Haulage and logistics

Selling a haulage or logistics business

Updated November 2026

A haulage business is its drivers, its fleet, its operator's licence and the customers who rely on it every day.

Harbour One Group buys established UK haulage, transport and logistics businesses from owners who are ready to step back, and keeps them running under the name customers know.

What buyers look at in a haulage business

• Regular contracted or repeat work, with no single customer dominating
• Fleet age, maintenance records and any finance on the vehicles
• Driver retention, training and compliance records
• A clean operator's licence history and good compliance systems
• A transport manager in place who is not the owner

The operator's licence

Operator's licences cannot be transferred between businesses. In a share sale the licence stays with the company, though changes to directors and the transport manager must be notified to the Traffic Commissioner. In an asset sale the buyer would normally need its own licence. Take advice on this early, as it shapes how the sale is structured.

Preparing to sell

Have your fleet list, maintenance and inspection records, customer contracts and three years of accounts ready. A buyer will also want to understand your depot arrangements and any yard leases.

What stays the same

We buy businesses to keep them, not to sell them on. In most cases the name, the team and the way you look after customers stay as they are, with group support in finance, HR and systems added behind the scenes.

What we look for

• UK-based and independently owned
• Roughly £120k to £20m turnover
• Generally £100k or more in annual EBITDA
• An established trading history
• Owners planning succession, retirement or a change of direction

Every business is assessed individually, so if yours sits slightly outside these figures it is still worth a conversation.