--- title: "Compliance & Inspection EBITDA Multiples 2026 | DealFlowAgent" description: "Compliance, testing and inspection business valuation multiples for 2026: EBITDA ranges by size band, verified UK and US deals, and what sets your multiple." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "name": "DealFlowAgent", "legalName": "BTB Holdings Ltd", "alternateName": "BTB Holdings Ltd", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com", "logo": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/media/c2cf5053-aeb5-42f9-a18a-0e0ad1cd720c.webp", "identifier": { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "Companies House company number", "value": "15460344" }, "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "The Foundry, Wandsworth", "addressLocality": "London", "postalCode": "SW18", "addressCountry": "GB" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/dealflowagent" ], "subOrganization": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "BTB Holdings USA LLC", "description": "Delaware limited liability company" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "The 2026 Compliance, Testing & Inspection Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide", "description": "Compliance, testing and inspection business valuation multiples for 2026: EBITDA ranges by size band, verified UK and US deals, and what sets your multiple.", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation/compliance-testing-inspection-multiples", "image": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/covers/compliance-testing-inspection-multiples.jpg", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joe Lewin", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/about", "jobTitle": "Founder & Managing Director", "worksFor": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "DealFlowAgent", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com" } }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "DealFlowAgent", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/social-share-thumbnail.webp" } }, "datePublished": "2026-07-14T12:00:00+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-07-14T12:00:00+00:00", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation/compliance-testing-inspection-multiples" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://www.dealflowagent.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Valuation Guides", "item": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation/guides" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "The 2026 Compliance, Testing & Inspection Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide", "item": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation/compliance-testing-inspection-multiples" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "How much is my compliance, testing or inspection business worth in 2026?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Prepared, professionally represented UK compliance businesses with £1M+ of defended EBITDA are transacting at roughly 5.5x-9x; platform-grade groups above £3M EBITDA at 7x-11x; businesses in the £500K-£1M EBITDA band typically at 4.5x-6x, reaching 6.5x for multi-discipline compliance stacks with strong contracted books. A £750K defended EBITDA business will usually sit between 4.5x and 6.0x (£3.4M-£4.5M enterprise value). Owner-operated businesses below roughly £250K of earnings are priced on SDE, typically 2.0x-3.5x. The master table above gives every band with sources." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What EBITDA multiple do TIC businesses sell for?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "It depends heavily on scale. Global TIC transactions have averaged 14.3x EV/EBITDA since 2016 (Houlihan Lokey), but that sample is weighted to platform-scale deals; listed TIC companies trade at a 12.6x median (Oaklins, 2026); and the sector's consolidators are reported to buy smaller businesses at 6-8x and exit integrated platforms at 14-16x (Baker Tilly, 2025). The UK's defining print is Mitie's acquisition of Marlowe at 11.2x FY25 adjusted EBITDA (August 2025). Owner-managed UK compliance businesses transact along the size ladder above, from roughly 3.5x at the small end to 11x+ at platform scale." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does UKAS accreditation increase the value of my business?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes, though no study quantifies the premium as a single figure, so treat specific claims sceptically. UKAS accreditation gates entire statutory work streams (it is legally required for asbestos analysis and the de facto requirement for engineering inspection), takes years to obtain, and is held at company level, which makes accredited businesses targets to buy rather than replicate. The sharper effect is downside: accreditation tied to a named individual, or at risk at its next audit, is one of the few diligence findings that can stop a deal rather than merely discount it (DealFlowAgent observation)." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Are inspection and maintenance contracts valued as recurring revenue?