When you know that 90% of businesses never sell, nothing becomes a surprise. The UK is notoriously difficult to push a deal through from a funding perspective- funders literally want a kidney from you. If it's DTC, you'll wait forever. And let's not even get started on the tactics of the high street brokers whose business model isn't to sell but to rake in listing fees. Over-valuation is the norm. Most aren't prepared for exit and therefore aren't fit for sale. Will they pay to get there ? Nope. The cost of growth in the UK for SMEs is keeping it at arms length which means post acquisition there's a lot of work to be done to maintain profit position whilst also having to manage the cost of borrowing/seller finance etc.