You don’t need an adviser who’s learning the agency market. You need one who has run an agency, sold one, and knows what the process feels like from the founder’s chair.

We work only with marketing services agencies. That focus means we know how UK buyers value agencies, what they check in due diligence, and where deals usually stall: client concentration, a founder who holds every relationship, or an earn-out built on the wrong measure.

We are senior-led from first call to completion. The advisers who take the first meeting are the people who run the sale, prepare the financials and negotiate the terms.

We work with founder-led agencies from small independents to the lower mid-market. Many of the agencies we advise are below the size larger corporate finance houses focus on, and get the same senior attention.

What We Do for UK Agency Founders

Sell

If you’re ready to sell, or starting to think about it, we help you understand what your agency is worth, prepare it for market and find the right buyer, in the UK or overseas. We prepare the information memorandum and the financials, run the approach to buyers confidentially, and negotiate the price and structure through to completion.

Merge

Merge Express is our structured approach to agency mergers, for founders who want to grow through combination before they sell. Two complementary UK agencies together are often worth more to a buyer than either alone, so a merger can be the move before the move.

Buy

We also act for acquirers looking for UK agencies, and for UK agencies buying in the UK or abroad. We define the criteria, find and assess targets, make the first approach and advise through to completion.

Recent UK Transactions

A selection of UK deals Agency Futures has advised on:

Modus → Ardmore Group ModusBPCM, the London communications agency founded by Julian Vogel, joined Belfast-based Ardmore Group. Agency Futures originated the introduction and advised Julian through to completion.

PinPoint Media → Pretty Green Agency Futures advised on the acquisition of UK-based PinPoint Media by Pretty Green.

Further transactions, including confidential ones, are available on request.

What a UK Agency Is Worth

UK agencies are valued the same way as agencies anywhere: as a multiple of normalised EBITDA (sometimes called adjusted EBITDA), which is the profit the business makes once the owner’s personal and one-off costs are taken out and a market salary for the owner’s role is put in.

Across the bands we publish, multiples run from 3.0x for the smallest agencies to 10.0x for mid-market businesses. Where an agency sits depends on its size, how recurring its revenue is, how concentrated its clients are, how stable the team is, and how much of the business depends on the founder. Our agency valuation page sets out the bands and lets you estimate a range.

Who Buys UK Agencies

• UK independent groups adding a capability, a sector or a regional office.

• Holding companies and their networks, which buy specialist UK agencies to fill a gap.

• Private equity-backed platforms building groups through acquisition.

• Overseas buyers, mainly from the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific, who want a London base, UK clients or access to UK talent.

Which buyer pays most depends on what your agency adds to theirs. The right buyer often isn’t the obvious one, which is why we build the buyer list around the reason to buy rather than the buyer’s size.

How a UK Agency Sale Is Structured

Most UK agency sales follow a familiar pattern. The steps are set out on our sale process page. The points that most often come up for UK founders:

Upfront payment and earn-out

Most deals pay part of the price on completion and part through an earn-out over one to three years, based on how the agency performs after the sale. How the earn-out is measured, and who controls the things that drive it, matters as much as the headline price.

Completion accounts or locked box

UK deals usually settle the final price in one of two ways. With completion accounts, the price is adjusted after completion for the cash, debt and working capital actually in the business on the day. With a locked box, the price is fixed on an earlier balance sheet and the seller promises no value leaves the business in between. Each suits different situations, and the choice affects what you finally receive.

Share sale or asset sale

Most UK agency sales are share sales, where the buyer takes the company as it stands. In an asset sale the buyer takes the business without the company, and your team transfers to the buyer on their existing terms under TUPE.

Tax on the sale

On a share sale, UK founders can often claim Business Asset Disposal Relief, which reduces Capital Gains Tax on up to £1 million of lifetime gains. The rate is 14% for disposals in the 2025/26 tax year and 18% from 6 April 2026. Whether you qualify depends on how long you have held your shares and worked in the business, so take tax advice early, before the structure is agreed.

Your UK Advisers

Doug Baxter, Founder and CEO

Doug started Agency Futures to help agency founders get the best outcome from a sale. He has built, scaled and sold agencies across the UK, US and Asia-Pacific, and his own first exit taught him what founders need from an adviser. He advises on UK mandates, including the sale of Modus to Ardmore Group.

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Jane Boardman OBE, Board Advisor

Jane is the former CEO of M&C Saatchi Talk and a long-standing leader in the UK creative and communications industry. She advises on UK mandates, particularly in PR and communications.

Simon Morgan, Partner

Simon is a Certified Business Broker accredited by the Australian Institute of Business Brokers (AIBB) and a former agency founder with more than 30 years in the industry. He built a digital agency that was acquired by Publicis, led a large independent through tenfold growth, and founded an e-commerce business acquired by Expedia. Simon advises agency founders across the UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific, from the first conversation through to completion.

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