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Buyers model them that way, but the pricing convention differs by market. In the UK no published multiple-of-ARR convention exists; contracted compliance revenue is priced through the EBITDA multiple, with a premium for statutory, indexed, low-churn books. In North American fire and life safety, inspection agreements are reported at 2x-3.5x annual recurring revenue (Breakwater M&A, 2026, single source). Measure your contracted ARR, churn and renewal rates either way, because sophisticated buyers will ask, and the absence of the measurement is priced as if the answer were bad." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the difference between a pure inspection business and an inspect-and-remediate business at sale?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "A pure third-party inspection business is paid only to inspect and certify; its independence is protected by accreditation and its earnings are the cleanest in the sector, which is why pure TIC carries the sector's highest multiples. An inspect-and-remediate business earns the inspection fee plus the remedial work the inspection generates; buyers value the remedial attach as a growth engine provided the two sides are separated, tracked on their own margins, and the inspection findings are evidenced independently of the remedial quotes. Most owner-managed UK compliance businesses are inspect-and-remediate, and the ones that show that separation discipline capture most of the pure-TIC premium." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What deal structure should I expect when I sell?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Depends on size. Below £1M: mostly cash with a modest holdback. £1M-£5M: typically 70-85% at completion, balance deferred against retention (DealFlowAgent view). Above £5M with PE buyers: completion cash plus earn-out plus, where you stay, rollover equity of perhaps 10-30% of proceeds. Earn-outs appeared in 24% of US private deals in 2025 (SRS Acquiom) and are rising across European SME deals (Dealsuite, November 2025). In accredited businesses expect share deals to dominate, because UKAS accreditation does not transfer automatically to a new entity. Negotiate structure as hard as price." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is 2026 a good time to sell a compliance business?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The demand evidence is unusually strong: the global TIC market is averaging 23 acquisitions a month (Oaklins), UK facilities M&A set a record in 2025 with PE in 58% of deals (Grant Thornton), and the statutory calendar keeps adding demand (the social housing EICR deadlines run through November 2026, and Building Safety Act workloads are published monthly). Whether it is a good time for your business depends on preparation: unprepared businesses sell into this market at the bottom of their band, and the same consolidation wave that creates exit demand also recruits from your qualified-engineer pool while you wait." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What reduces the value of a compliance business most?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The recurring killers: an EBITDA bridge that fails quality-of-earnings review, remedial-heavy revenue presented as compliance revenue, a large client or framework on short-notice or change-of-control terms, unmeasured churn, founder dependency (especially founder-held accreditations and signatory authority), and fragmented compliance registers. Each is covered with the buyer's reasoning in the teardown section above; most are fixable in six to eighteen months, which is precisely why preparation windows exist. ---" } } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/#organization", "name": "DealFlowAgent", "alternateName": "DealFlow Agent", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/media/a8c3dd54-ab81-40f5-995e-50fda69ec528.webp", "width": 512, "height": 512 }, "image": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/og-image.webp", "description": "DealFlowAgent is the leading specialist M&A advisor for building services and facilities management businesses, including fire and life safety, electrical, water hygiene and Legionella, lift and elevator maintenance, HVAC, plumbing and security, plus specialist healthcare clinics and care homes across the UK and US. £500K–£100M.", "foundingDate": "2024", "founders": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joe Lewin", "jobTitle": "Founder & Managing Director" } ], "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "Battersea Power Station", "addressLocality": "London", "addressCountry": "GB", "postalCode": "SW11" }, "contactPoint": [ { "@type": "ContactPoint", "telephone": "+44-20-7293-0327", "contactType": "sales", "availableLanguage": [ "English" ] }, { "@type": "ContactPoint", "email": "joe@dealflowagent.com", "contactType": "customer service" } ], "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/dealflowagent", "https://twitter.com/dealflowagent" ], "areaServed": [ { "@type": "Country", "name": "United