Thread: Uk hosting companys

hello,
Are there any small uk hosts with an exsisting small client base looking at selling up or closing the business?
Please note only Uk hosting is of intrest.

thanks in advance

Up to what scale is "small"?

Originally Posted by ukbusinessbuyer

Well that is a question i didnt think of

You don't know what size company you're looking to buy? People have different ideas of what a small hosting provider is, I'm sure some of the guys on here can advise of what turnover p/a is classed as small.

How about the simple things such as how many hosted accounts you're looking at (mix and max) and what budget you're looking to spend.

Ah you mean hobby hosts

Most people of that size can be found on Web Hosting Talk - The largest, most influential web hosting community on the Internet

Lol at Tim! Hobby Hosts... I thought these were usually pre-pubescent with a FH reseller account types, looking forward to celebrating when they raise invoice number one hundred, value £2.99 ....

Originally Posted by ukbusinessbuyer

For example through another forum we have brought 10 clients from a designer.
We are looking for smaller companys ideally with around 20-50 clients to start with.

At those sorts of numbers you're looking at very unsuccessful kid-in-a-bedroom resellers - as someone else posted - there's always lots of those over at WHT ...

I really think you should be looking at the business overall, not just the number of clients

One role I have with one of my current contracts is to value businesses
The number of clients is usually more of a selling point from the seller, rather than of interest to the buyer, however the buyer is normally interested to know the size of the previous and current customer base

Last year, 2008, I was involved in the handover of about 10 businesses to franchise
The figures available to the franchisee are turnover and number of customers per month
In most cases this is the last three to five years, excluding all or part of the current year
It is then up to the franchisee to determine if that information is correct and accurate, and this forms part of the due diligence process

In most of the cases the turnover and customer count was falling, hence the move to franchise, and the companies shift of risk from the themselves to someone else

In terms of website hosting
There is a big difference in the valuation of a business with :
up to 10 clients and an annual turnover of £2500
up to 1000 clients and an annual turnover of £2500
and that's before we even get to the costs and margins!

Perhaps you should list some basic terms that you will only consider
Let's say :
Trading for at least 6 months
Turnover at least £150 per month / £1500 per annum
Transfer of Domain Names to be included
Completion of sale within 28 days
Anti-competition clause and agreement for three years

This will make it a lot clearer to anyone considering selling up

For my own contracts I clearly state that payment must be made on completion of the work
For ongoing contracts, where the customer has been using my services for 12 or more months, then payment must be made within 7 days
For a transfer of business then both parties must be present on completion, if not then the opinion of the present party only will be taken

I host with 20-50 clients wont have a quality client base that you mention you are looking for. With those numbers they would probably have been trading only a month or two, and you wouldnt have any idea of the *quality*.