“I left an earlier review following issues i was having with Hilton Smythe. These issues were addressed by the company to my satisfaction and i am now happy to update the record. The company to be fair, addressed my issues very quickly, went out of their way to accommodate me and ensure i was satisfied and followed it up after the issue was resolved.
I would have no problem admitting that my earlier opinion of their service has been changed for the better.”
“DO NOT SELL YOUR BUSINESS THROUGH THIS COMPANY! READ THE SMALL PRINT
This company are extremely aggressive and unprofessional. We advertised a business with them, paid an huge fee to advertise. Later after terminating, we agreed investment (not even a sale) from an investor we met directly, who was never introduced by Hilton Smythe.
After accepting investment after terminating with Hilton Smythe they demanded their commission!! Totally unreasonable given it was after termination and the person who invested in our business was never known to or introduced by Hilton Smythe!
They are now behaving aggressively and threatening legal action. We in turn have reported them to the ombudsman and trading standards.
They are snake oil salesmen. DO NOT DEAL!”
“I instructed Simon at Hilton Smythe to handle the sale of my recruitment firm and the process, results and service have been fantastic. Initially there were some initial delays to advertising due to some issues with clearing identity checks but Joshil helped us overcome this.
They undertook extensive vetting, marketing and research with great thanks from Karen and Gerard.
Our file was handled largely by Sandra, Katie and Samantha. They were fantastic.
We have now sold and already recommended their services to others.”
“Wasn’t happy with Hilton Smythe. They Initially valued my business at £75k we had some viewers but not huge amount, took over a year and half to sell it. What angers me is the number of price drops it took to sell, the time it took and the huge commission for doing not much, on top of an initial fee for advertisement , copy fee etc. (I had to supply my own photos) Had one offer of £15k which I said no to (as was a lot less than advertised) sales rep seemed angry and said ‘what will you take then!’ I pointed out it was valued at £75k and after commission that would leave us about only £5k! Eventually settled on an offer of £25k BUT out of that was their whopping commission of £6k for doing previous little other than answer a few emails and put an ad on 2 websites. My solicitor did the bulk of the legwork. The commission structure needs changed to a percentage of sale especially for smaller business say 5-10% of the final sale which would be much fairer. My advice would be to advertiser your business yourself on the same website they use businessesforsale and hire a good business solicitor as it’s them that do the bulk of the important work anyway. Out of a valuation of £75k we were left with just £18k after fees.”
“Well.. what can I say…I took out a 12 month contract… not thinking I would sell my business. It was on the market for 10 weeks!… and I sold! Could not fault the service.. communication was constant… so much advice.. helped me through the whole process. As well as looking after me they so looked after my buyer.. I cannot recommend Hylton Smythe enough… they are amazing and felt I was talking to friends!! If you want to sell your business… these are the people you need!
So I’m going to mention names.. I hope I don’t miss anyone out..
Joshil
Samantha
Karen
Cheryl
Alice
Sanna
You are all amazing!
Anne
Brodwaith Teifi Embroidery”
“On the start they valued my business to go on sale for 85k, during the same year I made changes on the business and contact them to change on their website and wouldn't happens. 12 months and only 2 viewers and on the 2nd viewer we had the price down to 25k. in the end we had to close the business because of illness and still have to pay £1500 from their advertising pack which should be reduced due to such bad service. 2 buyers in one year is ridiculous for a company always blaging how good they are.”
“Disappointed in my service from Hilton Smythe. They sold a huge pitch about their work and having desired customers for my business and experience with it before. They valued it for me and every call after giving them the job was asking me to lower my asking price more and more. In addition I only received 2/3 calls from clients who hadn't even been informed properly about my business and those arrangements ended up being a waste of time. They charge crazy fees just for "advertisement" and even if you don't get a sale they still keep it and charge you for withdrawal. I am certain that they stay afloat from the fees they charge rather than actually selling businesses. I would not recommend.”
“This company is an absolute joke.
I put my business up for sale end of last year and had a sales rep assigned to me. I was in good contact with her up until around January when my emails were no longer being replied to and I didn't hear nothing from them for 6 months. Then another rep contacted me about some interest. I expressed to this person that it had been 6 months since I'd had contact and a lot had changed in that time as I was promised my business would be a quick sale as that's what I needed but unfortunately it wasn't.
I told this new rep I no longer wanted to sell. All of a sudden emails were being ignored and not replied to. I told this person over and over again I was no longer selling and that I was only contactable through email. This ran over the course of about 2 months. So I contacted a different email address and finally got a response!!
Today I have now received a letter stating I have not been contactable for some time. Which is clearly untrue. It's them that have not been contactable not me!
I'd avoid this company at all costs unless you list no communication”
“Very positive experience of this broker, they assisted with the purchase of a restaurant and arranged the finance to purchase. Special thanks to Paul and if we ever look to buy or sell in future, we will definitely use HiltonSmythe.”
“I have just sold my business through HiltonSmythe. They were tremendous throughout the whole process. I was looked after by Belinda, a real true professional and on hand to help with all the issues that arsose.”
“I was pleasantly surprised, with low expectations of estate agents, I was surprised how quickly and efficiently the sale was. The staff are lovely and very helpful and I would happily recommend.”
