Approach
A sale that leaves the business standing.
Lambton buys your business, keeps it running, and gives you a clean, dignified way to step back. We hold the companies we buy for the long term: the name stays over the door and the work carries on. We are not brokers, and we do not buy to sell on.
What we look for
Any sector — with a current focus on trades and engineering — across the United Kingdom.
Established and profitable
A trading record you can point to, and profit that has held up through good years and bad.
A founder ready to retire or step back
You have decided it is time, or you are starting to think about what comes next.
People worth keeping
A team that knows the work and would carry it on without you in the building.
Roughly £[N]m–£[N]m EBITDA1
In plain terms, yearly operating profit somewhere around that band.
1 Indicative range — we read every enquiry either side of it.
We publish notes on the sectors we know best.
SectorsHow a deal is put together
We agree a price in plain English and put it in writing. Part is paid on the day the sale completes. Part is often paid later — over an agreed period, or linked to how the business performs after the sale. Lawyers call this deferred consideration; we call it money that follows once the handover is done.
We say it straight because the reason matters. Paying part of the price after completion keeps both sides honest about the handover: you have every reason to hand over well, and we have every reason to look after what you hand us.
Every deal is shaped to the situation, so nothing here is a promise of structure. It is a plain account of how these agreements usually work.
From first email to handover
01
Enquiry
Within [N] working days
You write to us in confidence. We reply within [N] working days — directly, not through an intermediary.
02
Conversation
Weeks 1–[N]
A straight conversation about your business, your people and what you want from the years ahead. No obligation on either side.
03
Offer
Weeks [N]–[N]
If it fits, an indicative offer in plain English — what we would pay, how, and when. You take your time with it.
04
Handover
[N]–[N] months
A handover shaped around your people and your customers. You step back at the pace that suits you.
Confidential, from the first email
No brokers, no listings, and no word to your staff, customers or competitors until you decide. Every conversation stays between you and us.
Thinking about what comes next?
Every conversation is confidential. Nothing goes further without your say-so.
Start a confidential conversation