Planning Your Exit: How, When and Who to Sell To
The best exits are planned years ahead.
Here is how to start thinking about yours.
By Andy Smith, Founder & Finance Director
The best exits are planned years ahead, not in the final few months. Whether you are five years out or fifteen, the thinking starts now.
The three questions
How will you exit: a trade sale, a management buyout, or passing it to family? When do you want to step back? And who is the likely buyer? The answers shape everything else.
Build the value
Buyers pay more for recurring revenue, clean numbers and a business that does not depend on you personally. Working on those now increases what you eventually walk away with.
The tax
Business Asset Disposal Relief can reduce the capital gains tax on a qualifying sale, up to a £1 million lifetime limit. The BADR rate rose to 18% from April 2026, up from 14% in 2025/26, so the detail and the timing matter. Reliefs have conditions, which is exactly why you plan early.
Figures correct at the time of writing. Personalised planning needed for your situation.
We help owners plan their exit properly, so when the time comes, you sell on your terms and keep as much as possible.
