A fresh approach. Exceptional value.
A fresh approach to legal services. They've guided us through multiple planned and reactive cases for our business. Exceptional turnaround times and great value for money.
Sell a UK business with transparent fixed-fee legal support that prepares you for due diligence, strengthens the terms and limits your liability.
Book a complimentary consultation
A short call with one of our founders about your business and your legal priorities. We reply within one business day.
Our business sale support
A buyer will test the business before committing to the price and terms. Gaps in contracts, ownership, records or liabilities can give them reasons to renegotiate or ask for stronger protection.
Our business sale solicitors prepare the legal side for scrutiny, manage due diligence and disclosure, and negotiate the sale agreement to protect the terms and limit your liability after the business changes hands.
We get the corporate records, contracts, ownership and key documents in order before a buyer looks at them, so avoidable gaps do not hold up the sale or give the buyer a reason to renegotiate.
We prepare the data room, handle the buyer's enquiries and make the right disclosures, so issues are dealt with on your terms rather than becoming a reason to lower the price or ask for stronger protection.
We negotiate the sale agreement around what due diligence has shown: the payment terms, warranties, indemnities and caps on claims, so your exposure after completion stays within clear, sensible limits.
A share sale and an asset sale give you different levels of control over what is sold, what you retain and how you exit. Our solicitors explain the trade-offs and agree the best approach before the heads of terms are signed.
Book a complimentary consultation
A short call with one of our founders about your business and your legal priorities. We reply within one business day.
You sell your shares in the company. Its contracts, employees, property and assets generally stay in place, together with its history and liabilities. This can offer a cleaner exit, but buyers will usually expect broader due diligence, warranties and disclosure.
You sell selected parts of the business, such as its equipment, stock, contracts, goodwill or intellectual property. This gives more control over what is included, but contracts, leases, licences, employees and individual assets may need to be transferred separately.
After a complimentary first conversation, your sale moves through three phases. Each is a fixed fee that you approve before it begins, and you may stop after any phase.
Get the early terms right before they become difficult to change.
Answer the buyer's enquiries, negotiate the sale agreement and limit your liability.
Manage the final legal steps to transfer ownership and complete the sale.
Book a complimentary consultation
Tell us about the sale you are planning and we will come back to you within one business day.
Sale-readiness prepares the business and the data room before the buyer's enquiries arrive, so gaps are found and fixed on your timetable. It is optional on every sale. Answering the buyer's enquiries and the disclosure letter are part of Deal execution either way.
From £1,000
Contracts, IP, employees and property reviewed and put in order, red flags fixed and the data room prepared.
From £1,250
The same preparation, plus the company's records, share register and Companies House filings.
A straightforward asset sale under £100k costs £2,700, or £3,700 with Sale-readiness. Fees exclude VAT and disbursements. Subscribers save 10% (Launch), 15% (Accelerate), 20% (Scale) or 25% (Enterprise) on every phase and add-on. See our legal subscription plans.
Drawing on experience from leading law firms and international businesses, our M&A solicitors support founders, shareholders and management teams selling UK businesses.
Legal Service Director
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Legal Service Director
SRA No. 634623
Patricia is a corporate and commercial solicitor whose practice centres on mergers and acquisitions, early-stage investment rounds, particularly angel and pre-seed, and the commercial agreements that underpin high-growth businesses. She trained at DLA Piper and has since held a series of in-house counsel roles, advising FTSE 100 companies, public bodies and private clients.
As Legal Service Director at Lawyerly, Patricia leads service delivery for a client base weighted towards technology and AI. She takes founders and investors through funding rounds, structures acquisitions, and negotiates the subscription agreements, technology licences and partnership arrangements that scale-ups depend on. Her grounding in data protection, intellectual property and regulatory work means she can run every strand of a technology transaction, keeping it moving and the valuation intact.
Qualifications
LLB (Hons); LPC MSc in Law, Business and Management
Senior Commercial Solicitor
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Senior Commercial Solicitor
SRA No. 576972
James is a commercial and corporate solicitor whose practice centres on commercial contracts, technology and intellectual property, and disputes. He practised at Pinsent Masons and EY Law and in a series of in-house roles, leading SaaS and software licensing negotiations, due diligence on acquisitions, and commercial litigation on high-value matters with international parties.
As Commercial Solicitor at Lawyerly, James brings that range to growing businesses that want advice of that standard without the apparatus of a traditional firm. He negotiates and manages contracts, advises on technology and intellectual property, and helps clients head off the disputes that derail growth. His particular strength in contract management and technology law means he can tighten a company's commercial framework and reduce its legal risk as it scales.
Qualifications
LLB (Hons); LPC (Commendation)
Senior Commercial Solicitor
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Senior Commercial Solicitor
SRA No. 642591
Isabelle is a corporate and commercial solicitor with seven years' post-qualification experience across private practice and in-house roles.
