First time buyer — UK/Scotland based, B2B businesses £200k–£300k EBITDA. Advice on sourcing, lender criteria, and brokers?

Hi all — long-time lurker, first post. Most threads here skew US/SBA so looking for UK/Scotland ground truth specifically.

My situation:

∙	Edinburgh-based, financial services background, serious first-time buyer

∙	12–18 month search horizon, £150k–£200k equity ready to deploy

∙	Target: established B2B businesses, £200k–£300k EBITDA, within commuting distance of Edinburgh, so £700k to £900k purchase price 

∙	Open to sectors: professional services, trades (HVAC, fire safety, compliance), waste management/recycling, facilities management — anything with recurring B2B revenue, contracted clients, and defensible margins

∙	Not interested in hospitality, retail, or consumer-facing businesses

Few questions I’d love honest input on:

1. Geography — how local should a first deal be?

Should first-time buyers stick to commuting distance, or does it matter less than finding the right business — especially where delivery is already largely remote or has a management team in place?

2. Employment status during loan application

Does being employed at point of application materially improve approval odds and terms? Or do acquisition lenders primarily underwrite against the target’s cashflow and buyer’s equity — making employment status secondary or just not relevant? Anyone with direct experience of applying employed vs not employed?

3. Scotland-specific brokers with genuine off-market deal flow

Beyond the obvious platforms (Daltons, BusinessesForSale), who actually has off-market pipeline in Scotland for this deal size? Particularly corporate finance advisers who will work buy-side and proactively approach owners not yet thinking of selling.

4. Vendor loans — realistic in UK or largely a myth?

US threads treat seller financing as standard. How common is 10–15% vendor financing in UK SME deals — particularly in Scotland where relationships feel more traditional? Or is this routinely rejected by sellers?

On due diligence:

For those who’ve bought professional services businesses in the UK — what due diligence red flags did you find that weren’t obvious from the information memorandum? Specifically around client concentration, key person risk, and staff contract quality post-ERA.

On the search timeline:

How long did your search actually take from first broker contact to signed heads of terms? UK threads suggest 12–18 months but wondering if professional services deals move faster or slower than average.

On post-acquisition reality:

For anyone who bought a B2B services business while still employed — how did you manage the transition period? Did you take a salary from Day 1 or wait until cashflow was confirmed stable?”

Anything else a first-time UK buyer typically misses — happy to hear it.