Sectors: Where activity is concentrating
Buy-and-build activity across the UK mid-market remains highly concentrated in sectors that lend themselves to consolidation, scalability and operational improvement.
Business services continues to stand out as the most active area of consolidation, particularly among private equity backed platforms. Activity in this sector has remained consistently high across the full period analysed, even through the moderation in 2025. This reflects a combination of factors, including fragmentation, the prevalence of recurring revenue models and the ability to drive both operational efficiencies and cross-selling opportunities through scale. The sector’s resilience also highlights its adaptability, with many sub-sectors evolving to incorporate technology-enabled delivery models.
Financial services presents a similarly active picture. Wealth management, insurance broking and specialist advisory businesses have all been the subject of sustained consolidation strategies, driven in part by regulatory complexity and the advantages of scale in compliance, distribution and client servicing.
Business services: Deals over the past 5 years
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
By contrast, industrials has been primarily a corporate-led story. Activity levels in this sector have remained relatively steady over the period, reflecting the strategic priorities of established operators seeking to strengthen supply chains, expand product offerings and enhance operational resilience. While less volatile than other sectors, industrials demonstrates how buy-and-build can be used to support long-term strategic positioning rather than rapid platform scaling.
Insurance: Deals over the past 5 years
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
The technology sector tells a more nuanced story. While activity peaked strongly in 2024, it has since diverged, with private equity backed acquisition slowing more noticeably than corporate activity. This reflects a combination of valuation recalibration, increased scrutiny of business models and the broader impact of AI on sector dynamics. Corporate acquirers, often better positioned to look at longer term growth models and strategic fit, have remained more active, while private equity has become more selective.
As Jose Rodriguez, Managing Partner at Queen’s Park Equity (QPE) notes, “we look for fragmented markets with recurring revenue and sticky clients - those are the foundations for a successful buy-and-build strategy.” The data strongly supports that view, with activity continuing to cluster around precisely those characteristics.
What is also evident is that sector attractiveness is not static. Periods of intense consolidation are often followed by phases of consolidation fatigue or strategic pause, before activity resumes in a more targeted form. This cyclical pattern can already be observed in sectors such as insurance and healthcare (specifically veterinary, dental and pharmacy) and is likely to play out more broadly as the market continues to mature.
Taken together, the sector analysis reinforces a central message of the report: buy-and-build is not evenly distributed across the economy, but is instead highly selective, concentrating in those areas where scale, capability and successful integration can most effectively unlock value.