How It Works
Exactly what happens between your first enquiry and, where appropriate, the short written indicative range arriving in your inbox. The information we need, the call we run, the methodology we apply and what you receive at the end.
Bottom line up front
Four steps: enquiry, NDA-backed free consultation, document review where the situation warrants it, and, at Tony's discretion, a short written indicative range often within 48 hours. The consultation is always free. The written range is discretionary, not automatic. Formal valuation reports are separate paid engagements, from £2,500 + VAT and typically two weeks or more depending on complexity. Built on the same triangulated methodology we use for formal HMRC, court and trustee reports, presented in a shorter working format. It is a credible starting range, not a formal opinion.
The free indicative valuation is the working tool we provide to UK SME owners who need to make a real decision, respond to an unsolicited offer, plan an exit timetable, start an EOT conversation, settle a shareholder question, before they commit to a paid engagement or a transaction process. It is not a calculator output and it is not a sales pitch. It is the same triangulated analysis we run on formal reports, presented in a shorter working format.
Think of it as the pre-flight check before a long journey. You can take off without it, but you will not know whether the engines, the fuel and the weather are aligned until something goes wrong at altitude. An indicative valuation surfaces the structural items that will price the business in any real process, before you commit to that process. The cost of the check is zero, the cost of skipping it is usually six or seven figures of equity value that could have been protected with eighteen months of warning.
A second analogy. The process is like a GP consultation that ends in a clear letter to the patient. We listen to the history, run the standard tests, give you the working diagnosis and write it down. If the diagnosis points to specialist work, we say so. If it points to no action required, we say that too. The letter is yours to keep, share with your accountant, lawyer or family, and act on in your own time.
Step 1
Submit the enquiry form with your name, company name, sector and a one-line description of why you are asking. No financials at this stage. We acknowledge within one working day and propose two or three consultation slots.
Step 2
A confidential working call with Tony Vaughan. We cover ownership, customer concentration, recurring revenue, contract base, the leadership team, the reason for the enquiry and the timetable. Tony recommends the right next step for your situation. NDA is provided in advance if you would like it in place before the call.
Step 3
Where the situation warrants a short written indicative range, you share the last two to three years of statutory accounts, ideally the most recent management accounts, a customer concentration schedule and a short note on owner remuneration. The written range is provided at Tony's discretion, not automatically.
Step 4
Where issued, you receive a short written summary with the central point, the range either side, the methods we triangulated and the structural items we identified. Anything beyond that, from a summary report to a full formal valuation for HMRC, court, EOT or shareholder use, is agreed with you as paid work before it begins, from £2,500 + VAT and typically two weeks or more depending on complexity.
| Element | Free indicative | Fixed-fee formal report |
|---|---|---|
| Methodology | Triangulated across two methods (multiple, comparables) | Triangulated across three methods (multiple, comparables, DCF or asset) |
| Normalisation evidence | Headline adjustments | Line-by-line evidence document per add-back |
| Comparable transactions | Indicative band drawn from recent UK SME deals | Full comparable schedule with rationale per inclusion |
| Length | 5 to 8 pages | 25 to 40 pages |
| Status | Working document. Internal use only | Signed by senior valuer. Defensible to HMRC, court, trustees |
| Turnaround | Often within 48 hours | Typically two weeks or more, depending on complexity |
| Cost | Free, no obligation | Fixed fee quoted at scoping. No contingency |
| Use | Decision-making, planning, response to offers | HMRC, court, EOT, shareholder, lender, formal evidence |
The discovery call is NDA-backed from the start. Your statutory accounts, management accounts and customer information are held in our secure working file and never circulated externally. We do not sell data, we do not run buyer-side searches against your sector, and we do not introduce your business to brokers, consolidators, search funds or trade buyers without your explicit written permission.
We are paid by clients, not by intermediaries. We do not take commission from buyers, we do not run referral arrangements with M&A houses, and we do not work on contingency. Every fee on our books is a fixed-fee engagement agreed in writing at scoping. That structure is the source of our independence, and it is the reason owners who have already received commission-driven advice often ask us for a second opinion.
| Window | What happens |
|---|---|
| Today | Submit enquiry. Discovery call scheduled within five working days. |
| Weeks 1–3 | Document review and written indicative range delivered. Two or three structural value-drivers identified. |
| Months 1–6 | Owner and accountant work the normalisation and structural items the indicative surfaced. We are available for short check-in calls if useful. |
| Month 6 | Optional refresh of the indicative range to confirm trajectory and adjust priorities. |
| Months 7–15 | Customer mix, contract base, management depth and QoE preparation work continue. A formal report is commissioned if a transaction process is being readied. |
| Months 15–18 | Formal valuation report finalised, buyer pack prepared, the business goes to market or to the trustee process from a position of strength. |
Drawing from our aggregate transaction data at BusinessValuation.co.uk, a representative example. A regulated professional services firm in the North West, £4.6m turnover, reported post-tax profit £760k, two equity partners considering a structured exit within three years. The senior partner had received a verbal "around 3x post-tax, so call it £2.3m" from a sector intermediary and asked us for an independent view before responding.
The discovery call took thirty-five minutes. Accounts were shared under NDA the next working day. The written indicative range landed sixteen calendar days after the original enquiry. The triangulated analysis produced a 4.2x to 5.4x post-tax multiple range, supported by comparable transactions in regulated professional services at this size band and cross-checked against a five-year DCF. Once normalisation of equity partner remuneration to a market drawing was reflected, post-tax maintainable profit settled at £930k. The central indicative range came in at £4.1m to £5.0m, almost double the intermediary's verbal indication.
The structural value-drivers section identified two items. Recurring revenue as a proportion of total fees was 38%, low for the sub-sector. Lateral hire depth below the equity partners was thin, with a single salaried partner candidate visible. The indicative range concluded that addressing both items over the following eighteen months would lift the achievable multiple to the 5.0x to 5.5x band and protect against the QoE discount a credible buyer would otherwise apply.
The partners commissioned a formal valuation report at month thirteen, by which point recurring revenue had been lifted to 51% via a productised retainer offering and two lateral hires had been brought in at salaried partner level. The completed sale, twenty-two months after the original free indicative engagement, settled at £5.2m, 5.4x the £960k of maintainable post-tax profit. The partners realised approximately £1.9m more in net proceeds than the original intermediary indication would have produced. The free indicative range was the start of the chain.
The enquiry form takes two minutes. The discovery call is scheduled within five working days. The written indicative range arrives often within 48 hours. No fees, no obligation, NDA-backed throughout.
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