As we move into 2014 there are clear signs that the recovery is beginning to show in the number of company and business transactions being completed.

One effect of the recession has been that as business confidence slowed so did the number of transactions being completed – be it company sales/acquisitions, mergers or funding for growth and capital investment. The economy has been in a spiral of reducing activity and economic contraction. Since last summer this trend has been slowly reversing and there are now positive signs and clear examples of much more activity.

Recent press comment has centred on construction and house building, and while these are important indicators for the economy they paint only part of the picture. Real economic activity is better measured by corporate transactions, the appetite of banks and others for funding business and the value of such deals being entered into.

One clear sign of this is the Enterprise Value of businesses being sold in recent months. This represents the purchase price plus any debt of the business being acquired and the multiple of this compared to the profitability of businesses being sold has leapt from around eight times to over eleven – the highest for several years. This is an extremely positive sign and demonstrates more activity and better multiples and prices achieved for businesses.

While vendors have naturally been reluctant to put businesses up for sale in the recession, they can now look to the future with more confidence and realise their ambitions to generate wealth to execute their retirement plans. The recession has shown that to achieve a successful transaction and see such a project through, detailed care and planning is fundamental.

Here in the Corporate Finance Team at JWPCreers we are seeing a range of new instructions on business transactions incorporating construction, the food sector, leisure, agriculture, retail and manufacturing.

With the right planning and preparation it is once again a good time to consider selling your business.