Commercial Due Diligence Cost UK
UK CDD fee bands by deal size, DD type and provider tier. Quote-only mandates marked as such. No inferred per-day rates.
UK commercial due diligence cost clusters in two visible bands. Boutique mid-market mandates run £15-25k for red-flag and up to £50k for full scope, delivered in 3-5 weeks. Big-4 deal-advisory mandates run £75-150k and up to £250k for upper-mid-market full scope, delivered in 5-8 weeks. Every published quote is engagement-letter only.
§ 1.1By deal size
| Deal EV | Boutique RF | Boutique Full | Big-4 Full | Typical timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <£20m bolt-on | £10-15k | £20-35k | £60-100k | 2-4 wk |
| £20-50m | £15-25k | £25-45k | £75-150k | 3-5 wk |
| £50-150m | £20-35k | £40-80k | £100-200k | 4-6 wk |
| £150-500m | £30-50k | £60-150k | £150-300k | 5-8 wk |
SRC: UK boutique mandate cluster; BVCA Industry Activity 2025-26. Indicative only; every mandate priced in engagement letter.
§ 1.2By DD type
| DD type | Scope | Boutique fee | Big-4 fee | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red-flag | 3 top chapters | £15-25k | £40-75k | 2-3 wk |
| Full | All 7 chapters | £25-50k | £75-150k | 3-5 wk |
| Top-up (off VCDD) | Incremental scope | £10-25k | £30-60k | 2-4 wk |
| Vendor (VCDD) | Sell-side full | £30-60k | £100-200k | 4-8 wk |
§ 1.3What is included
A £20k boutique mandate usually covers: 10-15 customer interviews, a market-sizing chapter, a competitive map, a one-page risk register and a draft IC summary. Excludes operations diligence in depth, second-round customer follow-ups and partner-level cross-border coverage. A £120k Big-4 mandate covers everything in the boutique scope plus deeper operations diligence, syndicated-lender-acceptable reliance, and a partner cover letter readers expect on a buy-side syndication.