Common questions about selling a fire safety business.

A fire safety sale usually takes months rather than weeks from first conversation to completion. Valuation and buyer approaches come first. The remaining months are spent on meetings, offers, due diligence (the buyer's detailed check of your business), and legal completion. We never rush the process, and timelines can stretch or compress depending on buyer appetite and how quickly your accounts and contracts are ready for scrutiny. Rushed sales usually close at a discount.

Most fire safety businesses sell on a multiple of adjusted EBITDA: a price worked out as so many times the yearly profit before interest, tax, and the write-down of equipment, vehicles and other assets. Where you sit depends on several factors. BAFE SP203 accreditation combined with a strong recurring contract book typically pushes towards the higher end. A heavy owner-dependency, a high proportion of one-off domestic work, or a thin contract base tends to sit lower. Our valuation calculator gives an indicative range in under 15 minutes. Have a free first conversation with Simon or Emily, in confidence. The paid Snapshot is a written, indicative view of value, and what to fix first.

We maintain an active register of pre-qualified buyers who have told us they want to acquire fire safety businesses. This includes compliance groups owned by private equity (investment firms that buy companies to grow and sell on) and building national portfolios, existing fire safety groups expanding into your region, regional firms in the same trade, and qualified individuals. When your business goes to market, we approach a targeted shortlist with an anonymised teaser, a short summary that does not name you, then generate interest and get several buyers competing for it. We never advertise your business on public listing sites, which would compromise confidentiality and weaken your negotiating position.

Yes, absolutely. Confidentiality is the foundation of our process, not an added feature. We use anonymised business profiles when approaching buyers, so the first thing they see is a short description of an opportunity without a name or address. Only once a buyer has signed an NDA, a legal promise to keep everything confidential, do they receive any identifying information. Staged information disclosure protects your client list and financials until the right buyer has demonstrated real intent. Your staff, clients, suppliers, and competitors will not know you are considering a sale until you choose to tell them.

The first conversation is free and confidential. For a sale, it is a fee agreed in writing before we start.

Not until you choose to, and definitely not during the early stages. Most owners only inform key staff shortly before the sale contract is signed or at completion. Throughout the process, confidentiality is absolute. When the time comes to tell your team, your engineers are protected either way: if the buyer buys your company's shares their employer does not change, and if it buys the business's assets TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) regulations transfer their employment terms, pay and training records to the new owner automatically. Most buyers actively want to retain qualified fire alarm engineers and risk assessors, as they are one of the most valuable assets in the business.

BAFE SP203 for fire detection and alarm systems is one of the first things a buyer checks, alongside a strong contract book. SP101 (portable extinguishers) and SP207 (evacuation alert systems) broaden your service offer. Under BAFE SP203-1, a change of ownership must be reported to the certification body, which can ask for a new application, so it is worth raising early. FIA (Fire Industry Association) membership is open to companies that hold third-party certification or are working towards it.

Yes, but your level of involvement will affect the valuation. Buyers apply a discount to owner-dependent businesses because there is a real risk of revenue loss after the sale if key client relationships or technical knowledge sit entirely with the seller. If you are the primary risk assessor, sole client contact, and chief decision-maker, that risk is higher and the multiple lower. The most common solution is to start delegating 6 to 12 months before going to market. Promote a deputy, introduce a client relationship manager, or document key processes. Even partial steps in this direction can materially lift your eventual sale price.

Buyers are active. In 2025, groups backed by private equity made 70% of UK fire and security acquisitions, up from 57% in 2024, according to Grant Thornton. Fire risk assessments have been a legal duty since Oct 2006, and the Fire Safety Act 2021 widened the Fire Safety Order in England to the structure, external walls and flat entrance doors of buildings with two or more homes. BADR, the tax relief on selling a business you own and work in, rose from 14 to 18 per cent in April 2026, and well-prepared sellers are still the ones buyers compete for.

You will hear from Simon or Emily within two working days. The first conversation is informal and completely confidential. We want to understand your situation, your timeline, any concerns, and what your business actually does. From what you describe, we can give you a realistic sense of what your business might be worth and what the process would look like. If you do decide to proceed, we will explain the next steps and agree a pace that works for you.