State of UK buy-and-build, Autumn 2026 · Consultancy Services

UK consultancy services consolidation: Autumn 2026

206

UK deals by buy-and-build platforms in consultancy services since January 2022, as filed at Companies House

Buy-and-build platforms have made at least 206 UK deals in consultancy services since January 2022, as filed at Companies House, by 158 different platforms, 36 of them buying in the last twelve months.

Deals per year

UK deals as filed at Companies House Still filling in: less than a year of filings behind it

Source: ExitRadar analysis of Companies House filings. Free to reuse with attribution to ExitRadar.

Deals in the twelve months to 25 October 2026

Platforms buying in the last twelve months

13%

Companies at £250k–£5m EBITDA already part of a group

£475k

Typical EBITDA going in (median)

122

Independent companies in our top band for exit readiness today

Who owns the trade

5,250 active UK consultancy services companies have £250k–£5m of EBITDA. 13% of them are already part of a group; the rest, owned by individuals, are the pool buy-and-build platforms buy from.

Part of a group 13%Owned through a personal holding company 11.8%Owned directly by individuals 75.2%

Source: ExitRadar analysis of Companies House filings. Free to reuse with attribution to ExitRadar.

Platforms buying in the trade

Among the platforms that bought in the last two years, named from a public source, alphabetically: Cardo Group, Celnor, Charlton Baker, Clear Group, Cooper Parry, Odevo, Perspective Financial Group, Sumer.

Inside the trade

Sub-trade	Deals
Environmental, ecology & acoustic consultancy	3
Health & safety consultancy	3
Financial planning (IFA)	2
IT consultancy & projects	1

Bought companies labelled from their own descriptions; a company can sit in more than one sub-trade. Source: ExitRadar analysis of Companies House filings. Free to reuse with attribution to ExitRadar.

See the companies behind these numbers

Build a buy box for Consultancy Services and see how many independent UK companies fit it today.

Build a buy box

How we count

A deal is a change of control filed on the register of people with significant control, from a company's individual owners to a buy-and-build platform; two companies bought on one day count once. Asset purchases and deals outside the UK are missed, so every count is a floor. Full method and the cross-sector report.

Other trades

IT Services / Consultancy · Financial Advisory / Wealth · Accounting / Audit · Specialist Clinics / Allied Health · Insurance · Dental Practice · Software / SaaS · Childcare / Day Nurseries · Retail · Engineering Services · Early Years / Pre-Primary · Energy / Utilities · Estate Agency · Media / Publishing / Film · Telecommunications · Care Home / Nursing · Commercial Cleaning · Security Services · Recruitment / Staffing · Property Management · Restaurant / Cafe · Marketing / Advertising / PR · Veterinary Practice · Vehicle Repair & MOT · Education / Training (General) · Electrical Installation · Data / Cloud / Hosting · Home Care / Domiciliary · Medical Practice / Clinic · Waste Management & Recycling · Catering / Events · Funeral Services · Optometry / Optician · Road Freight · Motor Parts · Specialised Wholesale (Building Materials, Chemicals, Fuel, Metals) · Hotel / Accommodation · Non-Specialised Wholesale · Precision Engineering / Machining · Plumbing & Heating · Civil Engineering · Vocational & Professional Training · Wholesale Agents (Fee/Commission)