Common questions about selling a fire safety business.

Most fire safety sales take between 6 and 9 months from first conversation to completion. The early stages, valuation and buyer approaches, typically take 4 to 6 weeks. The remaining months are spent on meetings, offers, due diligence, 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. Most owners tell us the process feels slower than they expected, which is actually a good thing. Rushed sales usually close at a discount.

Most fire safety businesses sell for between 4 and 7 times adjusted EBITDA. Where you sit on that range depends on several factors. BAFE SP203 accreditation combined with a recurring contract book above 70 percent of revenue typically pushes towards the 5 to 7 times 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 5 minutes, and a proper valuation takes an initial conversation and a look at your accounts. Both are free and confidential.

We maintain an active register of pre-qualified buyers who have told us they want to acquire fire safety businesses. This includes PE-backed compliance platforms building national portfolios, existing fire safety groups expanding into your region, regional trade acquirers, and qualified individuals. When your business goes to market, we approach a targeted shortlist with an anonymised teaser, generate interest, and manage competitive tension across multiple parties. 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 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 buyer pays our fee, not you. The cost to the seller is zero, at every stage of the process, from the first conversation through to completion. There are no retainers, no marketing fees, no valuation charges, and no exit fees. If your business does not sell, you owe us nothing. If it does sell, the fee comes out of the buyer's side of the transaction, not yours. This is an unusual model in business brokering, and it exists because it aligns our incentives completely with yours. We only earn if we get you to completion.

Not until you choose to, and definitely not during the early stages. Most owners only inform key staff shortly before exchange or at completion. Throughout the process, confidentiality is absolute. When the time comes to tell your team, your engineers are protected by TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) regulations, which transfer their employment terms, pay, training records, and BAFE competencies 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 the single most valuable accreditation. Combined with a strong contract book, it typically adds around 0.3 to the valuation multiplier, and for many PE buyers it is a non-negotiable minimum. SP101 (portable extinguishers) and SP207 (fire risk assessors) broaden your service offer and protect the contract book through transfer to new ownership. FIA (Fire Industry Association) membership signals commercial maturity and is increasingly expected by commercial buyers. LPCB or UL third-party certification typically adds around 0.2 to the multiplier and is a strong differentiator for higher-end commercial work.

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 exit 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.

The current market is one of the strongest seller's markets the sector has seen in years. Over 100 PE-backed fire safety acquisitions were completed in 2024 and 2025 combined, with groups like Marlowe Fire and Security actively consolidating. The Fire Safety Act 2021 and the Building Safety Act 2022 made fire risk assessments mandatory across all commercial premises, driving around 15 percent annual growth in compliance spending. Combined with the BADR tax deadline rising from 14 to 18 percent in April 2026, well-prepared sellers are seeing unusually strong buyer competition. The window is real, but it will not stay this way indefinitely.

You will hear from Simon directly 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. There is no obligation and no pressure to proceed. Many of the owners we speak to are simply exploring their options. If you do decide to proceed, we will explain the next steps and agree a pace that works for you.