Check Your Valuation Gap
The Evidence

The gap is real.
The multiples are verified.
The outcomes are documented.

Every figure on this page is drawn from current mid-market M&A data. Not projections. Verified transaction benchmarks from the sectors we work in.

The 2026 buyer is not
the 2016 buyer.

The market for owner-managed businesses has not disappeared. Transactions below £100 million represent 88% of all disclosed UK deals — which means the buyer for your business exists and is active.

What has changed is what that buyer is paying for. Today he arrives with a team looking for documented systems, transferable processes and evidence that the business operates independently of its owner.

Businesses that can demonstrate this command a Surfer multiple. Businesses that cannot are repriced on the spot.

Market depth
88%
of all disclosed UK deals are below £100M — your buyer exists and is active
Captive floor
3.0x
owner-dependent businesses
Surfer ceiling
11.0x
sovereign, system-led asset
Verified sector multiples

What the market is actually paying.

SectorCaptiveSurferSource
General Manufacturing
3.0x – 3.5x
7.0x – 8.5x
BDO / MarktoMarket
Distribution & Logistics
3.0x – 3.5x
6.0x – 8.0x
MarktoMarket H1 2025
B2B Technical Services
2.5x – 3.5x
8.0x – 10.0x
Experian M&A 2025
Specialist Manufacturing
3.5x
8.5x – 10.0x
PwC Global Industrials
Precision Engineering
3.5x
8.0x – 9.5x
BDO Manufacturing

Vantage Index benchmarks cross-referenced against BDO, PwC, Experian and MarktoMarket M&A data 2024–2026.

On a £2M EBITDA distribution business, moving from 3x to 7x is the difference between £6 million and £14 million. That gap does not appear by accident. It is built in the 18 to 36 months before sale.

On a £3M EBITDA specialist manufacturer, the move from Captive to Surfer represents a gap of £16.5 million.

Case evidence

What this looks like in practice.

Midlands Distribution

Turnover £8M. Owner in his late fifties, 24 months from planned exit. Due diligence by a prospective buyer returned a valuation 35% below expectation.

Build completed over 14 months across four critical knowledge gaps.
Exit at 7.2x. Original buyer offer: 3.1x.
Precision Engineering, West Midlands

£1.8M EBITDA. Deep technical expertise held almost entirely by the founder and one senior engineer approaching retirement.

35 years of pricing and technical knowledge documented and transferred. Exit achieved within the planned 18-month window.
Multiple achieved: 8.4x.
B2B Trade Services

£900k EBITDA. Three informal approaches received, all significantly below expectation. Common feedback: owner-dependent, no documented processes.

Blueprint and Build completed in 16 months. All three original approaches re-engaged.
Final exit: 8.1x. Previous best offer: 3.4x.

All cases anonymised. Sector and geography confirmed. Multiples verified against completed transaction data.

Our fee in context

Our fee is a fraction of the gap we close.

We do not charge by the hour. We price against the valuation gap we create — typically around 3% of the additional exit value delivered. On an £8 million gap, that context speaks for itself.

If Vantage cannot move your number materially, we will tell you that in the first call.

Find out what your gap is worth

Find out where your
business sits right now.

Seven questions. Three minutes. Your Captive, Captain or Surfer position — and your estimated valuation gap in pounds. The conversation with Graham follows from there.

Check Your Valuation Gap Seven questions · Three minutes · Your gap in pounds