Recruitment

Selling a recruitment business

Updated November 2026

A recruitment business is valued on its client relationships, its consultants and the reliability of its income.

Harbour One Group buys established UK recruitment and staffing businesses, permanent and temporary, from owners planning their exit.

What makes a recruitment business attractive

• A temporary or contract book with steady margins, alongside permanent fees
• Long-standing clients and preferred supplier agreements
• Consultants who stay, with relationships spread across the team rather than held by the owner
• Sound compliance, right-to-work and payroll processes
• Clear funding arrangements for the temporary payroll

Keeping consultants and clients through a sale

Recruitment owners worry most about losing key consultants or clients when news of a sale gets out. We keep conversations confidential until you are ready, and plan with you how and when the team is told.

Preparing to sell

Prepare three years of accounts, a breakdown of permanent and temporary income, your top clients with their terms, and details of any invoice finance facility.

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.