Kingdom" }, { "@type": "Country", "name": "United States" } ], "knowsAbout": [ "Mergers and Acquisitions", "Business Valuation", "Exit Planning", "M&A Advisory", "Business Sale", "Private Equity", "Building Services M&A", "Facilities Management M&A", "Fire and Life Safety M&A", "Electrical Contracting M&A", "Water Hygiene and Legionella Compliance M&A", "Lift and Elevator Maintenance M&A", "HVAC Business Sales", "Plumbing Business Sales", "Testing, Inspection and Certification M&A", "Healthcare Clinics and Care Home M&A" ], "slogan": "The specialist M&A advisor for building services, facilities management and healthcare." }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/#joe-lewin", "name": "Joe Lewin", "givenName": "Joe", "familyName": "Lewin", "jobTitle": "Founder and Managing Director", "description": "Founder of DealFlowAgent. Advises owners of building services, facilities management, compliance and testing, and specialist healthcare businesses on valuation, exit readiness and the end-to-end sale process across the UK and US.", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/#organization" }, "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/about", "email": "joe@dealflowagent.com", "telephone": "+44-20-7293-0327", "knowsAbout": [ "Mergers and Acquisitions", "Business Valuation", "EBITDA Multiples", "Exit Planning", "Sell-Side M&A Advisory", "Building Services M&A", "Facilities Management M&A", "Healthcare Clinic and Care Home M&A" ], "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/dealflowagent" ] }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/#duncan-moore", "name": "Duncan Moore", "givenName": "Duncan", "familyName": "Moore", "jobTitle": "M&A Deal Lead", "description": "M&A Deal Lead at DealFlowAgent. Formerly a Director at the largest M&A advisory firm in the UK, owned by K3 Capital, where he managed teams of M&A advisors, analysts and associates.", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/#organization" }, "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/about", "knowsAbout": [ "Mergers and Acquisitions", "Sell-Side M&A Advisory", "Deal Origination", "Business Valuation", "Buyer Negotiation" ] }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/#organization", "employee": [ { "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/#joe-lewin" }, { "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/#duncan-moore" } ] } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/#website", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com", "name": "DealFlowAgent", "description": "Specialist M&A advisory for building services, facilities management and healthcare business owners in the UK and USA", "publisher": { "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/#organization" }, "potentialAction": { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": { "@type": "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/blog?q={search_term_string}" }, "query-input": "required name=search_term_string" }, "inLanguage": "en" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "The 2026 Compliance, Testing & Inspection Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide", "description": "Compliance, testing and inspection business valuation multiples for 2026: EBITDA ranges by size band, verified UK and US deals, and what sets your multiple.", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation/compliance-testing-inspection-multiples", "image": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation-guides/compliance-testing-inspection.webp", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joe Lewin", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/about", "jobTitle": "Founder & Managing Director", "worksFor": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "DealFlowAgent", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com" } }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "DealFlowAgent", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/social-share-thumbnail.webp" }, "url": "https://www.dealflowagent.com" }, "datePublished": "2026-07-14T12:00:00+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-07-14T12:00:00+00:00", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation/compliance-testing-inspection-multiples" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "How much is my compliance, testing or inspection business worth in 2026?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Prepared, professionally represented UK compliance businesses with £1M+ of defended EBITDA are transacting at roughly 5.5x-9x; platform-grade groups above £3M EBITDA at 7x-11x; businesses in the £500K-£1M EBITDA band typically at 4.5x-6x, reaching 6.5x for multi-discipline compliance stacks with strong contracted books. A £750K defended EBITDA business will usually sit between 4.5x and 6.0x (£3.4M-£4.5M enterprise value). Owner-operated businesses below roughly £250K of earnings are priced on SDE, typically 2.0x-3.5x. The master table above gives every band with sources." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What EBITDA multiple do TIC businesses sell for?