Valuation: SHARPE & SONS (NOTTINGHAM) LIMITED

---

Sharpes of Nottingham operates a mixed fleet of executive coaches, double-decker buses and heritage vehicles from its depot near Nottingham, serving private hire, school contracts, scheduled day trips and corporate hospitality across the East Midlands and further afield. Revenue comes from a blend of contract work (school runs, scheduled routes) providing a recurring base and ad hoc private hire, which is more seasonal. The business has been family-run for over 20 years, with five PSCs all bearing the Sharpe name, indicating concentrated family ownership.

---

The UK coach and private bus hire market sits within the broader passenger land transport sector, estimated at roughly £7–8 billion annually. Growth has been modest, in the region of 3–5% per year since the post-pandemic recovery, driven by rising school transport demand (local authority outsourcing), corporate events and tourism. The sector is highly fragmented: the Office of Rail and Road counts over 4,000 licensed operators, though the top 10 (National Express, Arriva, Go-Ahead, Stagecoach, etc.) handle the bulk of scheduled services. Smaller regional operators like Sharpes compete on quality, relationships and flexibility rather than scale.

Consolidation is accelerating. Private equity has been active, with platforms such as TLC Travel Group acquiring independents to build regional density. However, the industry faces headwinds: driver shortages, rising fuel and insurance costs, and the capital cost of transitioning to Euro VI and eventually zero-emission fleets. Operators without the balance sheet to fund fleet renewal may find the next five years challenging.

For a seller today, the window is open but narrowing. Acquirers are looking for operators with well-maintained, compliant fleets and contract revenue. Businesses dependent on aging diesel stock or purely ad hoc hire will be harder to sell.

---

• Trent Barton – regional bus and coach operator with overlapping East Midlands routes
• Skills Coaches (Nottingham) – direct local competitor in private and school hire
• Centrebus – growing regional player acquiring smaller fleets
• Premiere Travel – East Midlands coach operator serving similar corporate and private hire
• Notts & Derby (trentbarton group) – scheduled services and school contracts in the same catchment

(Inferred from sector knowledge and geography; no direct competitive disclosure in sources.)

---

Most recent filed accounts: FY2025, made up to 28 February 2025.

Reconstructed profit and loss, GBP, figures marked (est.) are derived

• EBITDA
• Additional gross profit
• Cost of sales to total revenue

£1.8m

£2.5m

£300k

£2.7m

£350k

£2.9m

£400k

£3.2m

£480k

FY2021 (est.)

GP n/d · EBITDA £150k

FY2022 (est.)

GP n/d · EBITDA £300k

FY2023 (est.)

GP n/d · EBITDA £350k

FY2024 (est.)

GP n/d · EBITDA £400k

47 employees

FY2025 (est.)

GP n/d · EBITDA £480k

49 employees

Basis: Accounts are unaudited abridged, so no P&L is filed. Revenue and EBITDA are our estimates based on net asset growth (£1.54m to £1.90m in the latest year, implying c.£355k post-tax profit), depreciation of £442k, deferred tax movement of c.£82k, and sector-typical EBITDA margins of 13–15% for regional coach operators. Headcount is taken directly from the notes to the filed accounts.

---

Equity to enterprise bridge: Net assets of £1.9m include c.£0.5m cash and c.£1.0m of long-term creditors, likely HP/finance lease on the fleet, which would be treated as debt-like at completion. A buyer would therefore expect equity value of roughly EV minus c.£0.5m net debt (long-term creditors less surplus cash). The deferred tax provision of £466k relates to accelerated capital allowances on vehicles; this is non-cash but may require normalisation. Working capital is negative (net current liabilities), which is common in asset-heavy transport where HP falls due, but signals limited buffer. No director loans or property holdings are disclosed.

---

Sector multiples: UK coach and bus hire businesses of this scale typically trade at 4.0x to 6.0x EBITDA. Smaller operators with ageing fleets and high capex sit at the low end; those with contract revenue, compliant fleets and succession depth trade higher. High capital intensity (our assumption: >10% capex to revenue) and moderate revenue quality (c.30% recurring) push this business toward the lower half of the range.

Precedent transaction: In 2019, TLC Travel Group acquired Grayway Coaches, a similarly-sized North West operator, reportedly at c.4.5–5.0x EBITDA. Source: Route One Magazine, September 2019 (https://www.route-one.net/news/tlc-acquires-grayway/).

Indicated EV: At £480k EBITDA (est.) and a 4.0x–5.5x range, the enterprise value sits at approximately £1.9m to £2.6m. The lower end reflects high fleet capex requirements and family key-person risk; the upper end assumes a buyer values the brand, contracts and heritage fleet. This range is sensitive to whether the HP creditor is assumed by the buyer or repaid at completion.

---

These bars are calibrated for UK SMEs and do not apply to midcap or larger businesses, where the thresholds are very different.

The metric that most limits the multiple today is revenue scale: at c.£3.2m, the business sits below the threshold where larger trade buyers and PE platforms typically engage actively.

---

The single highest-return action is formalising a contract register and extending key school contracts before sale, because it converts opaque revenue into demonstrable recurring income, directly supporting a higher multiple.

---

The strongest route is a trade sale to a regional consolidator or larger coach group. Buyers like Centrebus or PE-backed platforms are actively seeking East Midlands density and would value the school contracts, depot and heritage fleet for marketing. For this owner, a trade sale likely means the highest upfront price, a 6–12 month transition, and eventual absorption of the brand, so it suits a clean exit rather than legacy preservation.

---

At your size a sale is usually a targeted process rather than a full auction: a regional or sector corporate finance adviser approaches a shortlist of credible buyers rather than the whole market. Expect around six to nine months from starting properly to money in the bank.

A specialist adviser is worth their fee here mainly through competitive tension and through protecting the price during diligence, not through finding a buyer you could not have found yourself.