Hornblower vs Sell Ltd — sub-£2m SME broker vs AI-first stack

Hornblower's fee is proportional to sale value, but the effective percentage increases on smaller deals because the retainer is a bigger slice. On a £500k sale at 8%, plus a £3k retainer, the effective all-in rate is 8.6%. On the same deal, Sell Ltd's optional flat success (typically £3k–£5k) is 0.8% — a tenfold delta in relative cost.

This is the disproportionate winning case for the modern stack: the smaller the deal, the bigger the relative saving. Sellers under £1m gain the most.

Hornblower's genuine strength is buyer flow in local trades (plumbing, electrical, landscaping), independent retail, and small hospitality. Its list is more curated for owner-operator buyers who want turnkey businesses in specific regions.

Sell Ltd covers the same buyer universe through open marketplace + optional cross-posting to Daltons/RightBiz, but the pool is broader and less filtered. For hyper-local trades businesses, Hornblower's cur curated list may convert 20–30% faster — worth modelling against the fee delta.

Sacrifice: broker-mediated hand-holding, curated enquiry filtering, weekly rep calls. Gain: £30k–£78k on a typical sale, full information visibility, no exclusivity, ability to multi-channel from day one.

For sellers comfortable spending 2–3 hours per week on their own sale, this is a straightforward win. For sellers who genuinely can't spare that time, Hornblower's hand-holding is honest value.

Sellers who want senior human input but not a full broker mandate can bolt an on-demand M&A adviser onto the Sell Ltd stack. £300–£800 per hour, priced per matter, 10–20 hours typical on a sub-£2m deal — £3k–£16k total. Even at the top of that range, still £20k+ cheaper than Hornblower fully loaded.