BizSale Small Business Blog. Small businesses for sale.

The agent responsible for 13 pub sales – that came about after Elizabeth Estates fell into administration in December – says there is "strong interest" in the freeholds of the free-of-tie tenanted establishments. The pubs for sale are available individually or as a group and it's believed they'll produce around £2.5 million.

At the moment the pubs, located in Suffolk and Essex, produce a combined rent of £213,000 and are being sold by GVA Grimley. They form part of a 27-strong chain that includes 14 hotels.

KPMG was appointed administrator for Elizabeth Hotels' 27 sites when the company – one of the East of England's biggest hotel firms – was put into administration. Joint administrator Allan Graham said the company's financial liabilities "made it impossible to continue running the businesses as they stood".

He added: "We will continue to trade the business in the short term whilst a buyer is sought for the hotels and pubs, individually or as a group."

Although only one property, near Hull, had been purchased by the end of 2009, Graham maintains the Humber Crown Hotel sale, coupled with "the level of interest to date", has provided encouragement that further hotel sales are imminent.

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Barclays has made another £88 million of business loans available to small firms through the government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), introduced during the downturn to help companies struggling to raise funds.

Lord Davies – the trade, investment and small business minister – says the EFG has already helped "thousands of viable businesses" access the cash they need to withstand the recession and prepare for recovery.

"Following its recent extension, it will continue to play a vital role in encouraging enterprise and investment and driving productivity and growth throughout the UK economy," he adds.

Barclays, which has made loans worth over £150 million available in the last year, says it's been able to assist more than 1,650 businesses through the scheme.

"Enterprise Finance Guarantee covers a key gap in the market – companies that are viable, notes Steve Cooper from Barclays Local Business.

Through the business lending scheme, the government guarantees a proportion of the sum if the customer is unable to repay the debt. It was launched for businesses that operate in the UK and have sales turnover of up to £25 million.

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Confederation of British Industry (CBI) figures have highlighted that manufacturing production rose for the first time in two years in the three months to January, and now a billion-pound fund has been launched to keep the sector buoyed up.

Representatives for RBS/NatWest say the loans are being made available following feedback from customers in the industry who are anticipating growing demand for their products during 2010 and beyond.

It marks the latest in a series of initiatives launched by the bank to support UK businesses, including an SME Customer Charter, a customer support helpline and a price promise and committed overdrafts for small firms.

Peter Ibbetson, chairman of business banking at NatWest and RBS, says firms will have the option to defer loan repayments for up to three years.

"As we see many of our manufacturing customers turning their thoughts to investment in order to drive competitiveness, we want to send a clear message of support to them by creating a fund that is designed specifically to enable that investment," he explains.

According to the CBI data, the boost to manufacturing output came as a rise in new expert orders offset weak domestic demand.

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The business sale story of the decade (so far) has ended in defeat for that sweetest of British institutions: Cadbury. After maintaining last month that it would not be swayed by a revised offer from US food giant Kraft, the confectioner's board advised shareholders to give in and accept the cheese manufacturer's proposal of 840 pence per share, valuing the company at £11.5 billion.

Attention in the Midlands – home to Cadbury's Bournville factory – immediately turned to the inevitable job cuts expected to take place as Kraft embarks on a cost-cutting exercise to cover the amount spent on the takeover.

"We have great respect for Cadbury's brands, heritage and people," insisted Irene Rosenfeld, chairman and chief executive of Kraft Foods. "We believe they will thrive as part of Kraft Foods."

Kraft's previous offer for the maker of Dairy Milk, Milk Tray and Flake valued the company at £10.5 billion – a bid described by Cadbury chairman Roger Carr as an attempt to buy the firm "on the cheap".

Speaking to Sky News today, he said the final decision to sell the business was sad but the "right thing" to do nonetheless: "At the end of the day, Kraft have paid a price that the shareholders believe is at the tipping point of recognising tomorrow's price today."

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Millions of sole traders in the UK are leaving their businesses vulnerable by not insuring against profit losses or the cost of replacing their "key person", it's been claimed. That's despite 77 per cent of sole traders who have a key person in their business admitting their enterprise wouldn't survive the loss of that individual.

Research from the Scottish Widows Business Protection Report reveals that around 2.6 million sole traders have not protected their owner/key person against the worst. The study also highlights that 73 per cent of sole traders in the UK don't have a business exit strategy in place.

Commenting, Clive Allison from Scottish Widows said it has never been more important for small firms to plan ahead to protect themselves from unforeseen circumstances: "Sole traders are the engine of the UK economy but are often reliant on one or two key people to keep themselves afloat. Our research highlights that without suitable protection in place, a serious illness, disability or death could be the last straw for these vital grass-root businesses."

In addition to lacking key person insurance and exit strategies, nearly a quarter of sole traders were found to have no business protection insurance in place either.

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Many of us dream about quitting the rat-race and setting ourselves up with a nice café, B&B or guesthouse business in a beautiful area. Well they don’t get much quainter than this – a luxury B&B, tearoom and restaurant in Ludlow.

