Foreword

This report focuses on buy‑and‑build and growth-by-acquisition strategies pursued by prolific acquirers across the UK mid‑market, drawing on a screened, sample‑based dataset of both PE‑backed platforms and corporates not relying upon PE backing. Full details of the methodology and inclusion criteria are set out later in the report, but at its core, the analysis examines those buyers for whom acquisition approached on an intentionally repeatable basis is central to their short, medium or long-term business plan.

What emerges is a picture of generally mutually resilient but sometimes diverging trends. Across the period analysed, buy‑and‑build activity has remained a defining feature of mid‑market M&A, despite pronounced macro‑economic volatility, interest rate uncertainty and political and diplomatic instability. However, the cadence, financing profile and strategic drivers behind that activity can differ meaningfully between private equity and corporates.

Alongside the data, this report combines market experience from Stevens & Bolton’s Corporate team with perspective drawn from active participants across the buy‑and‑build ecosystem. During October 2024 alone, our team completed 30 transactions in 30 days with an aggregate value approaching £1 billion; our experience informs much of the practical insight that follows.

Our aim is not simply to report on what has happened, but to comment on what differentiates successful repeat acquirers, where momentum is heading and how the next phase of UK mid‑market consolidation may unfold.