Business broker fees in the UK, explained

UK business brokers do not publish pricing the way most service businesses do. Fee structures vary, retainers are often non-refundable, and the all-in cost only becomes clear when you put real numbers against them. This guide explains how broker fees are typically structured, with a worked example on a £200,000 sale, and a calculator so you can plug in your own figures.

Brokers do real work and sometimes that work is worth the cost. The point of this guide is to make the cost transparent so you can decide whether it is.

How UK business brokers structure their fees

Three components show up in most UK broker fee structures.

Retainer or setup fee. Paid upfront, typically £1,000 to £5,000, often non-refundable. Covers the broker's initial valuation, marketing prep, and listing setup. Reputable brokers are transparent about this; less reputable ones bury it in the contract.

Marketing or minimum success fee. Sometimes baked into the retainer, sometimes a separate line. £500 to £2,000 for teaser document production, listing on broker platforms, and photography if applicable.

Success commission on sale. The headline number, typically 8% to 12% of the final sale price, payable on completion. Some brokers tier this (e.g. 12% on the first £100,000, 10% above) or apply a minimum fee.

A typical UK SME broker contract has a 12-month exclusivity period: you cannot work with another broker or sell privately during that window without paying a fee.

A worked example on a £200,000 sale

Using middle-of-the-range figures, the typical broker cost is £2,000 retainer plus 10% commission, totalling £22,000.

For comparison, Fair Handover's monthly plan at £19 per month over the UK average sale time of 9 months comes to £171. The 1% success plan on the same £200,000 sale comes to £2,000.

On a typical UK SME sale the gap between broker and self-serve is around £20,000.

What you get for the broker fee

A professional valuation, marketing copy and a teaser document, a pre-vetted buyer database in many cases, NDA handling, enquiry triage, and someone to take the difficult phone calls. For owners who want to step back from the process entirely, that can be worth the cost.

What you do not get for the broker fee

A guarantee of sale. A faster process (industry averages are similar between broker-led and self-serve sales). A higher final price (UK SME sale data does not show a consistent broker premium net of fees). Or escape from your own diligence preparation work, which still falls to you.

When a broker is genuinely the right call

A few cases where the broker fee is most likely to pay back:

• Your sector is niche enough that buyers are hard to reach (specialist B2B, regulated industries)
• You have neither time nor inclination to handle enquiries directly
• You want maximum buyer pool exposure across every channel simultaneously
• You have a complex deal structure (multiple sellers, earn-outs, partial sale) where the broker's experience saves you mistakes

Use the calculator below

Plug in your expected sale price, your assumptions on broker fees, and your expected months to sell. See how the numbers compare against Fair Handover's two pricing models. The defaults match the UK SME middle of the road; the sliders let you stress-test against your specific situation.