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "It depends heavily on scale. Global TIC transactions have averaged 14.3x EV/EBITDA since 2016 (Houlihan Lokey), but that sample is weighted to platform-scale deals; listed TIC companies trade at a 12.6x median (Oaklins, 2026); and the sector's consolidators are reported to buy smaller businesses at 6-8x and exit integrated platforms at 14-16x (Baker Tilly, 2025). The UK's defining print is Mitie's acquisition of Marlowe at 11.2x FY25 adjusted EBITDA (August 2025). Owner-managed UK compliance businesses transact along the size ladder above, from roughly 3.5x at the small end to 11x+ at platform scale." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Does UKAS accreditation increase the value of my business?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes, though no study quantifies the premium as a single figure, so treat specific claims sceptically. UKAS accreditation gates entire statutory work streams (it is legally required for asbestos analysis and the de facto requirement for engineering inspection), takes years to obtain, and is held at company level, which makes accredited businesses targets to buy rather than replicate. The sharper effect is downside: accreditation tied to a named individual, or at risk at its next audit, is one of the few diligence findings that can stop a deal rather than merely discount it (DealFlowAgent observation)." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Are inspection and maintenance contracts valued as recurring revenue?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Buyers model them that way, but the pricing convention differs by market. In the UK no published multiple-of-ARR convention exists; contracted compliance revenue is priced through the EBITDA multiple, with a premium for statutory, indexed, low-churn books. In North American fire and life safety, inspection agreements are reported at 2x-3.5x annual recurring revenue (Breakwater M&A, 2026, single source). Measure your contracted ARR, churn and renewal rates either way, because sophisticated buyers will ask, and the absence of the measurement is priced as if the answer were bad." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the difference between a pure inspection business and an inspect-and-remediate business at sale?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "A pure third-party inspection business is paid only to inspect and certify; its independence is protected by accreditation and its earnings are the cleanest in the sector, which is why pure TIC carries the sector's highest multiples. An inspect-and-remediate business earns the inspection fee plus the remedial work the inspection generates; buyers value the remedial attach as a growth engine provided the two sides are separated, tracked on their own margins, and the inspection findings are evidenced independently of the remedial quotes. Most owner-managed UK compliance businesses are inspect-and-remediate, and the ones that show that separation discipline capture most of the pure-TIC premium." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What deal structure should I expect when I sell?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Depends on size. Below £1M: mostly cash with a modest holdback. £1M-£5M: typically 70-85% at completion, balance deferred against retention (DealFlowAgent view). Above £5M with PE buyers: completion cash plus earn-out plus, where you stay, rollover equity of perhaps 10-30% of proceeds. Earn-outs appeared in 24% of US private deals in 2025 (SRS Acquiom) and are rising across European SME deals (Dealsuite, November 2025). In accredited businesses expect share deals to dominate, because UKAS accreditation does not transfer automatically to a new entity. Negotiate structure as hard as price." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Is 2026 a good time to sell a compliance business?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The demand evidence is unusually strong: the global TIC market is averaging 23 acquisitions a month (Oaklins), UK facilities M&A set a record in 2025 with PE in 58% of deals (Grant Thornton), and the statutory calendar keeps adding demand (the social housing EICR deadlines run through November 2026, and Building Safety Act workloads are published monthly). Whether it is a good time for your business depends on preparation: unprepared businesses sell into this market at the bottom of their band, and the same consolidation wave that creates exit demand also recruits from your qualified-engineer pool while you wait." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What reduces the value of a compliance business most?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The recurring killers: an EBITDA bridge that fails quality-of-earnings review, remedial-heavy revenue presented as compliance revenue, a large client or framework on short-notice or change-of-control terms, unmeasured churn, founder dependency (especially founder-held accreditations and signatory authority), and fragmented compliance registers. Each is covered with the buyer's reasoning in the teardown section above; most are fixable in six to eighteen months, which is precisely why preparation windows exist. ---" } } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://www.dealflowagent.