Dawson Radford Solicitors

Dawson Radford Solicitors Company & Commercial Solicitors based in the East Midlands, experts in helping clients buy and sell businesses

Sometimes buying a business can seem like a bit of a minefield. The path through is often not straight forward, but with the right guide you can be successful. I have been helping business owners expand their operations through acquisitions for over 10 years, guiding them through the process, avoiding the pitfalls and helping them achieve their objectives. My clients say that I take the time to ex

plain things properly, and adopt a pragmatic and practical approach. I don't get involved in lawyer arguments that achieve nothing, but focus on what is important to the client, and what ultimately gets the deal done. When faced with a problem I always go to my clients with a list of options, so that they can make an informed decision as to how to proceed. I draw upon my knowledge gained from simillar transactions, so my client's trust that I am speaking from experience and giving them the best advice. Please keep an eye on my page, which I will update with posts about things that I think will interest you, tips on how to acquire, and posts about the work I am doing - confidentially of course.

04/06/2026

Right, so nobody talks about this bit. When you're running a business and you make a decision that seems totally fine on paper... there can be tax implications that just blindside you. I see it all the time. It's not about being clever, it's about knowing what questions to ask before you commit to something. Watch this - it'll save you a headache.

02/06/2026

Most sellers nod along when warranties and indemnities come up. Don't be that seller.

Warranties protect the buyer from what they don't know. Indemnities cover specific risks that are already on the table. Different remedies, different strength, different rules.

And here's the bit sellers always miss - if you flag something upfront and disclose it properly, the buyer can't come back and claim on it later. That's your protection.

It's not as complicated as it sounds. Promise.

Three documents every business owner should have in place right now.Most don't.I see the consequences every single day. ...
28/04/2026

Three documents every business owner should have in place right now.

Most don't.

I see the consequences every single day. Missing paperwork slows deals down. It raises questions. Sometimes it kills transactions entirely.

So here are the three I'd start with.

Terms and conditions.

If a customer doesn't pay you, how do you enforce it without payment terms in writing? The honest answer is with great difficulty. Get them in place. Make sure customers actually receive them. If something goes wrong and nothing is written down, you have very little to stand on.

Employment contracts.

Every employee needs a written statement of particulars from day one. Not eventually. Day one. It is a legal requirement. Without a proper contract you end up having conversations based on what someone thinks they were told at interview. That never ends well.

Contracts with key customers.

Are your most important business relationships actually in writing? When I am doing due diligence on an acquisition, this is one of the first things I look at. A buyer wants to know those relationships will transfer. That they are locked in. That there is something to actually buy. If it is all just a handshake and a hope, that is a risk. And buyers price in risk.

None of this is complicated. None of it needs to take over your life.

Sort it now. Not when something goes wrong.

Not sure where to start? Give us a call.

📞 01246 932100

27/04/2026

UK vs US. The difference in how we do business deals.

I've been seeing a lot more interest from American buyers recently. Particularly in the social care sector. And I'll tell you what, they operate very differently to us.

The pace is something else entirely.

Once they're in, they're in. They move fast. They run everything at the same time rather than working through things step by step. You can expect weekly calls, sometimes twice weekly, with twenty people on them.

Twenty.

And the timeline? They want deals closed in two to three weeks. Not two to three months.

Now in the UK we're used to a process. Due diligence. Contract negotiation. Bank funding. It all takes time. There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of different parties involved.

American buyers don't really want to hear that.

It doesn't mean deals can't get done. They absolutely can. But if you're a seller going into a transaction with an overseas buyer, particularly from the US, you need to be prepared for a very different experience to what you might expect.

Get your paperwork in order before they come knocking. Because once they do, they won't want to wait for you to find it.

24/04/2026

Three documents every business owner should have in place right now.

Most don't.

And I don't say that to be dramatic. I say it because I see the consequences every single day when businesses are being bought and sold.

Missing paperwork slows deals down. It raises questions. Sometimes it kills transactions entirely.

So here are the three I'd start with.

Terms and conditions. If a customer doesn't pay you, how do you enforce it without payment terms in writing? With great difficulty. Get them in place. Make sure customers actually receive them.

Employment contracts. You must have written statements of particulars for every employee from day one. Not eventually. Day one. It's a legal requirement. And without a proper contract, you're having conversations based on what someone thinks they were told at the interview. That never ends well.

Contracts with key customers. Are your most important relationships actually in writing? A buyer wants to know those relationships will transfer. If it's all just a handshake and a hope, that's a risk. And buyers price in risk.

None of this is complicated. None of it needs to take over your life.

But sort it now. Not when something goes wrong.

Not sure where to start? Give us a call.

