The Monday Market Brief — 11 August 2026

The Monday Market Brief by Proactive Business Brokers

UK Business Sale
Market Intelligence

Monday 11 August 2026 · Week 2 of 4

The Week in One Sentence

With the Bank of England holding rates at 3.75% and BADR now settled at 18%, the window for tax-efficient business exits is open — but the preparation gap between owners who will benefit and those who will not is widening by the week.

Section 02

Three Developments That Matter

What happened

Bank of England holds base rate at 3.75% for second consecutive meeting

The Monetary Policy Committee voted 7–2 to hold rates at 3.75% following its August meeting, citing easing inflation (CPI at 2.6%) but persistent wage growth. Two members voted for a further 25bps cut.

Why it matters

Debt-funded acquisitions remain cheaper than at any point since 2022, keeping PE buyers active and trade buyers able to finance deals. Vendor loans and deferred consideration structures remain attractive where buyers want to preserve cash.

What owners should do

If you are relying on the rate environment to drive buyer appetite, note that appetite already exists — the constraint is not financing, it is finding businesses that pass due diligence. Preparation, not timing, is the variable you can control.

What happened

Beauhurst data shows Q2 2026 UK deal completions down 22% year-on-year by volume

Beauhurst's latest UK private company deal tracker records 847 completed transactions in Q2 2026, compared with 1,086 in Q2 2025 — a 22% fall. However, aggregate deal value rose 28%, to £14.3bn from £11.2bn.

Why it matters

This is the sharpest confirmation yet of the quality-volume divergence: fewer deals completing, but the ones that do complete are worth significantly more. Buyers are not withdrawing — they are becoming more selective. Underprepared businesses are not receiving poor offers; they are receiving no offers at all.

What owners should do

Do not interpret a slow market as a reason to delay. The businesses completing in Q2 2026 are those that were prepared 12–18 months ago. The time to prepare for the 2027–28 window is now.

What happened

HMRC confirms BADR claim volumes for 2025/26 up 34% — but average relief per claim falls

HMRC's provisional Business Asset Disposal Relief statistics show 34% more claims in 2025/26 than the prior year, driven by owners accelerating exits ahead of the April 2026 rate increase. However, the average relief per claim fell from £118,000 to £91,000, indicating a higher proportion of smaller disposals.

Why it matters

The rush to beat the April deadline pulled forward transactions that might otherwise have completed in 2026/27 — which partly explains the volume drop in Q2. The queue of prepared, larger businesses going to market has shortened. Qualified businesses that are ready now face less competition for the same pool of motivated buyers.

What owners should do

At 18%, BADR remains significantly more favourable than the standard CGT rate of 24%. Owners who waited out the rate increase and are now ready to go to market are entering a less crowded environment than 12 months ago.

Section 03

Five Numbers to Know

£190bn

BVCA · August 2026

UK-focused private equity dry powder. Buyers have the capital — the constraint is finding businesses worth buying.

6–12×

Benchmarkintl / BDO · Q2 2026

EBITDA multiple range for PE-backed Professional Services acquisitions — the premium sector this quarter.

18%

HMRC · effective April 2026

BADR CGT rate. A £3m gain now generates £540,000 in CGT — £240,000 more than in 2024. The clock is running.

197 days

ICAEW / BDO · H1 2026

Average time from heads of terms to completion for SME transactions in H1 2026. Budget 6–7 months minimum.

30%

Beauhurst · Q1–Q2 2026 vs Q1–Q2 2025

Fall in completed deal volumes year-to-date. Against this: deal values rose 36%. The market rewards quality and punishes unpreparedness in equal measure.

Section 04

Chart of the Week

BADR CGT Rate — Ten-Year Progression (%)

2016/17

2017/18

2020/21

2024/25

2025/26

2026/27

Source: HMRC. The standard CGT rate for business assets above the BADR lifetime limit (£1m) is 24%.

The direction of travel is clear. BADR has increased every year since 2024, and there is no policy signal suggesting a return to lower rates. Owners who hold the belief that they will sell "when rates improve" are waiting for a reversal that has no evidential basis.

Section 05

Deal to Watch

Bridgepoint acquires majority stake in Forvis Mazars UK advisory division

Announced August 2026 · Sector: Professional Services / Accountancy

PE-backed Professional Services Majority stake

Bridgepoint's acquisition of a majority position in the UK advisory arm of Forvis Mazars — one of the top-ten accountancy and advisory networks — continues the accelerating private equity interest in professional services firms. The deal values the division at a reported 11–13× EBITDA, consistent with the upper range of current benchmarks for PE-backed professional services transactions.

Why this matters for SME owners: The transaction demonstrates that PE capital is actively targeting professional services businesses — accountancy, legal, consulting, and specialist advisory — at multiples significantly above trade deal benchmarks. If your business provides recurring advisory services to clients, your buyer universe may be broader and better-capitalised than you assume. A financial adviser, accountant or solicitor practice generating £500k–£3m EBITDA with strong client retention is an attractive acquisition target in the current environment.

Section 06

Chairman's View

"Every week I speak to business owners who are waiting for the right moment to sell. The right moment, they tell me, is when the market improves, when rates fall further, when trading is stronger, when a specific contract lands, when the business is bigger. What they are actually describing is uncertainty — a reluctance to commit to a process they can't fully control. But here is what the data tells me: the businesses completing today are not the ones that waited for perfect conditions. They are the ones that decided to prepare, then proceeded when they were ready. The market will not improve on your behalf. Preparation is the only variable you control."

Craig Bartlett — Founder & Chairman, Proactive Business Brokers

Chairman's View is editorial interpretation based on current deal activity and market observation. It does not constitute financial or legal advice.

Section 07

One Action for Owners

This week's action

Pull your last three years of management accounts and calculate your EBITDA add-backs. An add-back is a legitimate, one-time or non-recurring cost that a buyer would exclude when valuing your business — owner salary above market rate, personal expenses run through the business, one-off legal fees, restructuring costs. Most business owners significantly underestimate their true EBITDA because they have never systematically identified their add-backs. A business generating £400k reported EBITDA may have £80k–£120k of legitimate add-backs — meaning the business a buyer actually values is a £500k–£520k EBITDA business. At a 6× multiple, that difference is worth £480,000–£720,000 to you at completion. This calculation costs nothing to do and takes an afternoon.

Read the full August edition of Proactive Exit Intelligence — our monthly market report with sector spotlights, exit readiness assessment, valuation data and Craig's Chairman's Brief.

Download August Report
Book a Confidential Exit Readiness Review

The Monday Market Brief is published weekly by Proactive Business Brokers. All data sourced from publicly available UK sources including ONS, Bank of England, HMRC, BVCA, ICAEW, Beauhurst, Benchmarkintl, BDO and Mergermarket. This publication is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. Proactive Business Brokers is a trading name of Proactive Business Group Ltd, registered in England and Wales. Eberleigh House, 1 Putlowes Drive, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP18 0PX.

UK Business SaleMarket Intelligence

Three Developments That Matter

Five Numbers to Know

Chart of the Week

Deal to Watch

Chairman's View

One Action for Owners

UK Business Sale
Market Intelligence

The Monday Market Brief - 11 August 2026

The Monday Market Brief is a supplement to our monthly report

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