She trained and qualified at Nelsons, where she advised owner-managed businesses, management teams and investors on share and asset sales, acquisitions and reorganisations. She was named the Law Society's Junior Lawyer of the Year in 2020. She then joined Shoosmiths, working on domestic and cross-border M&A, private equity and restructuring transactions.
Isabelle later moved in-house, first with a private lender and then with a large transport group. There she advised on technology and SaaS agreements, procurement, data protection, governance and finance matters.
At Lawyerly, Isabelle advises clients across commercial and corporate matters. She is known for clear, practical advice that weighs legal risk against the commercial objective.
Qualifications
LLB (Hons); LPC
Co-Founder and Director
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Co-Founder and Director
SRA No. 7808039
Jackie has spent twenty years working on how legal services reach the people and businesses that need them. Before co-founding Lawyerly she built and led one of Africa's largest alternative legal organisations, growing it to more than 300 people serving 100,000 clients, and her work there was recognised in legal services, technology, innovation and dispute resolution. She holds a PhD, awarded with distinction, and has been named among the top five women in legal technology.
At Lawyerly she is responsible for the firm's strategic direction. Her starting point has not changed in two decades: the law should work for the people who use it, rather than the other way round. That view shapes how Lawyerly is run, from how services are priced to how matters are staffed.
Qualifications
LLB; MPhil (Cum Laude); PhD (Top Achiever Award); Key Regulatory Compliance Certifications
Co-Founder
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Co-Founder
Willem co-founded Lawyerly after twenty years of running and advising businesses, most of which were spent as a client of law firms rather than a member of one. He had seen how legal advice tends to arrive: late, priced by the hour, and detached from the commercial decision that prompted it. Lawyerly grew out of a conviction that it could be done differently.
He read law and marketing at university and later completed MIT Sloan's executive programme in artificial intelligence and business strategy. His career before Lawyerly took in two advertising agencies, which he led through the industry's move to digital, several years in digital publishing, and a period in international development, working on programmes across South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
At Lawyerly he is responsible for growth and for the client experience, ensuring our clients receive the legal support they need.
Qualifications
BA (Law); Executive education in AI and business strategy; Marketing
Commercial Lawyer
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Commercial Lawyer
SRA No. 7821597
Monique is a commercial lawyer with more than twelve years' experience, most of it at a large alternative legal services provider. Her work has spanned mediation and dispute resolution, corporate governance, contract law and technology law, with particular depth in due diligence on acquisitions, employment law and intellectual property disputes.
At Lawyerly, Monique drafts, reviews and negotiates commercial agreements for UK clients, including services agreements, technology and SaaS contracts, confidentiality agreements and partnership agreements, and advises on transactional, contractual and regulatory matters. She also supports clients on employment, intellectual property, data protection and compliance, working alongside the firm's solicitors.
Qualifications
LLB; Business Risk Management; M&A Due Diligence
Commercial Lawyer
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Commercial Lawyer
Alexa is a commercial lawyer with more than six years' experience in commercial litigation and commercial practice, at firms specialising in corporate, commercial and dispute resolution work. Her work has spanned contract drafting, litigation, mediation and arbitration, with particular depth in commercial agreements and the management of disputes.
At Lawyerly, Alexa drafts, reviews and negotiates commercial agreements, including services and supplier agreements, shareholders' agreements, franchise agreements and settlement agreements, and advises on transactional, contractual and dispute-related matters, working alongside the firm's solicitors.
Qualifications
LLB; Corporate Law; Commercial and Contract Law; Intellectual Property Law
Co-Founder
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Co-Founder
SRA No. 7820379
Jan began his career in law before broadening into corporate strategy and technology. He holds a Master's in Corporate Law and an MBA, and later completed a Master's in Applied Data Science, driven by a conviction that the legal profession could do far more with the data it generates. That combination of legal, commercial, and analytical training has shaped a career spent rethinking how legal services are designed and delivered, with a particular focus on projects that use data and digital tools to improve legal processes.
As a director of Lawyerly, Jan is responsible for data and analytics, financial management and strategy, and brings legal grounding, commercial judgement and technical fluency to how the firm is run.
Qualifications
LLB; LLM; MBA; MSc
Our business sale solicitors support you from getting the business ready for sale through to completion. We start by helping you get the corporate records, contracts and key documents in order, so avoidable gaps do not hold things up or give the buyer reasons to renegotiate later. Once a buyer is in place, we help agree the deal structure and heads of terms, manage due diligence and disclosure, and negotiate the sale agreement. That includes the warranties and indemnities you are being asked to give, as well as the limits on any claims after the sale. We then handle the legal process through to completion. The same solicitor stays with you throughout, so you have one point of contact who understands the business, the deal and what matters to you.
Buyer due diligence often raises questions or brings issues to the surface. When that happens, we help you understand how significant the issue really is, what information needs to be provided and whether anything can be resolved before it affects the deal. We also help you respond clearly, make the right disclosures and push back where the buyer’s concerns or requests go too far. Where an issue does need to be dealt with, we work to find a practical solution.
