Who we serve
On a sale already under way, the Sale-Ready Check and the review put the evidence for the domain names, the email, the website and the admin logins in the data room: who holds each key, and in whose name. The legal fixes it turns up stay with you.
To talk it through, ring Mal Murphy on 07830 879318, weekdays, 9am to 5pm.
“Please provide details of all domain names of which the Company is the applicant or registrant.”1
Each web address, who runs it and whether it answers; the account behind it confirmed with the owner on the review call.
Whether the Company “is dependent on any third party for the maintenance of any element of the Computer System”.1
The email platform, the web host and the DNS host by name, and any admin account still held by a former supplier.
“Confirmation that all such intellectual property is owned by the Company.”2
The website's copyright and the brand flagged for your assignment, where they apply.
“Establish who holds domain, tenant and root credentials, and how you will secure them at completion.”3
Recorded on the call, key by key, with the handover plan for completion.
Whose work it is
Each item on a client's page names who fixes it, so nothing lands on your desk that is the accountant's job, and nothing that is yours goes elsewhere.
The seller's solicitor
The seller's accountant
Bondstone, in the review
The seller's IT provider
The clocks
Counted back from Monday 5 April 2027, the last completion day under the £1 million limit. Exchange is normally the disposal date (TCGA 1992 s.28), but under the policy paper's rules for “unconditional but uncompleted contracts before 6 April 2027” the gain “will be subject to the £500,000 lifetime cap unless” the parties can show the contract was not entered into for the tax advantage of the timing rule. So completion is the date to plan for.
| What has to happen | Latest safe start | |
|---|---|---|
| FCA change in control | If the company is FCA-authorised: a complete notice to the FCA, which has 60 business days to assess it, plus up to 30 more if it asks questions. Completing without approval is an offence.6 | Mon 23 Nov 2026 Start this monththe last day if the FCA takes its full 60 plus 30 business days, so aim earlier; Thu 7 Jan 2027 if it asks nothing |
| Identity verification | Every director verified at Companies House. The company cannot file its confirmation statement until they are.7 | Wed 18 Nov 2026 Start this month |
| Landlord | Asset sale: the landlord's consent to assign the lease. Share sale: a check of the lease for a change-of-control clause. Not needed if the premises are owned.8 | No statutory clock: we count back eight weeks |
| Lender | For a charge still outstanding: the redemption statement, the lender's release at completion, then the MR04.9 | Ask for the redemption statement four weeks before completion |
| HMRC clearance | If you ask HMRC for advance clearance of a share sale (ITA 2007 s.701): it answers within 30 days, and the clock restarts if it asks for more.10 | 30 days from the particulars, restarting with any request for more |
| CQC or Ofsted | An asset sale needs a new registration; a share sale keeps the existing one. | No fixed clock: months. From a standing start, plan a share sale |
On a live matter
We offer solicitors no referral fee. The point is the weeks it saves between the request list and agreed findings.
Give him the web address of the business you act for; a client's name is never needed. He runs the check while you are on the phone.
What the buyer's first list will raise, item by item, with who fixes each one and the dates, as a page and an A4 PDF.
One call on a shared screen with the owner, then the handover report for the data room and your replies to enquiries.
Ask Mal to ring
A ten-minute call, with the check run on the business while you are on the phone.
To talk it through, ring Mal Murphy on 07830 879318, weekdays, 9am to 5pm.
No. It uses public records and, in the review, the accounts the owner logs in to. Each legal item it turns up is flagged for you, marked “if it applies”.
Yes. Every client page prints as an A4 document with its date and where each item was found.
No. The owner logs in to their own accounts on a shared screen, and we never take passwords.
No. The client books the review direct at £2,500, or through their accountant at the trade price.
The check takes about a minute. The review is one call, booked by Mal around the owner, and the handover report follows within two working days of it.
Every figure on this page is from the source beside it, with its date. Where we give a date to start by, it is counted back from Monday 5 April 2027: the FCA's in UK working days, the others in calendar days.
Mal runs the check on the business you act for while you are on the phone: 07830 879318.