Hilton Smythe Business Sales, a national business broker with headquarters in Bolton, is celebrating being ranked number one in the UK for volume of businesses sold in 2020 for the second time, according to the Global Small-Cap M&A review from REFINITIV.

This year, the firm saw an increase of 85 per cent in sales enquiries compared to June last year.

In 2019, there had been 1,713 enquiries by the end of June and by the end of June 2020 they had reached 3,162, with around 100 new enquiries still coming in each day.

In addition to this, the firm is also on track to meet the same number of sales as during the same period last year, which is a positive prediction considering sales were halted for two months during lockdown.

These numbers have contributed to Hilton Smythe retaining the number one position. The Global Small-Cap M&A report looked at business sales in the first half of 2020, with Hilton Smythe taking the top spot in the UK, with second place going to KBS Corporate.

Hilton Smythe also ranked as number one in the review issued at the end of the first quarter.

Gareth Smyth, CEO of Hilton Smythe Group said: "We are delighted that our team has again been recognised for the hard work it has done this year, with an exemplary volume of sales in the national market.

"Everyone has been working incredibly hard, both in the office and remotely, and the results speak for themselves.

"Seeing a month to date increase between last year and this year of 85 per cent after coming out of lockdown was a huge surprise and has clearly contributed to us retaining the number one position at the end of the first half of 2020.

"If the lockdown hadn’t happened, we might have seen an even larger year on year increase, but 85 per cent increase is still significant given the current circumstances.

"Of course, it’s always important that these enquires translate into sales to stimulate the economy and we’re already on track to meet the same level of sales as this time last year, which is amazing.

"It’s fantastic to see people looking to the future, investing in a career they love and being positive about life post-pandemic.

"I hope this will lead to better economic news nationally in the near future."