Buying a business in the UK

23 articles

Hotels and accommodation · 9

7 November 2026Buying a hotel or guest house in Britain: you are pricing a building first
On one British portal, hotels asked a median £597,000 on a stated turnover of £110,000. What that means, and what to check before you pay.
6 November 2026Buying a self-catering or guest accommodation business in Wales: how the 182-day rule decides business rates or council tax
Buying holiday lets or a B&B in Wales? How 252 available days and 182 let days decide business rates or council tax, and the lets to ask for.
6 November 2026Guest House for Sale in Scotland: What Happens to the Short-Term Let Licence When You Buy
Buying a guest house in Scotland? The short-term let licence does not pass to you at completion. What the council decides, and what happens to bookings.
6 November 2026Hotel for sale in the UK: what a small buyer needs from the accounts to see real profit
Buying a small UK hotel: which accounts to ask for, how to add back the owner's own work, and which costs change after the sale, with worked sums.
6 November 2026Hotel for sale in Scotland: what seasonal trade, purchase tax and the alcohol licence do to the price
Buying a Scottish hotel? See how seasonality, purchase tax and the premises licence change its real value, with sums and documents to request.
6 November 2026Buying a Holiday Let Business in the UK: What to Check on Bookings, Platforms and the Property
Buying a holiday let business in the UK? Check the registers, tax and booking proof before you pay, with the document to request for each.
6 November 2026Guest house for sale in the UK: how to separate the home, the business and the booking income
Buying a UK guest house or B&B means pricing the owners' home, the trade and the booking income apart. Documents, rules and a worked example.
6 November 2026Caravan park for sale in the UK: what the site licence, pitch agreements and planning conditions mean for the purchase
Buying a UK caravan park: how the site licence, pitch agreements and planning conditions cap what you can run and charge, and what to ask for.
6 November 2026Campsite for sale in the UK: how planning limits on opening months and pitch numbers decide what you can earn
Buying a UK campsite: how planning conditions, the site licence and permitted development fix pitch numbers and opening months, and so your income.

Beauty and fitness · 1

29 October 2026Buying a salon or barbershop: whose licence it is and who works the chairs
In Florida, Texas and for a New York salon, the shop licence does not pass to a buyer. In England, check treatment licences and TUPE before a deposit.

Cafés and restaurants · 1

1 November 2026Buying a coffee shop in England: the hygiene rating does not come with it
When a café in England changes operator, its hygiene rating should come off and you start at awaiting inspection. What to check before you pay.

Fits any business · 12

Premises lease

6 November 2026Use Class E: can a shop become a café without planning permission?
A shop and a café both sit in Use Class E in England. Check old planning conditions, the lease, flues and signage before you buy.
6 November 2026Small business rates relief after buying a business: what carries over and what you must claim again
Does the seller's small business rates relief pass to you? How England treats a new ratepayer, with worked sums.
6 November 2026Security of tenure: is the lease contracted out, and what does that do to the price?
Check whether a shop or café lease is inside the 1954 Act or contracted out before you buy: what the lease shows, compensation, rent on renewal and price.
6 November 2026Northern Ireland business rates when you buy a business: who pays, from when, and what to ask
Who pays Northern Ireland business rates after you buy a business or its premises, how a part-year bill is split, and the checks to run first.
6 November 2026Lease Break Clause Before You Buy a Business
A break clause can end the premises lease years early. How to read it, what defeats it, what leaving costs and how it changes the price of goodwill.
6 November 2026Dilapidations When You Take Over a Shop Lease: How Much Repair Liability You Inherit and How to Find It Before You Buy
Buying a business that rents its shop? How repair liability passes to you, what a landlord can claim, how it is capped, and what to ask for before you pay.
6 November 2026Business rates when you take over premises: what bill comes with them
Taking over premises? You pay business rates from your first day of occupation. See how the bill splits, what to ask the seller, which reliefs to check.
6 November 2026Authorised Guarantee Agreement When You Take Over a Commercial Lease
The seller offers an authorised guarantee agreement on a commercial lease? What it covers, how it ties to landlord consent, and what to ask first.

The deal and contract

2 November 2026Buying a business in the UK: match three names before you pay
The name in the listing, the company on Companies House and the holder of each council licence should fit together. Where to look and what to ask.

Debts and liability

6 November 2026Buying a business out of a pre-pack administration: what you get, what stays behind and who you deal with
How a UK pre-pack works for the buyer: the administrator, charges, SIP 16, VAT and the company name, with statute references.
6 November 2026Phoenix company: what the insolvency route, the name, the staff and VAT mean when you buy a failed company's assets
Buying assets out of a UK insolvency: which route sells them, the name rules, staff under TUPE and VAT on the purchase.

Staff

6 November 2026TUPE when you buy a small business: what happens to the staff, and what to ask the seller first
Buying a UK small business with staff? What TUPE does to contracts, pay, notice and holiday owed, and what to ask the seller for.

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