State of UK buy-and-build, Autumn 2026 · Marketing / Advertising / PR

UK marketing / advertising / PR consolidation: Autumn 2026

UK deals by buy-and-build platforms in marketing / advertising / PR since January 2022, as filed at Companies House

Buy-and-build platforms have made at least 39 UK deals in marketing / advertising / PR since January 2022, as filed at Companies House, by 29 different platforms, 5 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

17.5%

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

£67k

Typical EBITDA going in (median)

Independent companies in our top band for exit readiness today

Who owns the trade

1,140 active UK marketing / advertising / PR companies have £250k–£5m of EBITDA. 17.5% 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 17.5%Owned through a personal holding company 16.3%Owned directly by individuals 66.2%

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: Sumer.

Inside the trade

Sub-trade	Deals
TV & film production	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 Marketing / Advertising / PR 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 · Consultancy Services · 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 · 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)