Top 5 Places to Find Small Businesses for Sale in the UK

1 May 2025

Accounting & Compliance, Ambitious Startups, Building a Business, Selling a Business, Structuring a Business

If you’re a young entrepreneur or aspiring business owner looking to buy, not just build, then you might be wondering:

Where do I actually find these small businesses for sale?

As thousands of baby boomer business owners gear up for retirement, more and more solid, cash-generating companies are quietly hitting the market.

You just need to know where to look.

Check out our previous blog Why Buying an Existing Business Is the New Entrepreneurial Power Move

Here are the top 5 places to start your search for businesses for sale:

RightBiz.co.uk

Think of RightBiz as the Zoopla of businesses for sale.

It’s one of the UK’s largest online marketplaces for buying and selling businesses, covering everything from local cafés to industrial cleaning companies.

Filters by location, industry, and price range.
Useful for finding owner-operated or local businesses.
Many listings include financials, photos, and even seller notes.

BusinessesForSale.com

A global site with a strong UK presence, this one’s packed with listings and regularly updated opportunities.

Includes UK-wide listings, from London to rural Wales.
Listings often have in-depth info: revenue, staff, assets, lease terms.
Built-in messaging system to contact sellers directly.

Daltons Business

This one’s a classic trusted by many UK brokers and sellers.

Especially good for high street or franchise businesses.

Think salons, bakeries, convenience stores, MOT garages.
You’ll often see turnover and net profit figures included.
Great for filtering by “price reduced” or “urgent sale.”

Local Business Brokers / Commercial Agents

Not everything is listed online.

Many small business sales happen quietly through local brokers who know the area’s owners personally.

These brokers can introduce you to off-market deals.
Look up “commercial business broker [your town]” to find them.
Good brokers also help with negotiation and deal structure.

Tip: Pop into high streets and look for “business for sale” signs — they’re more common than you think.

If you are in a strong financial position and looking for a larger business (£1m+) then please contact us.

Not only do we have our own mergers and acquisitions team who have a number of businesses for sale we also work with a number of local brokers who also have businesses for sale.

Direct Outreach & Local Networking

This is a bit unconventional, and that’s why it works.

Send letters or emails to local businesses you’d be interested in owning. Ask if they’ve thought about selling.
Attend local Chamber of Commerce events or small business meetups.
Let your network know you’re looking, word of mouth is powerful.

Why this works

Many older business owners haven’t listed yet but are open to a conversation plus going direct can save the seller significant sums in broker fees.

Warning

From a seller perspective I personally would advise using a broker as you want to maximise your pool of buyers and build competition which should result in a better price for the business even after commissions.

Also a key element of the brokers role is to vet buyers and ensure only credible buyers are introduced to the seller.

As a rule I tell my clients to tread carefully when getting direct approaches.

Bonus Tip: Keep an Eye on Insolvency Sales

Businesses in distress (or recently closed) can be picked up for a fraction of the value, especially if you’re willing to turn them around.

There are a number of specialist sites where businesses in administration or liquidation can be discovered.

Final Thought

The businesses are out there.

Some are listed and ready to go; others just need a nudge.

Whether you’re looking to own a barbershop, an ecommerce site, or a caravan park, you don’t need to wait for the perfect idea.

You just need the right listing.

How we can help you as a buyer

We can help with the due diligence you will need to do went vetting a business purchase.
We can help with structuring the deal.
Through our corporate finance team we can help finance the deal.
Through our inhouse cloud accounting experts we can help with the implementation of streamlined accounting systems to ensure you get robust timely management information to help you run your business.
We can assist with bringing a digital edge to your new business. From helping to introduce epos till systems, integrating web sales solutions, inventory management, automated invoicing systems, job costings systems etc…

If you need help please book a discovery meeting using the links below.

Start looking.

The future you want might already be trading.