BUSINESS VALUATION
What's Your Restaurant Worth?
Understand how restaurants, bars, pubs, cafés and takeaways are valued — the methods, the numbers that matter, and how to arrive at a realistic figure.
THE FUNDAMENTALS
What a restaurant's value is built on
Two restaurants with identical turnover can be worth very different amounts. Value comes from a blend of provable profit, the assets you’re selling, and the harder-to-pin-down goodwill of a trusted, well-located business.
Profitability
- Consistent, verifiable profit
- Healthy margins, not just turnover
- Earnings that survive owner add-backs
- Predictable, year-round cash flow
The tangibles
- Kitchen and cooking equipment
- Fixtures, fittings and furniture
- Stock at completion
- Condition and age of assets
The intangibles (goodwill)
- Reputation and reviews
- Location and footfall
- Loyal, repeat customers
- A secure, long lease
THE METHODS
Three ways to value a restaurant
No single method is definitive. Professionals usually run more than one and triangulate — here are the three you’ll come across most often.
Profit multiple
Take adjusted net profit (after add-backs for owner perks and one-offs) and multiply by a sector figure — commonly around 3–7, higher for prime sites and strong brands. The main method for profitable businesses.
Turnover multiple
Apply a fraction of annual turnover (often roughly 0.6–1.5× for leaseholds). Quick and simple, but it ignores how much of that turnover actually becomes profit — best used as a sense-check.
Asset + goodwill
Value fixtures, fittings and equipment, add stock, then add goodwill (the premium for reputation, location and customers). For unprofitable sites, value can fall back to assets alone.
Owner’s discretionary earnings (ODE) — your salary, benefits and personal expenses run through the business — are added back to profit before multiples are applied. This ‘normalised’ figure is what buyers really value.
ROUGH ESTIMATE
Quick valuation estimator
Enter a few figures for a ballpark range. This is a rough indicator only — not a formal valuation or financial advice.
A valuation is a starting point — the market decides the final price. Clean figures make every method more accurate.
BEFORE YOU SELL
How to improve your number
Small, sensible moves in the months before a sale can lift your valuation more than a last-minute refurbishment ever will.
Do
Actions that add value
- Keep clean, organised accounts
- Lock in a longer lease where possible
- Fix small maintenance issues
- Reduce owner-dependence with systems
- Maintain a high food hygiene rating
Don’t
What to avoid
- Refurbish heavily right before selling
- Buy expensive new equipment to 'add value'
- Inflate figures you can't evidence
- Let standards or cleanliness slip during the sale
Know your worth, then find your buyer
Once you’ve got a realistic figure, list it where active buyers are already looking — our Facebook community puts your business in front of thousands of food-business buyers across the UK.
Thousands
active buyers
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to get an estimate
COMMON QUESTIONS
Valuation FAQs
You can get a useful ballpark using industry multiples and the estimator above. For anything official — financing, a formal sale, legal or tax purposes — a professional valuation from a broker or accountant is worth it.
It varies by profitability, location and brand strength. Profitable owner-run restaurants often sit in the lower-to-middle of the 3–7 range; prime, well-branded sites command more. A specialist can pin it down.
Profit, usually. High turnover with thin margins is worth far less than steady, healthy profit. Turnover is a sense-check, not the headline figure.
A lot. A long, secure lease with renewal rights adds value; a short lease (under ~5 years) or assignment problems can reduce it significantly.
The intangible premium beyond your physical assets — reputation, location, loyal customers and brand. It’s often a large part of a profitable restaurant’s value and the hardest part to quantify.
It’s an indicator, not a valuation. It applies general ranges to the figures you enter and can’t account for everything a buyer or appraiser would. Treat it as a starting point.
Got your figure? Take the next step.
Whether you’re buying or selling, we’ll connect you with the right side of the deal.