📞 01246 932100
🌐 dawsonradford.co.uk

American buyers are coming into the UK market. And they operate very differently to us.I've been seeing a lot more overs...
23/04/2026

American buyers are coming into the UK market. And they operate very differently to us.

I've been seeing a lot more overseas interest recently. Once a US buyer is in, they are in. Twenty people on a Teams call. Deals expected to close in weeks not months.

Meanwhile, in the UK we're used to a process. Due diligence. Negotiations. Bank funding. It all takes time.

Neither approach is wrong. They're just very different. And if you're a seller who's never dealt with an overseas buyer before, knowing what to expect makes a big difference.

Swipe through to see exactly how the two compare. 👉

22/04/2026

Using AI for legal advice?

Ask yourself this first.

How much professional indemnity insurance does it have?

When I get something wrong, I get sued. There's someone on the hook. There's accountability.

When the AI gets it wrong? There's nobody. And you're the one left dealing with the consequences.

I'm not against AI. We use it. It has its place. But using it as a replacement for actual legal advice is where it gets problematic.

We're dealing with an employment matter at the moment where the other party is unrepresented. Every response we get is three or four pages of AI-generated content. Wrong law quoted. Tangents that have nothing to do with the actual situation.

We still have to take it seriously. We still have to go through every point and explain why most of it isn't relevant.

Which takes time. Which costs our client money.

The AI hasn't saved anyone anything. It's made the whole thing more expensive for everyone.

AI is good at summarising. It's good at giving you a general overview.

What it cannot do is tell you the "so what." Why this clause matters for your situation. What the risk actually is. What you should do about it.

That's the expertise. That's what you're paying for.

Use AI to research. Use it to ask better questions. But don't use it as a substitute for proper advice on something that actually matters.

Because if it gets it wrong, there is no one coming to fix it.

Questions about a legal matter? Talk to an actual human.

📞 01246 932100
🌐 dawsonradford.co.uk

Capital gains tax went up in April.I know. Nobody wants to hear it. But if you're thinking about selling your business, ...
17/04/2026

Capital gains tax went up in April.

I know. Nobody wants to hear it. But if you're thinking about selling your business, even in the next year or two, this is worth understanding.

Because on a £1 million sale, a 4% increase in capital gains tax isn't a rounding error.

It's £40,000.

That's a very nice car. A very good holiday. A pension contribution. A deposit for your child's first home.

It's not nothing.

Swipe through and I'll break down exactly what's changing, what it means in real terms, and what you can do about it. 👇

I ask almost every new client the same questions.Do you have written terms and conditions?Do your employment contracts a...
15/04/2026

I ask almost every new client the same questions.

Do you have written terms and conditions?
Do your employment contracts actually reflect what people are doing?
Do you have anything in writing with your key customers?

You'd be surprised how often the answer is no. Or "I think so." Or "we've got something from years ago, but I'm not sure it's been updated."

And it's not because people are being careless. It's because they're busy. They're running a business. Legal paperwork feels like something you'll get around to.

Until you need it.

Swipe through - these are the documents every business owner should have. Most don't. 👇

I've had two deals fall over recently.And neither of them needed to.Both times, the information was there. The risks wer...
14/04/2026

I've had two deals fall over recently.

And neither of them needed to.

Both times, the information was there. The risks were known. They just weren't properly disclosed until it was too late.

Six months of work. Everyone's time. Everyone's money. Gone.

I see the same things come up again and again.

**Drip-fed information.**

A buyer knows a risk is there. They're asking questions about it. But the actual written evidence doesn't land until the very end of the process.

By that point, deal fatigue has set in. What might have been manageable at the start of a transaction? It becomes a dealbreaker at month six.

**Negative working capital.**

The seller knows about it. The buyer doesn't fully appreciate it until deep into financial due diligence.

Suddenly, the business looks very different on paper to what everyone expected. The seller won't put funds in to fix it. The deal collapses.

**And sometimes it's just life.**

We had one recently where the regulator came in to inspect the day before completion.

We had to disclose it to the buyer. They wanted to wait for the report. More delays. More cost. More uncertainty.

None of these things are necessarily fatal on their own.

But combined with tired solicitors, tired clients, and everyone just wanting it to be over, they become exactly that.

If you're thinking about selling your business, the single best thing you can do is get everything on the table early.

Problems at the start of a transaction, when everyone's motivated and enthusiastic, are solvable.

The same problem at month six?

Rarely.

*Thinking about selling and want to know how to prepare properly? Drop me a message or give us a call.*

📞 01246 932100
🌐 dawsonradford.co.uk

Address

26 Napier Court, Gander Lane, Barlborough
Chesterfield
S434PZ

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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+441246932100

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