Manufacturing business valuations, independently prepared.

What the figure usually turns on

• Maintainable EBITDA through a cycle

  Manufacturing earnings move with input costs and one large contract. We normalise for directors' remuneration, related-party rent, exceptional tooling spend and any year distorted by a single job.

• Plant, machinery and capex debt

  Machine age, remaining useful life, CNC capability and hire-purchase obligations all affect the figure. A profitable business running on machines due for replacement carries a capex liability a buyer will subtract.

• Customer concentration and contract terms

  Where the top customer is 40% of turnover the multiple compresses, whatever the margin. Long-term supply agreements, approved-supplier status and accreditations such as AS9100 or ISO 13485 pull it the other way.

• Order book, quoting pipeline and pricing power

  A visible forward order book with the ability to pass on material inflation is worth more than a strong prior year. We evidence both rather than assume them.

• Property, tenure and working capital

  Freehold premises held inside the company are separated from trading value. Work in progress, raw material stock and debtor days set the cash a buyer must fund from day one.

Earnings basis or asset basis?

Manufacturing is the sector where the two bases most often disagree. A business can be worth more broken up than it is trading, and a valuation that ignores that is not usable for a shareholder dispute, a bank, or a sale negotiation.

We run both, state which applies and why, and reconcile them — including the treatment of freehold property, hire purchase, and stock and work in progress at realistic values rather than book values.

Independent by design

We don't sell businesses and we don't prepare your accounts. There is no onward mandate to protect, so the figure is not shaped by what would win a listing.

That is why our reports are used for HMRC submissions, share transfers, funder requests and contested matters, not just for sale preparation.

This is for you if…

• —You're planning a sale, a management buy-out or a retirement exit within the next two years.
• —You need a defensible number for a share transfer, a shareholder dispute or an HMRC submission.
• —A funder has asked for an independent view before lending against the business.
• —You're acquiring and want the asking price and the asset base tested.