Manchester & the North West
Business valuation in Manchester
Independent, written valuations for Manchester business owners and their advisers. Fixed fee from £495, report delivered in three working days. We don't sell businesses and we don't do accounts — so the figure is not written to win anything else.
Independent.We don't sell businesses. No success fee.
- 1,000+ UK business valuations
- 17 years of brokering & valuing experience
- Fixed fee from £495 — no hourly billing
- Report delivered in 3 working days
Fixed fee from £495
Written report in 3 working days. Quote back within the hour, no obligation.
1,000+ UK valuations completed. We don't sell businesses, so there's no incentive to move the figure.
Covering Greater Manchester and the North West
Greater Manchester has one of the densest concentrations of owner-managed businesses outside London — professional services and digital around the city centre, manufacturing and logistics across the wider conurbation, and a long-established health and care sector. Buyers active here range from regional trade acquirers to national consolidators and private-equity-backed platforms.
The work is delivered remotely from Bristol, working from your accounts and management information, so there is no site visit to arrange and location never delays the report. We work with owners across Salford, Stockport, Bolton, Warrington, Cheshire and Liverpool, alongside their accountants and solicitors.
Consolidation is the defining feature of this market
More than anywhere else outside the capital, the North West is a buy-and-build market. IT managed service providers, care operators, accountancy practices, recruitment firms and specialist contractors are all being acquired into larger platforms, and those buyers arrive with a house model for what they will pay.
That has two consequences for an owner. The approach usually comes before you are ready, and the price is framed in the buyer's terms — commonly a multiple of last year's reported profit, with the adjustments you would want made quietly left out. A written valuation prepared independently gives you your own starting point rather than theirs.
Where North West earnings get misstated
The most common issue we see in Greater Manchester accounts is a working owner drawing a small salary plus dividends while running the business day to day. Reported profit therefore flatters the business, because no full cost of management sits in it. The valuation corrects that to the cost of replacing the owner at regional market rates.
The second is property. A good number of manufacturing and logistics businesses across Trafford Park, Oldham and Warrington occupy premises owned personally by the shareholders, often at a rent that has nothing to do with the market. Rebasing that rent can move adjusted earnings by tens of thousands either way, and a buyer will do it whether or not you have.
The third is contract quality. Two businesses on identical turnover can be far apart on value if one runs on rolling contracted work and the other rebuilds its order book every quarter.
Valuations for succession and shareholder change
Plenty of North West businesses are second- or third-generation family companies, and the valuation is needed for a share transfer, a buyout of one sibling by another, or a management buyout rather than an open-market sale. Those figures get scrutinised by the people on the other side of the table, who are often family.
We set out the basis of valuation, itemise every adjustment and show the comparable evidence, so the number can be examined line by line. That is also what HMRC expects where shares change hands at less than open-market value.
What moves the figure for a Manchester business
Owner-dependence
If the customers, the pricing decisions and the technical knowledge live with you, the multiple falls. This is the single most common cap on value we see in the region.
Contracted versus won-again revenue
Managed service contracts, framework places and long-term supply agreements all lift the multiple; project work repeated year to year does not lift it as far.
Property held outside the company
Rent paid to shareholders has to be rebased to a market rent before earnings mean anything to a buyer.
Customer concentration in the supply chain
Manufacturing and logistics businesses tied to one or two large customers are priced for the risk of losing them, however long the relationship has run.
An illustrative Greater Manchester example
A fictional IT managed services business, included to show how the figure is built rather than to suggest what any real business is worth.
Illustrative and fictional. Your own figure depends on your accounts, your contracts and your buyer pool.
What you get
- A bespoke written valuation report, not a template or a calculator output.
- Normalised earnings, the multiple evidenced against comparable transactions, and a cross-check on an asset or cash-flow basis.
- Every assumption stated, so the figure can be tested by a buyer, a solicitor, a funder or HMRC.
- Fixed fee from £495, agreed before any work begins. Three working days from receiving your figures.
Reports are used for sale preparation, purchases, management buyouts, shareholder disputes, divorce proceedings, probate and HMRC submissions.
Sectors we're asked about in Manchester
- IT managed services and software valuations
- Manufacturing and engineering valuations
- Recruitment agency valuations
- Care home valuations
- Construction and contracting valuations
Not listed? See all the sectors we value — the method is the same whatever you do.
Common questions from Manchester owners
How do I get my Manchester business valued?
Send your last one to three years of accounts, the latest management figures and a short briefing on how the business runs. We agree a fixed fee first, then return a bespoke written valuation report within three working days. The work is done from your figures, so there is no site visit to arrange across Greater Manchester or the wider North West.
What does a business valuation cost in Manchester?
A straightforward sale or buy-side valuation is a fixed fee from £495, agreed in writing before any work begins. Divorce, EMI, start-up and shareholder-dispute valuations carry more work and evidence, so they are quoted individually — always as a fixed fee.
A consolidator has approached me. Should I get an independent figure first?
Yes. North West owners in IT services, care, recruitment and construction are approached regularly by backed buyers who run a disciplined process. Their opening number is anchored on reported profit and their own model. Going into that conversation with normalised earnings and evidenced comparables is the difference between negotiating and reacting.
Do you work with Manchester accountants and solicitors?
Regularly, including on share transfers, partner exits, matrimonial matters and HMRC submissions. We do not sell businesses and do not do accounts work, so there is no conflict with a client's existing advisers.
Want the number for your Manchester business?
Tell us the sector and rough turnover and we'll come back with a fixed fee and a timescale.
Fixed fee from £495
Written report in 3 working days. Quote back within the hour, no obligation.
1,000+ UK valuations completed. We don't sell businesses, so there's no incentive to move the figure.
Request a Manchester business valuation.
An independent, fully evidenced figure in three working days. Fixed fee from £495.
Independent.We don't sell businesses. No success fee.
- 1,000+ UK business valuations
- 17 years of brokering & valuing experience
- Fixed fee from £495 — no hourly billing
- Report delivered in 3 working days