sale of companies in a variety of sectors including Property Management, Recruitment, Healthcare, Logistics, Manufacturing & Engineering, Service Businesses and Commercial Cleaning.
Here we examine the appeal of London and the Home Counties to prospective business buyers, and list recent example of Companies for Sale London and Companies for Sale Home Counties that were on our books recently.
Companies for Sale London
If you are considering buying a business in London it is important to understand the pros and cons of running a business in one of Europe’s biggest capital cities.
Population: London is home to nearly 8 million residents and around 300,000 businesses. This means a huge local customer base for your business. While some see the presence of competing companies as a risk, the risk from competition is greatly reduced by buying an existing, successful London business which is already competing well within the London area.
Prestige: Having a London address for your business is also seen as a point of prestige, especially if your business involves international trading of any kind. And from a recruitment point of view you will more easily attract specialist talent to a London business.
Overheads: Running costs are higher in London, due to high property prices, higher rents and higher than average wages. If your suppliers are also London based, then your raw materials and supplies will cost more than elsewhere in the country.
Transport: While being based in London generally gives you excellent access to transport links, moving around with the capital itself can often involve high levels of congestion.
Purchase Price: The initial purchase price of companies for sale in London will generally be higher than elsewhere. While many will be put off by the figures involved, prospective funders will look at the turnover, profit and return on investment, rather than the headline figure. A high purchase price is often offset by the huge scope for generating business in the capital and surrounding areas.
So the benefits of being in London need to be weighed against the particular problems associated with the capital – and the equation will look different depending on the specific type of business and the part of London in which it is located.
For instance, London contains a large number of commercial premises, office blocks and residential apartment blocks. This creates a large, ready-made client base for a Property Management company or a Commercial Cleaning company. Taking over a business which has a good existing client base and is already successful, means a virtually guaranteed income stream for an incoming buyer.
Healthcare companies based in London also benefit from the sheer numbers of people living in the capital. While prospective buyers may think first of quiet coastal towns in which to acquire care homes, there are significant numbers of people who want to stay in or close to London when they retire, in order to be close to family. And of course, any type of nursing or domiciliary care business will benefit from the generally high numbers of residents in the London area.
Recruitment companies also frequently benefit from being based in London, with a high flow of workers into the capital looking for work, combined with a large number of businesses in the capital requiring skilled workers of all kinds.
Service Businesses of all kinds may also benefit from being based in London, especially if they can see a good number of prospective clients on their doorstep.
Here are a just a few examples of London companies for sale sold by Axis recently:
- Specialist Domiciliary & Nursing Agency, turnover £1.5m, profit £480k SOLD
- Niche Supported Living & Domiciliary Agency, turnover £1.5m, profit £285k SOLD
- NHS Specialist Recruitment Company, turnover £1.9m, profit £90k SOLD
- Established Packaging Company SOLD
Companies for Sale London – Contact us now to discuss your requirements or click here to register with us.
Companies for Sale Home Counties
Counties such as Essex, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex and Sussex are home to large numbers of London commuters, bringing London wages into the area. Businesses in these areas can benefit from these customers and relatively high populations but without the running costs of Greater London.
Many companies find that a business based in the Home Counties provides them with the best of both worlds: allowing them to easily serve clients based in the capital while benefiting from lower overheads.
Property prices may be lower than that of central London, but they are still high in comparison to the rest of the UK, which can affect initial purchase price. However, any property bought as part of a company acquisition will tend to hold its value and become a valuable company asset.
For all these reasons, considering companies for sale in the Home Counties can therefore offer a good value alternative compared to London.
Here are some examples of companies for sale in the Home Counties recently sold by Axis:
- Hampshire – Established Residential Care Home, turnover £750k, net profit £70k SOLD
- Berkshire – Niche Marketing Recruitment Company, turnover £260k, adjusted profit £120k SOLD
- South East – Independent Multi-Office Lettings, turnover £2m, profit £900k SOLD
- Hertfordshire – Vacuum Form Packaging Company SOLD
Companies for Sale Home Counties - Contact us now to discuss your requirements or click here to register with us.
How Axis Partnership Can Help You Acquire Companies for Sale in London or Home Counties
If you are looking for companies for sale in the Home Counties or London, Axis can help.
The first step is to register with us and let us know what type of business you are interested in acquiring. When a matching business comes up for sale we will contact you immediately.
However, we can also proactively search for companies which satisfy your requirements and make confidential enquiries on your behalf to find out if they are interested in selling. Axis then arranges introductions and mediates between buyer and seller to secure a deal.
To find out more about how Axis can help you find a business in London or the Home Counties, or to sell your business, contact us today.