Specialist brokers for the HVAC sector.
Part of the Reads Advice Partners network, we focus exclusively on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning businesses.
Why HVAC business owners choose us.
Reads M&A Advisory is a business brokerage founded by Simon Read, who brings many years of experience selling accountancy practices and businesses across a range of sectors. The firm has strong relationships with private equity firms (investment firms that buy companies to grow and sell on), business investors and family offices actively seeking acquisition opportunities.
Many of those buyers have been asking us specifically for HVAC businesses.
Gas Safe and OFTEC-certified engineering teams are critically short in supply. PE-backed platforms are actively acquiring established operators rather than training from scratch. Buyers now ask for F-Gas accreditation, REFCOM certification and MCS heat pump capability by name. That demand is the reason we launched a dedicated specialist service for HVAC sales.
We are upfront that this is a new dedicated focus for us.
HVAC is one of the sectors Simon set Reads M&A Advisory up to specialise in, and we know what buyers in the trade look for. What we bring is a substantial buyer network already asking for HVAC opportunities, many years of business sales process expertise, and access to consultants, finance directors and acquisition specialists who help prepare your business for sale.
If you are exploring a sale, your first conversation can be with Simon or Emily. Simon leads the decisions on the sale with you.
Key Facts
- Part of Reads Advice Partners Ltd
- Company No. 12124192
- Registered in England and Wales
- Nationwide coverage
- HVAC sector specialists
- Free initial consultation
- Confidential process
A direct conversation with the person running your sale.
Simon Read leads Reads M&A Advisory. Ask for Simon. Your first conversation can be with Simon or Emily, and decisions on the sale are made with Simon. Day to day, Emily keeps each case moving, and each of the others looks after one part of the work, as set out below.
When you speak to Simon, you are talking to the person who has access to the buyer network and will manage your sale.
Simon understands the business sale process in detail: from preparing accounts for buyer scrutiny, to managing heads of terms (the short document that sets out the main points of the deal before the lawyers start), to ensuring Gas Safe registrations and F-Gas certifications are handled correctly in the transfer documentation.
This direct, personal approach means nothing is lost in translation.
Your business is positioned accurately, your concerns are heard by the person making decisions, and you always know exactly where you stand in the process.
The people behind your sale.
A small team works around Simon. Here is who does what, from the years of preparation in the Reads Pre-Sale Programme to the sale itself.
Simon Read
Founder & Managing Director
Simon founded Accountants For Sale, then Reads M&A Advisory, which he set up to specialise in trades such as HVAC, electrical, fire safety and facilities management. He has spent many years selling businesses, bringing together independent buyers, acquisitive trade companies, private equity-backed groups and strategic investors across the UK. He does not work on volume. He takes the time to understand what an owner wants from the sale, then finds the right buyers and negotiates the terms himself. Away from the office he presents Business Forum on Cotswold Radio.
He gives you a baseline valuation years before a sale, then takes the business to market when you are ready.
Nick Hunt
Strategic Growth & Exit Adviser
Nick is a Founding Partner of Murmuration Partners and a non-executive director. He spent more than 15 years in a FTSE100 company, in roles covering strategy, proposition, investment and risk, and he is an expert in investment and governance. He now coaches and leads, helping teams build strategies that last, and he likes to get hands-on with businesses of all kinds. He is also a co-founder of Cotswold Lakes Brew Co., a sustainability-led microbrewery.
At Reads, Nick leads the Exit Strategy Workshop and the programme that follows, building a business that thrives without you, which HVAC buyers look at closely.
Ian Mills
Non-Executive Director
Ian founded, built and sold a global professional services firm that helped organisations with complex performance problems, and has worked across more than 60 countries. He now mentors the leaders of mid-sized businesses, helping them turn ambition into lasting performance. He has co-authored three books, most recently The Leader's Secret Code.
For businesses with several branches or a management team, and for owners who want more from a sale than the price, Ian mentors you and your senior team in the years before it. Simon still runs the sale.
Angela Roberts
Office Manager
Angela is Office Manager at Reads M&A Advisory and keeps the business running smoothly, so owners get a prompt and friendly answer. With a background in IT and marketing, she founded Cotswold Networking, a network of business groups across the Cotswolds, Bristol and Bath.
She supports both the team and its clients throughout the buying and selling process.
Ben Davies
Financial Preparation Specialist
Ben is a CIMA-qualified management accountant who helps owners understand the numbers behind a sale. He spent ten years at a building society, working his way up from apprentice to accountant, before founding his own practice. His strengths are management accounts, cash flow forecasting and explaining, in plain terms, what a set of figures is really saying.
In the final year, Ben gets your figures ready before a buyer starts asking questions about them.
Martin Dugan
Head of Deal Origination
Martin finds owners who are weighing up a sale before they go looking for an adviser, and connects them with buyers already registered with Reads. The work is research, careful targeting and patient direct approaches, made quietly and without pressure. He also runs AA2, a B2B data and outbound business.
Alongside either route, Martin leads Buyer-ready presence, putting the online foundations in order for customers and a future owner.
Emily Jeans
Marketing and Administration Manager
Emily is the person owners stay in touch with once a sale is under way. She keeps each case moving from the initial agreement to completion, and she is organised and quick to reply. Hers is the name you will come to know well.
She chases the small details so nobody else has to; the decisions stay with you and Simon.
Reads also works with specialist partners: experienced financial planners who help owners with their own finances before and after a sale. Simon can introduce you. See how financial planning around the sale works.
Start a conversation.
No obligation, no pressure. Tell us about your business and we will be in touch within 24 hours.
Thank you for getting in touch.
We have received your enquiry and will be in contact within 24 hours. Everything you have shared is treated in the strictest confidence.
Start with a free first conversation, in confidence, then choose whether you want the paid written Snapshot: see how the two routes fit together.