Cuts in capital gains tax that came into effect this year mean a better deal for people selling a business.

Howard Matthews, managing director of Sayers Common based Cadmus Group, said: "Changes to the rules on taper relief announced by Gordon Brown in his 2000 Budget mean if you have held a business asset for two or more years, the tax take is now down to ten per cent of its value.

"That's a great improvement on the old retirement relief. So now is the time to launch the process if you want to sell your business."

Mr Matthews warned getting the best price often meant a lengthy period of preparing the business for a sale.

He said: "Cadmus has been selling businesses for ten years, focussing on family and ownermanaged companies, and experience has taught us time has to be taken getting a business into shape before putting it on the market.

"This grooming is vital if the true value of the business is to be reflected in the price."

David Wilson, of Cadmus, who has been "grooming" companies for 20 years, said the process paved the way for cordial relations with the purchaser and helped avoid any potential personality clashes that might scupper the deal.

He said: "The human element plays a significant role in every transaction. Several differing personalities are brought together and you have to be alert to the areas where conflict could arise. We try to identify these danger areas as early in the process as possible.

"The last thing you want is a clash to suddenly surface during the completion meeting."

When Cadmus managed the £3.5 million sale of awardwinning Brighton internet public relations consultancy Midnight Communications, the grooming process was a vital ingredient of the service it provided.

Founded by Caraline Brown in 1995, Midnight had grown fast and was very profitable.

Mr Matthews said: "The problem was the accounting systems had not grown as quickly and financial information was sketchy. If the business had been exposed to professional buyers at that stage, they would have used the lack of financial data to lever the price down."

Mr Wilson brought Midnight's accounting procedures up to scratch and helped recruit a finance manager.

Mr Matthews said: "We could then rely on the numbers to reflect the company's true performance."

With Mr Wilson establishing Midnight's true worth, Ms Brown could concentrate on maintaining the momentum of the business.

She said: "Cadmus took the weight off my shoulders, leaving me free to run the company on a daily basis."

From the start of the grooming process to the successful completion, Midnight's sale took almost a year.