Sell my business UK — the AI-first alternative to brokers

You have four realistic routes: a traditional business broker (retainer + success fee, 6–12 months), an AI-first platform like Sell Ltd (no retainer, information memorandum in days, direct-to-buyer outreach), an M&A boutique for deals above £5m, or a private sale to a competitor or trade buyer. The right route depends on deal size, sector and how much control you want over the process.

A UK business broker typically charges a £2,000–£15,000 upfront retainer plus a 5–10% success fee on the sale price, plus marketing costs. An AI-first platform like Sell Ltd charges no upfront retainer and a materially lower success fee. Legal costs (£3,000–£20,000+) are on top in every route. See our broker fees exposed page for sourced numbers.

Traditional broker mandates average 9–12 months from listing to completion for sub-£5m deals. AI-first sales compress the preparation phase — information memorandum in a week, targeted outreach in two — so completion in 4–6 months is realistic when both sides are ready. Due diligence and legal remain the fixed constraint.

Yes. Roughly a third of UK SME sales complete without a broker — usually to a known competitor, supplier or manager. Selling without a broker is easier if you already have the buyer. It gets harder when you need to reach dozens of buyers, run a competitive process and negotiate terms without leaking confidentially.

The two workable UK SME methods are (1) EBITDA × multiple (typically 3–7× for a stable trading business, sector-dependent), and (2) discretionary earnings × multiple (for owner-operated smaller businesses). Asset-only valuations apply if you're closing rather than selling. Property, stock and cash are usually treated separately.

A UK business broker typically works on sub-£5m deals for a retainer and success fee, running a marketing-led process on marketplaces like BusinessesForSale and Rightbiz. An M&A adviser (a corporate finance boutique) works on £5m–£50m deals, runs a curated auction of strategic buyers and charges a higher success fee with more bespoke work.

Yes, if you want more than one buyer. The IM is what buyers read before signing an NDA and requesting management meetings. A weak IM is the single biggest reason mid-market deals stall. Sell Ltd generates an editorially-strong IM from your Companies House filings plus a short guided survey in about a day.

It should be. A well-run sale doesn't publish your company name until an NDA is signed. Confidential teasers describe the business by sector, geography and financials without identifying features. Broker marketplaces sometimes leak identifying details — check the teaser before listing.

A share sale transfers everything including liabilities (usual for trading companies). An asset sale cherry-picks what the buyer wants and leaves the company shell with you (common for distressed sales or partial disposals). Tax outcomes differ significantly — Business Asset Disposal Relief typically applies to share sales for qualifying sellers.

Marketplaces are advertising, not a sale process. You'll get inbound enquiries — mostly time-wasters, tyre-kickers and competitors fishing for info. There's no filtering, no NDA workflow, no valuation grounding, no outreach to non-searching buyers. Useful as one of several channels; not sufficient on their own.

Sell Ltd is a UK AI platform that replaces the traditional broker workflow. You survey your business (30 minutes), Chris (our AI adviser) generates a research-grounded information memorandum, a confidential listing goes live on the Sell Ltd marketplace, and targeted outreach starts to shortlisted strategic buyers. No retainer, transparent pricing, sellltd.co.uk. Free to list.

Sell Ltd is the trading name of AutoThink Group Ltd (company number 13994278), a UK limited company registered in Rochdale. Chris — the AI adviser you interact with on-platform — is built on frontier LLMs grounded in Companies House, HMRC, ONS and Insolvency Service data.