Northern Ireland has a close-knit base of independent accountancy practices, many of them run by one or two partners who have looked after the same families and businesses for decades. Owners here thinking about succession want a buyer who knows the place and will look after clients and staff through the handover. We buy practices in Belfast, Ballymena and right across Northern Ireland directly — confidentially, founder-led, and structured around what you want your exit to look like. Part of our own team already works from Ballymena.
Why sell your practice directly
We’re a direct buyer, not a broker. You deal with the decision-maker, keep the process confidential, avoid broker commission, and shape the deal around your timeline rather than a broker’s calendar. In a market as small as Northern Ireland’s, where most practitioners know each other, that matters more than usual: your practice is never listed or shown around. The full comparison is in our guide to broker vs direct.
What is different about selling a practice in Northern Ireland?
The commercial substance of a sale is the same as anywhere else in the UK, and so is the tax on it. The legal wrapper is different, and the client base often has a cross-border side that a buyer needs to understand. These are the points worth raising with your solicitor early rather than discovering at heads of terms.
| England & Wales | Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|---|
| Law governing the deal | English law | Northern Ireland law — a separate jurisdiction with its own courts, so use a Northern Ireland solicitor |
| Your staff | Transfer under TUPE, with Great Britain employment law | Transfer under TUPE too, but employment law is devolved and differs in places from Great Britain |
| Tax on transferring land or buildings | Stamp Duty Land Tax | Identical — Stamp Duty Land Tax covers England and Northern Ireland, and only matters if property actually changes hands |
| Tax on your sale proceeds | Capital Gains Tax, with Business Asset Disposal Relief where it applies | Identical — Capital Gains Tax applies UK-wide |
| Your clients’ income tax | UK rates and bands | Identical — the same UK rates and bands |
| VAT for clients who move goods | UK VAT rules | Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland follows EU VAT rules for goods, so goods traders carry extra work |
Because the tax on the sale itself is UK-wide, our guide to tax when you sell your practice applies to a Northern Ireland sale in full. Take your own advice on the legal points — this page is general information, not tax or legal advice.
What about cross-border clients?
Many Northern Ireland practices act for clients with a foot in the Republic: cross-border workers, businesses invoicing in euro, owners with property or a second company in the South. That work takes knowledge a buyer from Great Britain may not have, and it is easy for it to be undervalued or quietly lost after a sale. Tell us about it in the first conversation. We would rather understand that part of your fee base properly than treat it as a complication.
The same goes for your professional body. Many firms here are members of Chartered Accountants Ireland rather than ICAEW, and others hold their practising certificate through ACCA or another institute. Whichever it is, it is worth speaking to them early about a change of ownership.
Where in Northern Ireland do you buy?
Belfast, Lisburn, Ballymena, Derry-Londonderry, Newry, Bangor, Newtownards, Antrim, Coleraine, Portadown, Lurgan, Armagh, Omagh, Dungannon, Cookstown, Magherafelt and Enniskillen — and anywhere else across the six counties on the same terms.
How does the process work?
A confidential call, an indicative valuation range, light-touch due diligence, heads of terms, then completion and a protected handover. UK practices are usually valued on a multiple of gross recurring fees rather than profit, because owner-managed profit is distorted by how the owner pays themselves. Our valuation guide puts the range for general practice at broadly 0.8× to 1.2× GRF, with weaker firms below that and high-quality fee blocks attracting 1.3× or more.
Our promise as a buyer
- Respect the legacy you have built
- Protect the team — keep clients stable
- Improve systems without wrecking the culture
- Confidential from the very first conversation
If you own a practice anywhere in Northern Ireland, a first conversation is confidential and commits you to nothing.
Ready for a confidential conversation?
Wherever your practice is, you deal directly with the buyer — confidentially, and on your timeline.
Book a confidential call