Specialist brokers for the fire safety sector.
Part of the Reads Advice Partners network, we focus exclusively on fire alarm, suppression, extinguisher, and risk assessment businesses.
A credible business brokerage with something worth knowing about your sector.
Reads M&A Advisory is a credible business brokerage with many years of experience selling accountancy practices and businesses across a range of sectors. We have built strong relationships with private equity investors, investment firms that buy companies to grow and sell on, and with business investors and family offices actively seeking acquisition opportunities.
Fire Safety Business Sales is Reads' dedicated service for fire safety sales.
It is built around what buyers in this sector check first: BAFE scheme registration, the maintenance contract book and a clean certification record. Alongside Simon's many years of business sales experience, owners have access to consultants, finance directors and acquisition specialists who help prepare a business for sale.
In 2025, groups backed by private equity made 70% of UK fire and security deals, up from 57% in 2024, according to Grant Thornton.
If you are exploring a sale, the decisions on it are made with Simon Read, who runs every sale personally.
Key Facts
- Part of Reads Advice Partners Ltd
- Company No. 12124192
- Registered in England and Wales
- Nationwide coverage
- Fire safety sector specialists
- Free initial consultation
- Confidential process
A direct line to the person who runs your sale.
Simon Read leads Fire Safety Business Sales. Ask for Simon. Your first conversation can be with Simon or Emily, and decisions on the sale are made with Simon. Emily Jeans keeps each case moving day to day, and the rest of the team help prepare the business, while the negotiation stays with Simon.
Ask for Simon. Your first conversation can be with Simon or Emily, and decisions on the sale are made with Simon. He has access to the buyer network and leads your sale. Simon understands why BAFE SP203 and FIA membership matter to buyers, how post-Grenfell legislation has changed the compliance landscape, and why PE-backed consolidators are moving so actively in the fire safety market right now. He gives straight answers about what a buyer is likely to question, because in this sector the paperwork is a large part of what is being sold.
This direct, personal approach means nothing is lost in translation. Your business is positioned accurately, your concerns are heard by the person making decisions, and you always know exactly where you stand in the process.
Simon Read, Founder & Managing Director
Simon Read leads the fire safety division. He has spent many years advising business owners on the sale of their businesses, and has built the buyer relationships that make this service possible.
Simon is direct about one thing: a fire safety buyer is buying certificates, contracts and renewal rates, so that is where the preparation starts. He runs every sale personally, through to completion.
Every conversation starts with understanding what matters most to you: the price, the legacy, the staff, the timing, or simply getting out with certainty. Nothing is decided until you are ready.
The people who work on your sale.
Simon runs your sale. Nick, Ian, Ben and Martin each lead one part of the Reads Pre-Sale Programme; Angela keeps the office running and Emily keeps each case moving. See how the programme works.
Simon Read
Founder & Managing Director
Simon Read founded Accountants For Sale, then Reads M&A Advisory, which he set up to bring a specialist approach to the wider business sales market, with fire safety among its named sectors. He has many years of experience in business sales, advising on the sale of accountancy practices and businesses across a range of sectors. He brings together independent buyers, acquisitive trade companies, private equity-backed groups and strategic investors across the UK. He does not take a volume approach: he works closely with each owner on their objectives, the right buyers and the negotiation. Away from the office he presents Business Forum on Cotswold Radio.
Handles every stage of the sale, from the approaches to buyers to the handover after completion.
Nick Hunt
Strategic Growth & Exit Adviser
Nick Hunt is a Non-Executive Director, Trustee and executive coach, and a former FTSE100 financial services executive with more than 15 years' experience across strategy, governance, risk and organisational development. As an EMCC-accredited coach he works with founders and leadership teams through growth and change, helping them make clearer decisions. For a fire safety owner, that means questions such as who holds the sign-offs and the client relationships once the owner steps back. He is also the founder of Cotswold Lakes Brew Co., a certified B Corporation.
Leads improving business value, working on margin and on a business that can run without you.
Ian Mills
Non-Executive Director
An entrepreneur, business adviser and author, Ian Mills founded, built and sold a global professional services firm. He has worked across more than 60 countries and mentors C-suite executives and leaders of mid-sized businesses. He is co-author of three books, the latest The Leader's Secret Code, and is a charity director.
Leads larger business sales, preparing bigger businesses and their leadership for the scrutiny a larger buyer brings.
Angela Roberts
Office Manager
Angela Roberts is Office Manager at Reads M&A Advisory and keeps the business running smoothly day to day. With a background in IT and marketing, she founded Cotswold Networking, a network of business groups across the Cotswolds, Bristol and Bath. Organised and approachable, she supports the team and the owners they work for throughout the buying and selling process.
Keeps the office in order and the process behind each sale moving.
Ben Davies
Financial Preparation Specialist
A CIMA-qualified management accountant, Ben Davies spent ten years at a building society, working his way up from apprentice to accountant, before founding his own practice. His strengths are management accounts, cash flow forecasting and plain commercial insight. He helps owners see what their figures say to a buyer, including how much of the income comes from maintenance contracts and how much from one-off installation work.
Leads financial preparation, getting your accounts ready for a buyer's questions.
Martin Dugan
Head of Deal Origination
Martin Dugan finds the conversation before it becomes a listing: owners who are weighing up a sale but have not yet gone looking for an adviser. He connects them to buyers already registered with Reads, through proprietary research, careful targeting and patient direct approaches made quietly and without pressure. He also runs AA2, a B2B data and outbound business.
Alongside either route, Martin leads Buyer-ready presence, putting the online foundations in order for customers and a future owner. He also leads growth marketing, putting the same research, careful targeting and patient direct approaches into winning the maintenance contracts buyers pay more for.
Emily Jeans
Marketing and Administration Manager
Emily Jeans is the person owners stay in touch with once a sale is under way. She keeps each case moving from the initial agreement to completion, chasing the small details so nobody else has to, while Simon handles the negotiation. Calm, organised and quick to reply, she is the name owners working with Reads come to know well.
The person to ask for an update at any stage of your sale.
Reads also works with specialist partners: experienced financial planners who help owners with their own finances before and after a sale. Simon can introduce you. See how financial planning around the sale works.
Start a conversation.
Tell us about your business and we will be in touch within two working days.
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Start with a free first conversation, in confidence, then choose whether you want the paid written Snapshot: see how the two routes fit together.