Thinking from the inside.

Perspectives on private equity-backed technology businesses from operators who have been in the room. Covering value creation, M&A, operational transformation, and the trends shaping IT services.

M&A

The market is sorting, not consolidating

Two rescues bookended H1 2026, exactly six months apart. Set them against £190bn of dry powder, a vendor margin squeeze and five CEO changes in two quarters, and the message is clear: the UK IT market is not consolidating evenly. It is sorting winners from the over-borrowed.

27 Jul 202612 min read

M&A

Cybersecurity Is the Clearest Exit Multiplier in UK IT Services. Here's How to Capture It.

Cyber MSPs command 12.5x EBITDA vs 10.8x for generalists. With regulation pulling around 1,000 MSPs into scope, cybersecurity is the most obvious value creation play in UK IT services right now.

7 Jul 20265 min read

Operations

The 5 operational levers that move EBITDA in managed services

Most MSP value creation plans focus on the wrong levers. After growing EBITDA from £2.5m to £40m+, here are the five that move the number.

23 Jun 20264 min read

Value Creation

Why private equity firms need operators, not consultants, for IT services value creation

Most advisory firms serving private equity-backed IT businesses send people who've never run a P&L. Here's why that gap has become a structural problem, and what the alternative looks like.

11 Jun 20265 min read

Operations

The strategy will be fine. It's what happens next that matters.

Most private equity-backed IT services acquisitions have a solid strategy. It's the six weeks after completion that tend to go wrong.

2 Jun 20263 min read

Value Creation

The first 100 days: what most private equity value creation plans get wrong

Every private equity deal has a 100-day plan. Most of them fail. Here's what goes wrong, and what the ones that work have in common.

22 May 20266 min read