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Valuation Guides", "item": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation/guides" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "The 2026 Compliance, Testing & Inspection Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide", "item": "https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation/compliance-testing-inspection-multiples" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "VideoObject", "name": "Introduction to DealFlowAgent from founder Joe Lewin", "description": "Joe Lewin, founder of DealFlowAgent, explains how the firm helps owners of building services, facilities management and healthcare businesses run a confidential, competitive sale process with 13,000+ vetted acquirers.", "thumbnailUrl": [ "https://dealflowagent.com/og-image.png" ], "uploadDate": "2026-08-05", "embedUrl": "https://www.tella.tv/video/vid_cmqs8w3m300c004jp8jf79ugo/embed?b=0&title=0&a=1&loop=1&t=0&muted=0&wt=0&o=0", "contentUrl": "https://www.tella.tv/video/vid_cmqs8w3m300c004jp8jf79ugo", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "DealFlowAgent", "url": "https://dealflowagent.com" } } ] --- [![DealFlowAgent](/assets/dealflowagent-logo-CZZBNQM2.webp)](/) Sectors Refer an Owner [Valuation Guides](/valuation/guides)[Exit Planning](/exit-planning)[Blog](/blog)Book a Call[Careers](/careers) [🇬🇧 +44 20 7293 0327](tel:+442072930327)| [🇺🇸 +1 (447) 837-9720](tel:+14478379720) [Whatsapp](https://wa.me/442072930327)[I'm an Owner](/valuation)[I'm a Buyer](/buyside) [I'm a buyer](/buyside)[](https://wa.me/442072930327) Share [](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/?shareActive=true&text=Useful%20benchmark%20data%20if%20you%20advise%20owners%20in%20compliance%2C%20testing%20%26%20inspection.%20This%20guide%20sets%20out%20current%20EBITDA%20multiples%2C%20what%20moves%20a%20business%20between%20bands%2C%20and%20why%20contract%20quality%20and%20recurring%20maintenance%20income%20change%20the%20number%20more%20than%20revenue%20does.%20Consolidation%20is%20running%20hard%20in%20this%20market%2C%20and%20most%20owners%20only%20learn%20how%20they%20are%20priced%20once%20a%20buyer%20is%20already%20at%20the%20table.%20Worth%20reading%20early.%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.dealflowagent.com%2Fvaluation%2Fcompliance-testing-inspection-multiples)[](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=The%202026%20Compliance%2C%20Testing%20%26%20Inspection%20Business%20Valuation%20%26%20EBITDA%20Multiples%20Guide%0A%0A&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dealflowagent.com%2Fvaluation%2Fcompliance-testing-inspection-multiples)[](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dealflowagent.com%2Fvaluation%2Fcompliance-testing-inspection-multiples) 1. [Home](/) 2. / 3. [Valuation Guides](/valuation/guides) 4. / 5. The 2026 Compliance, Testing & Inspection Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide Valuation Guide # The 2026 Compliance, Testing & Inspection Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide The 2026 guide to UK and US compliance, testing and inspection M&A: EBITDA ranges by size band, 51 verified 2025-2026 transactions, the 30 factors buyers score, and the statutory calendar underwriting demand. ## Get this valuation applied to your own business Enter your website and our M&A team will prepare a written valuation and exit optimisation report. No cost, no credit card, no obligation. Strictly confidential Company website URL Get Your Free Valuation Report **Your data is strictly confidential.** It is stored securely and is never shared with buyers or anyone else. Already know your number? Get your free buyer list instead July 14, 2026 52 min read ![Joe Lewin](/media/a224fe8e-41a2-4c4e-a1b7-6b50b6c697db.webp) Author: Joe Lewin [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jp-lewin/) Bio ![The 2026 Compliance, Testing & Inspection Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide](https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation-guides/compliance-testing-inspection.webp) Confidential enquiry ## Thinking of selling in the next 3 to 36 months? Send a short message about your situation and we will come back to you within 24 hours. We will build a detailed valuation and value drivers report, personalised to your business, at no cost and with no obligation. First name Last name Email Phone (optional) A few words about your business or your plans Send confidential message We will respect your privacy. Your details are never shared with acquirers or any third party without your written permission. **Joe Lewin** · Founder, DealFlowAgent · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jp-lewin/) Published July 11, 2026 · Deal tables and regulatory calendar refreshed quarterly. Next scheduled review: October 2026. Testing, inspection and compliance is one of the most systematically consolidated sectors