Following. Really good question as the uk sites I have found tend to have cafes or hairdressers for sale but not the same calibre of businesses as our US brethren.

I’m not sure it is due to

a) sales being more network driven than online
b) a lack of digital leadership to build and grow an alternative network

Tagging a few Searchfunders in the UK who may be able to contribute to this thread on broker/intermediary resources: ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌ (To our friends in the UK, THANK YOU for helping to make Searchfunder a collaborative community. Be sure to take full advantage of your UNLIMITED access to IBISWorld UK (Searchers only) & BVR Deal Stats, now available under the INDUSTRIES & VALUATIONS tabs at the top of this screen. With Best Wishes, ^[redacted]‌).

Not for any non-micro businesses! Langcliffe provide access to teasers they've been shared (most will be low ish quality businesses) for an intro fee offering, and then there's DealSuite which is similar but a paid platform (albeit designed for advisers/PE) but I don't think many mandates get on there at all.

In my opinion, you're best off targeting directly rather than competing for the never never - particularly as (unlike the US) most searchers are competing with the lower mid market PE scene unless they have an edge / are doing something different!

Good advice - thanks James

I recommend to start here http://ukbusinessbrokers.com/business-broker/

Try https://www.business-sale.com

https://uk.businessesforsale.com/ and https://www.daltonsbusiness.com/ are the UK's largest business listing sites. Daltons has a directory for the main brokers here: https://www.daltonsbusiness.com/commercial-agent-directory. I tend to agree with ^[redacted]‌ that the deals tend to be low quality. I also recommend a proprietary search approach.

For what it's worth I have almost given up on these websites. I cannot count the number of times the valuation - which has been coached to the vendor by the agent - is 10x the actual value of the business. I have formally complained to Knightsbridge about 2 listing in which their 'adjusted EBITDA' was fundamentally incorrect. For example, one eCommerce company didn't include Paypal fees which were 3% of revenue, so not immaterial. And they rarely factor in the need to replace the founder with a salaried manager. I'm moving more focus to my proprietary search.

Ok I'm glad we're in agreement and it's not just me :) Yes it was a lightbulb moment when I learned that they get an upfront marketing fee.

I'm going to post this as a separate questions but does anyone have a template proprietary outreach letter? I would like to shift focus so any guidance on outbound techniques and templates would be highly valuable.

Businessforsale, daltonsbusiness, knightsbridge, intelligent etc are primarily catering to the small mom and pop types of buyer and seller.. To get the the corporate brokers you need to look to KBS Corporate and Benchmark as the two main players, then there are a number of smaller players, quality is questionable for most as it's really about stacking as many as possible for an upfront marketing/listing fee (that's where they generate the vast bulk of income). Valuations are: pick a number and double it.
The other option is to look at corporate finance houses, they generally are regional and a lot more clued up on valuations, although still pushing the valuations to the higher end (only to be expected - as they are working on behalf of their clients best interests).
The best option is direct outreach to potential targets, for example using LinkedIn/calling them/direct mail.

Thanks for the insight Ased. Do you know of any Corporate Finance houses in the Midlands? Thanks

Hi Oliver, There's critchleys.co.uk in Oxford.

Agreed, Ased, I'd also add BCMS (https://www.bcms.com/) to your list of KBS and Benchmark