Leasehold newsagency business valuation calculator
This calculator has been withdrawn
The version previously on this page did not account for cost of goods sold. On a retail business that buys stock to resell, leaving that out overstates profit — and in some cases it returned a six-figure valuation for a business that was actually trading at a loss. It should not have been published in that form, and we took it down rather than leave it up.
A rebuilt version is in progress. It will be tested against real sets of accounts before it goes live, and it will refuse to return a figure where a valuation genuinely cannot be produced — the way the calculators below already do.
What is working now
- Debt service cover calculatorWhether the trade covers the borrowing. Uses adjusted net profit — after cost of goods sold — which is the figure the withdrawn calculator was missing.
- Commercial stamp duty calculatorSDLT on taking over the lease or taking a new one, checked against HMRC’s own calculator.
What actually drives the value of a leasehold newsagency
- Adjusted net profit, after cost of goods sold, the owner’s remuneration and any one-off items — and after deducting what it would cost to employ someone to do the job the owner is doing
- The unexpired term of the lease, and whether it is protected under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
- Rent, the review pattern, and how the rent compares to the market
- Stock at valuation, which is normally paid for separately on top of the business price
- The margin mix — news, tobacco, lottery, PayPoint and confectionery carry very different margins, and a headline turnover figure hides that completely
If you are valuing a business now, work from the accounts and take advice from someone who can read them. A number from any online calculator, including the one that used to be here, is not a valuation.