When buying a business, it’s important to consider if the business you are buying is a success (is it making a profit? does it have a unique selling point?). The Elizabethan De Grey’s Townhouse is an award winning business that has had a loyal customer base for the past 100 years.

The 200-cover tearoom has won the Tea Guild’s Award of Excellence for the past six years and the nine-room bed and breakfast facilities were opened in 2006 after the owners bought the adjoining premises.

The B&B for sale has a five-star rating from the AA and is rated as a ‘red hotel’ by the Michelin guide.
In addition to all this there is also a restaurant for sale as part of the package, which is situated on the first floor. There is room for development in this department, particularly for evening dining.

Buying a small hotel or B&B is a great way to earn a living as it usually offers the chance to work from home much of the time. It can also offer rewarding experiences in creating a wonderful setting for people’s holidays and business trips.

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The number of new businesses being set up around the world has fallen as a result of the recession, according to new figures from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).

The report shows that the number of start-ups was down by 10 per cent last year in 20 of the world’s wealthiest nations.

The UK came off relatively well with only a 6 per cent fall in new businesses being registered while the US saw a huge 24 per cent drop.

The GEM reports are based on interviews with 180,000 people in 54 countries. One of the founders of GEM, Professor Bill Bygrave of Babson College in the US, said entrepreneurs were finding it more difficult to get financial support for their start-ups: "Throughout the world, would-be entrepreneurs reported greater difficulty in obtaining financial backing for their start-up activities, especially from informal investors – families, friends, and strangers.”

He explained that the pool of money available to start-ups has fallen from $400 billion to $350 billion – representing a 12.5 per cent drop across the globe.

Funding for people looking to start a firm or indeed buy a business is expected to increase as countries slowly emerge from the recession.

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Following our observations towards the end of last year that Blackpool had guest houses, self-catering apartments and hotels for sale to the tune of £72 million, despite a healthy tourism season, budget chain Travelodge has defied the recession and announced plans to invest £115 million in 26 new outlets this year.

You might remember that a surge in the overall cost of hotels for sale in the Las Vegas of Lancashire was put down to lenders' reluctance to give buyers a leg up the holiday accommodation ladder. Well, there's no such financing problems for Travelodge, which will add over 2,000 rooms and 500 jobs to its roster.

And which areas of the country can look forward to the new hotels? Well, you have the town/city centre sites like Edinburgh, London and Aberdeen, and then a few seaside locations for good measure (including Colwyn Bay and Morecambe).

Travelodge chief executive Grant Hearn commented that the prevailing economic climate "has accelerated the forecasted structural change of the hotel market" as consumers opt for low-cost accommodation "rather than overpriced full-service and mid-market establishments".

The expansion leaves Travelodge's UK portfolio standing at over 400 properties and 30,000 rooms.

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The saga continues in what must be one of the most gripping cases of a business for sale for some time. Now, after US food giant Kraft tempted Cadbury shareholders with more cash than that promised by its initial £10.2 billion bid, the British confectioner has written off the revised offer as "derisory".

In an attempt to sweeten its offer for Cadbury, Kraft – maker of Toblerone and Terry's Chocolate Orange – unveiled plans to sell its frozen pizza businesses in the US and Canada to KitKat maker Nestle for £2.3 billion. The latter has denied reports it's considering its own bid for the manufacturer of the Wispa and Dairy Milk bars, among others.

"Kraft has once again missed the point," Cadbury bosses said of the move. "Despite this tinkering, the Kraft offer remains unchanged and derisory with less than half the consideration in cash."

The US firm is expected to provide further details of its alternative takeover proposal by 19 January – the last day under takeover rules that it is allowed to amend its bid. The deadline for Cadbury shareholders to accept the offer has also been extended to 2 February.

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Statistics might show that 80 per cent of businesses affected by a major incident close down within 18 months, but nearly half of small firms still don't have plans in place to deal with the effects of flood or storm damage.

That's according to the British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba), which is using its research to stir the government into action to help small companies survive incidents like a fire, a flood, an act of terrorism or a pandemic such as swine flu – particularly during the economic downturn. It found that the number of small-business owners who claim it would take more than six months for their enterprise to recover from a disaster has nearly trebled.

Steve Foulsham, technical services manager at the organisation, said there have been "slight improvements" since Biba's previous research in 2006, but concerns remain that businesses are still not adequately protected.

"It is vital to raise and maintain awareness of the need for businesses to prepare for the potential impacts of a natural disaster or terrorist attack," he continued. "The Buncefield Oil Depot fire, 7/7 bombings and continued incidents of flooding illustrate the need for all to plan for the unexpected."

Such plans might include considering how a business would work if its computer or phone system went down, how machines, equipment and stock might be replaced and how a firm would cope in the first hour following a disaster.

Biba also advises weighing up the effects on a company if a major supplier or customer were to suffer a major incident, and implementing plans to deal with half of all staff being off sick.

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