No, it is optional on every sale. Sale-readiness prepares the business and the data room before the buyer starts asking questions, so gaps in contracts, records or ownership are found and fixed on your timetable. It costs from £1,000 on an asset sale and from £1,250 on a share sale. Whether or not you take it, responding to the buyer's due diligence enquiries and preparing the disclosure letter are part of Deal execution.
The value of the deal places it in a band, and the band sets the fixed fee for each phase and add-on. A straightforward asset sale under £100k costs £2,700 across the three phases, or £3,700 with Sale-readiness. A share sale, more employees, leases or contracts, more than two sellers, an earn-out, lender funding or a regulated business add to the fee, and deals of £2.5m or more are quoted individually. If the facts change after we quote, we re-quote before doing the further work.
The headline price is only part of the deal. The legal terms decide when and how you are paid, what you remain responsible for after completion and how easily the buyer can bring a claim later. We help you choose between a share sale and an asset sale based on what you want to sell, retain and step away from. We then negotiate the payment terms, warranties, indemnities and limits on claims, as well as any retention, deferred payment or earn-out. The aim is to protect the value of the sale and keep your exposure after completion within clear, sensible limits.
Most business sales take around three to six months from signed heads of terms to completion. The timing depends on how prepared the business is, how smoothly the buyer’s due diligence progresses and how quickly both sides and any third parties respond. Getting the business and its records ready early can make a real difference. Once we understand the shape of the sale, we will give you a realistic view of the likely timeline and keep you updated as the deal moves forward.
You can book a no-cost, no-obligation consultation online at any stage, whether you are only considering a sale, already speaking to a buyer or have terms on the table. We will use the call to understand the business, where the sale stands and what you want from the deal, then explain how we would approach it and whether Lawyerly is the right fit. If you decide to move forward, we will send you a fixed-fee proposal setting out the scope, cost and next steps for the first phase. Once you approve and pay, we will introduce the solicitor handling the sale and get started.
Real outcomes from the businesses we act for, in their words.
A fresh approach. Exceptional value.
A fresh approach to legal services. They've guided us through multiple planned and reactive cases for our business. Exceptional turnaround times and great value for money.
Daily support, exactly what a startup needs.
The team at Lawyerly is helping us massively with all things legal. Daily support that makes all the difference.
Clear, considered, never left waiting.
Consistently available with clear, well-considered advice. Communication is of a high standard, and we're never left waiting for information or assistance.
Nothing short of amazing.
The team at Lawyerly have been nothing short of amazing. We've relied on them immensely and truly appreciate their continued support.
It changed how our business operates.
Before Lawyerly, we had no legal capability to tackle issues or protect our business. Now we have seamless, tailored advice and the confidence to grow.
Like having our own in-house lawyer.
Professional from enquiry through to onboarding. The team keeps us updated at every step, with multiple matters running simultaneously and quick turnarounds. Having my own legal advisor has been a real help.
Legal advice without the lawyer-speak.
Professional, knowledgeable, and refreshingly no-nonsense. Clear communication without the lawyer-speak. We've used them across debt recovery, IP and contracts. All to the same high standard.
Real support. Ideal for founders like me.
As an early-stage startup founder, legal fees have always been a challenge. I've turned to AI, but it doesn't give personalised support. Lawyerly delivers the real thing on a subscription.
An easy decision, right from the start.
We spoke to several companies, but were particularly impressed with the initial call and onboarding. Made our decision an easy one.
Expert guidance, impressively quick.
Expert guidance with impressive efficiency, and quick turnarounds whenever urgent matters arose. Easy to engage, knowledgeable, and they take the time to explain every detail.
Quality at speed, time after time.
The team consistently demonstrate outstanding professionalism, attention to detail, and genuine care. Their ability to move quickly without ever compromising on quality is highly appreciated.
Tell us about the business you are planning to sell and where you are in the process. Our business sale solicitors will explain the legal support you need, what is included and the fixed fee before work starts.
Book a complimentary consultation
A short call with one of our founders about your business and your legal priorities. We reply within one business day.
Willem van der Merwe
Co-Founder
Read profile
Co-Founder
Willem co-founded Lawyerly after twenty years of running and advising businesses, most of which were spent as a client of law firms rather than a member of one. He had seen how legal advice tends to arrive: late, priced by the hour, and detached from the commercial decision that prompted it. Lawyerly grew out of a conviction that it could be done differently.
He read law and marketing at university and later completed MIT Sloan's executive programme in artificial intelligence and business strategy. His career before Lawyerly took in two advertising agencies, which he led through the industry's move to digital, several years in digital publishing, and a period in international development, working on programmes across South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
At Lawyerly he is responsible for growth and for the client experience, ensuring our clients receive the legal support they need.
Qualifications
BA (Law); Executive education in AI and business strategy; Marketing