Most owner-run UK cleaning businesses sell for roughly 1.5 to 3 times a year's adjusted profit, meaning the profit in your accounts with your own pay and personal costs added back, so a business with £64,000 of adjusted profit would usually be priced between £96,000 and £192,000.
One-person window rounds are priced on monthly takings instead, which UK trade guides (Cleaning Matters 2015, Window Cleaning Warehouse 2022) put at two to five times the monthly round value, and larger businesses with managers in place and profit above about £250,000 are priced higher, on profit after a full management team.
This table shows what each kind of cleaning business is usually priced on and the rough range we would expect, as our general view rather than a valuation.
| Trade | Usually priced on | Rough range |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial contract cleaning, owner-run | Adjusted profit, with each contract checked for notice period and margin | About 1.5 to 3 times adjusted profit |
| Commercial cleaning with managers in place and profit above about £250,000 | Profit after paying a full management team | Higher than owner-run businesses, judged case by case |
| Domestic cleaning agency | Adjusted profit, with weight on regular weekly and fortnightly clients | About 1.5 to 3 times adjusted profit |
| Window cleaning or exterior cleaning company with vans and staff | Adjusted profit, with weight on regular cycles and commercial contracts | About 1.5 to 3 times adjusted profit |
| One-person window cleaning round | Monthly round value | 2 to 5 times monthly round value, and 6 to 9 times for compact, well-priced rounds (Window Cleaning Warehouse, Cleaning Matters) |
| Carpet and upholstery cleaning | Adjusted profit, with weight on repeat and commercial work | About 1.5 to 3 times adjusted profit, towards the lower end where most work is one-off |
| Oven cleaning, independent or franchise | Adjusted profit, plus the franchisor's transfer terms for a franchise | About 1.5 to 3 times adjusted profit |
| Washroom and hygiene services | Adjusted profit, with weight on contracted service agreements | About 1.5 to 3 times adjusted profit, higher when managed and above about £250,000 profit |
One-person window rounds have their own round valuation guide, since they are priced on monthly takings rather than profit.
Adjusted profit is the profit a buyer would make from the business as it stands, found by taking the profit in your accounts and adding back your own salary, your pension contributions, personal costs run through the business and any one-off costs that will not happen again. It gives buyers a fair comparison between businesses whose owners pay themselves in very different ways.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Profit in the accounts | £40,000 |
| Add back the owner's salary | £12,000 |
| Add back the owner's pension contributions | £6,000 |
| Add back the owner's car run through the business | £4,000 |
| Add back a one-off legal bill | £2,000 |
| Adjusted profit | £64,000 |
| Price at about 1.5 to 3 times adjusted profit | £96,000 to £192,000 |
Owner-run businesses sit in this lower range because a buyer will either do the work you do or have to pay someone else to do it. Businesses large enough to have a full management team in place are priced on profit after paying those managers, and the higher figures used for them should never be applied to adjusted profit.
Valuing a cleaning business comes down to a few steps taken in order, and the list below sets them out as we work through them when we value a business.
Using the worked example above, £64,000 of adjusted profit earned from written contracts with no dominant client might sit towards the upper half of the £96,000 to £192,000 range, while the same profit earned mostly from one client would sit near the bottom of it.
These are the things that put a cleaning business towards the top of its price range, and we set each one out in the sales pack with the evidence behind it.
The strongest offers, including those from the big groups buying up cleaning companies regionally and from larger cleaners nearby, are made for businesses that can show these on paper.
One client making up a large share of turnover, contracts that let the client leave on short notice or end the contract if the business changes owner, and a business where the owner still runs the rota and covers absent cleaners all bring the price down. Wage costs also weigh on the figures, since the National Living Wage rose to £12.71 an hour from 1 April 2026 and employer National Insurance went up to 15% with the threshold cut to £5,000 from 6 April 2025 (GOV.UK). Buyers will look closely at whether your contract prices have kept pace with those rises, and a business still charging rates set before them will usually be priced on the profit it makes now.
The calculator above and the ranges on this page are a rough guide, and our free valuation looks at your contracts one by one, checking notice periods, any change-of-control clauses, the margin on each site after wages and National Insurance, and which staff would move to a buyer under TUPE. Two businesses with the same profit can be priced quite differently once that work is done. If you would like a proper figure, ask us for a free valuation, and our guide to selling a cleaning business sets out what happens next.
Getting a cleaning business valuation from us is free, and it carries no obligation to sell or to list the business with us. We ask for your last two sets of accounts, a year of recent monthly figures and a list of clients or customers with what each pays, along with a schedule of contracts, notice periods and staff hours for a commercial cleaner, or a customer list with addresses, frequencies and prices for a window round. We then give you a price range with the reasoning behind it, showing the profit or round value we have used, the adjustments we have made and what would move the price up or down. If you later decide to sell with us, our fees are £495 when you list and 4% of the sale price on completion, agreed in writing first, and you can ask for a free valuation whenever you are ready.
Most owner-run UK cleaning businesses sell for roughly 1.5 to 3 times a year's adjusted profit. A business with £50,000 of adjusted profit would usually be priced between £75,000 and £150,000. Larger businesses with managers in place and profit above about £250,000 are priced higher, on profit after paying those managers.
Cleaning businesses are usually valued on profit, because two businesses with the same turnover can make very different margins after wages. Window rounds are the main exception and are priced on monthly round value. Turnover still matters to buyers when they look at client concentration.
Yes, a client making up more than about 15 to 20% of turnover usually lowers the price. Buyers worry that losing that client would take a large share of the profit with it. A long written contract with a clear notice period helps reduce that concern.
In an asset sale your cleaners usually move to the buyer on their existing terms under TUPE. In a share sale the company stays their employer, so TUPE does not apply to the sale itself. Either way, buyers will look closely at wages, contracts and holiday owed.
If you qualify for Business Asset Disposal Relief, Capital Gains Tax is 18% on disposals from 6 April 2026, on up to £1m of lifetime gains. The conditions include owning at least 5% of a trading company for at least two years and being an officer or employee. Check with your accountant before you agree a sale, since the structure of the deal affects the tax.
A free valuation from us looks at your contracts one by one and comes back with a figure and the reasoning behind it.
