How to approach a business owner about buying their company

Most good acquisitions in the UK are never advertised. The owner has not decided to sell, has not hired a broker, and will only talk if the right person asks in the right way. That makes the first approach one of the most important things you do as a buyer.

This guide covers who to contact, what to write, how to follow up, and the mistakes that get letters thrown in the bin. If you have not yet built your list of targets, start with our guide to finding off-market acquisition targets in the UK.

Who should you contact, and how do you find them?

Write to the person who owns the business, not the person who runs the website inbox. In a private company those are often the same person, but not always.

Companies House is free to search. For any UK company you can see:

• Officers: the current directors, with their month and year of birth and a service address.
• People with significant control (PSC): anyone who holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, or who can appoint most of the board.
• Filing history: accounts, confirmation statements and changes of director, which tell you how long the owner has been in charge.

Look for the person who is both a director and a PSC. If two people each hold half, write to both, separately, with the same letter. If a holding company sits above the trading business, follow the chain up to the people who own it.

The month and year of birth also tell you roughly how old the owner is. That matters for timing, as we cover below.

What should the first letter say?

Keep it to one page. The owner should be able to read it in under a minute and understand four things:

1. Who you are. Your name, your business, and one line on what you do.
2. Why them. Something specific about their business that shows you have done your homework: a market they serve, a reputation they have built, a product you respect.
3. What you are asking for. A confidential conversation. Not a sale, not an offer.
4. How to reply. A direct phone number and email, both yours.

What to leave out:

• No price or multiple. You do not know enough yet, and any number becomes an anchor or an insult.
• No "we buy businesses". It reads like a circular and tells the owner they are one of hundreds.
• No pressure. No deadlines, no "time-limited" anything. Owners who sell well choose their own timing.
• No jargon. Avoid "strategic synergies", "platform" and "bolt-on". Write the way you would talk.

Sign the letter yourself, in ink if you can. Send it to the owner by name, marked private and confidential.

What does a good approach letter look like?

Example only. Names and businesses are fictional.

Dear Mrs Patel,

I run Harland Fire & Security, a fire alarm and sprinkler maintenance business based in Leeds with 40 engineers.

I have followed Riverside Fire Systems for some time. You have built a strong name with housing associations across West Yorkshire, and your engineers are known for doing the job properly.

We are looking to grow, and I believe our two businesses could work well together. I would value a confidential conversation with you about your plans for the future, whenever they might be. There is no expectation beyond a coffee and a chat.

If you are open to that, my direct line is 0113 000 0000, or you can email me at the address below. I will not contact anyone at Riverside other than you.

Yours sincerely,

David Hale Managing Director, Harland Fire & Security

Notice what it does not say. There is no mention of buying, price or timescale. It respects the owner, it is specific, and it promises discretion.

How should you follow up?

Most owners will not reply to the first letter. That does not mean no. They may be busy, unsure, or waiting to see if you are serious.

In our experience, plan for three or four contacts over two to three months. A typical sequence is:

• Letter in week one.
• Short phone call two to three weeks later: "I wrote to you recently and wanted to make sure it reached you."
• Short email or second letter a few weeks after that, perhaps with something useful such as a note on a market change.
• A final, polite note saying you will not chase again but the door stays open.

When you do get the owner on the phone, keep the first call short. Listen more than you talk. Ask about the business and what they want for the future, not about the numbers. Your goal is a face-to-face meeting, nothing more.

If they say no, thank them and ask if you can stay in touch. Many owners who say "not now" mean exactly that.

How many approaches does it take to do one deal?

More than most buyers expect. You will need a long list of well-chosen targets to end up with a handful of real conversations, and fewer deals again.

As an example from deals I've worked on, a PE-backed testing and inspection group researched 112 targets to complete two regional bolt-ons. A UK buy-and-build investor mapped 83 targets to complete two European acquisitions. Those numbers are typical of disciplined off-market buying: the list has to be long because most owners are not ready, not right, or not interested.

The fix is not to write to more businesses at random. It is to be clearer about what you want. Our acquisition criteria template helps you set size, sector, location and deal-breakers before you start.

How do confidentiality and NDAs work?

Owners worry about one thing above almost everything else: that staff, customers or competitors will find out they are talking to a buyer. Make it clear, in writing and in person, that you will keep the conversation private.

Some practical points:

• Never contact staff, customers or suppliers without the owner's agreement.
• You sign the NDA, not them. They are the one sharing information. Offer to sign theirs, or provide a short, fair one of your own.
• Expect a no-poaching clause. Most NDAs stop you hiring their staff or approaching their customers if talks end. That is reasonable.
• Do not ask for an NDA before the first meeting. It makes a friendly conversation feel like a legal process. It usually comes before any figures are shared.

When is the right time to approach an owner?

You cannot make an owner ready to sell, but some moments make a conversation more likely:

• Age and succession. An owner in their late fifties or sixties with no obvious successor is often thinking about the future, even if nobody has asked. NFU Mutual research reported in February 2026 found almost a quarter of business owners aged 55 to 64 had no succession or retirement plan in place.
• A retiring competitor. If a rival's founder is stepping back, their customers and staff are already unsettled. A respectful approach can solve a real problem for them.
• A change in the business. A co-founder leaving, a long-serving manager retiring, or a key contract renewal coming up.
• Market changes. New regulation, rising costs or a big customer consolidating its suppliers can make independence harder.

Companies House filings often show these signs: a director resigning, a new PSC, or accounts that show profit falling.

What mistakes get you ignored?

• Mass mailing. Owners talk to each other and can spot a template.
• Leading with price. It ends the conversation before it starts.
• Getting the name or business wrong. One mistake tells the owner you do not really care.
• Writing to the wrong person. The finance manager will rarely pass a buyer's letter up the line.
• Chasing too hard. Weekly calls feel like pressure. Space your follow-ups out.
• Giving up after one letter. Silence is not a no.
• Overpromising. Do not say you will keep every job or never change anything unless you mean it.

Can someone do this for you?

You can run approaches yourself, and many owners do it well. It takes time, a clear target list and patience.

If you want to learn how, the Acquisition Accelerator takes a small group of owners through targeting, approaches and first meetings over three months, with a monthly session in London and a weekly one-to-one on your own deal. If you would rather have the work done for you, our advisory service maps the target market and runs the approaches on your behalf, acting only for you as the buyer.