Specialist Security Business Brokers, United Kingdom
enquiries@securitybusinessforsale.co.uk • 01285 704466

Buying a security business in 2027

The checks before you agree a price

Connect security activities to licences, company approval, customer terms and replacement costs before agreeing a price.

For buyers 13 pages 9-minute read Updated Oct 2026

Get the guide

Who this guide is for

For buyers considering a security business with guarding, maintenance or technical work. Use it to separate the activities being sold and the evidence needed for each.

What you will take from it

  • Match the actual security activity to the people and permissions behind it.
  • Read company approval and customer terms separately.
  • Use the two-page evidence scorecard to record unanswered questions and completion actions.

What is inside

  1. Match the licence to the work
  2. Read the scope of approval
  3. Follow the customer agreement
  4. Map the team after completion
  5. Price the work that remains

The tool: security buyer evidence scorecard

A two-page fillable record of activities, evidence, named people, dates, unresolved questions and completion actions.

It comes as its own file as well as a page of the guide.

Two pages from the guide

Page 4 of the guide
Page 4 of 13
Page 10 of the guide
Page 10 of 13

Get the guide

Tell us who you are and the guide opens on this page, with the security buyer evidence scorecard as its own file.

PDF 13 pages 580 KB

Your details go to Simon Read's team at Security Business Sales. We do not sell them or share them for marketing. Privacy policy.

Simon Read

Prepared by Simon Read

Founder & Managing Director, Reads Advice Partners Ltd

Simon founded Reads M&A Advisory to specialise in trades such as HVAC, electrical, fire safety and facilities management, and has spent many years selling businesses to independent buyers, trade companies and private equity-backed groups across the UK.

Updated Oct 2026. The Autumn Budget is scheduled for Oct 2026, and we review every guide after it.

Start with a free first conversation: 01285 704466. Meet the team.

Related articles

Every article, by topic

Related guides

  • Reading a security business listing like an expert

    Decode a security business listing by matching revenue, contracts, permissions, people and profit to named records.

    For buyers 13 pages Includes the security listing decoder Updated Oct 2026

    Get the guide

  • Working capital at completion

    Separate security working capital from cash, match guarding invoices to receipts and plan payroll dates with a two-page completion worksheet.

    For sellers 13 pages Includes the security completion cash worksheet Updated Oct 2026

    Get the guide

Hear about businesses before they are advertised

Tell us what you are looking for, and start with a free first conversation.

Register as a buyer