in business services M&A, and 2025-2026 has been its biggest period on record. The global TIC market has averaged [23 acquisitions a month since 2023, with the ten most active buyers taking 42.8% of all deals in the last twelve months](https://www.oaklins.com/uploads/2026/06/Oaklins-TICC-Spot-On-Jun2026.pdf). One UK-founded consolidator, Phenna Group, completed [31 acquisitions in twelve months](https://www.oaklins.com/uploads/2026/06/Oaklins-TICC-Spot-On-Jun2026.pdf). At the top of the market the prints are enormous: EQT agreed to take Intertek private at [£9.3bn in June 2026](https://eqtgroup.com/news/recommended-final-cash-acquisition-of-intertek-group-plc-agreed), SGS closed its [$1.325bn acquisition of Applied Technical Services in January 2026](https://www.sgs.com/en-us/news/2026/01/sgs-successfully-closes-applied-technical-services-acquisition), and in the UK, Mitie took over Marlowe plc at [£366M enterprise value, 11.2x FY25 adjusted EBITDA](https://www.mitie.com/insights-news/news/mitie-welcomes-marlowe-to-build-uk-leader-in-facilities-compliance/), the defining print for UK facilities compliance. Beneath those headlines, PE-backed platforms are buying UK compliance businesses at pace: [Warren Equity took over the Obsequio platform in October 2025](https://www.beechtreepe.com/post/beech-tree-private-equity-exits-its-investment-in-obsequio-group), Macquarie-backed PTSG, Ansor-backed Complii and Oakley-backed Phenna each completed multiple statutory-compliance bolt-ons inside the last year, and [private equity featured in 58% of the UK's 184 facilities-services deals in 2025](https://www.grantthornton.co.uk/insights/uk-fire-and-security-sector-ma-review-2025/) (Grant Thornton). **What that competition pays.** Prepared, professionally represented UK compliance and inspection businesses with £1M+ of defended EBITDA are transacting between roughly 5.5x and 9x. Platform-grade groups above £3M EBITDA reach 7x to 11x, and the largest prints sit higher still: Marlowe traded at 11.2x, and the buy-and-build arithmetic that consolidators publish rests on [buying at 6-8x and exiting integrated platforms at 14-16x](https://techma.bakertilly.es/en/reports/report-testing-inspection-and-certification-sector-2025/) (Baker Tilly, 2025). Below £1M of earnings the ranges step down band by band, and at every size the same EBITDA can be priced more than a full turn apart depending on revenue mix, accreditation, contract quality and how the business is taken to market. This page gives you the full size ladder, the 30 factors buyers score, 51 verified 2025-2026 transactions with clickable sources, and the statutory calendar that underwrites the whole sector's demand. Where the evidence is thin we say so, and figures that are our own house view are labelled **DealFlowAgent data**. * * * ## Contents 1. Why two businesses with the same EBITDA sell for very different prices 2. What is a compliance business worth in 2026? The master table 3. How compliance and inspection businesses are actually valued 4. The size ladder, band by band 5. The 30 factors that set your multiple 6. Two worked examples, with the arithmetic shown 7. 2025-2026 transaction evidence: UK 8. 2025-2026 transaction evidence: US and global 9. 2026 demand drivers and the consolidation map 10. What kills the multiple 11. Deal structure by size: headline price versus cash at close 12. UK versus US: what actually differs 13. FAQ 14. Glossary 15. Methodology and sources * * * ### See what these multiples mean for your business Use the free calculator to get a live valuation range using the same 2026 sector multiples discussed above. 60 seconds. [Calculate my valuation](/valuation?utm_source=valuation_guide&utm_medium=mid_context_cta&utm_campaign=Calculate%20my%20valuation&utm_content=compliance-testing-inspection-multiples) Events & Press · Summer 2026 ## Recent & upcoming features in events and media . A surge of inbound enquiries from our advisor network, prospective clients met at recent events and features in the trade press, including _International Fire & Safety Journal_, _Roofing Today_ and _Professional Security Installer_, plus exhibiting at _Interschutz_ in Hannover and _The Fire Safety Event_ in Birmingham. ![International Fire & Safety Journal, June 2026 edition](/assets/ifsj-june-2026-DPh5AbcJ.jpg) International Fire & Safety Journal June 2026 edition ![Roofing Today magazine, May / June 2026 edition](/assets/roofing-today-may-jun-2026-CUYRMxxK.jpg) Roofing Today May / June 2026 edition ![Professional Security Installer (PSi) magazine, June 2026 edition](/assets/psi-june-2026-BGKvnui7.jpg) Professional Security Installer June 2026 edition ![Building and Facilities News, Company of the Month for July 2026](/__l5e/assets-v1/5a33e842-9cec-41d5-bc54-1d5a74306684/building-and-facilities-news.jpg) Building and Facilities News Company of the Month for July 2026 From the floor · Interschutz, Hannover & The Fire Safety Event, Birmingham 2026 ![DealFlowAgent team Tom and Kaya at Interschutz 2026 in Hannover, beside an Iturri Tekla fire truck](/__l5e/assets-v1/0686b4dc-e8d4-44f6-9106-b13229db88e3/interschutz-selfie.jpeg) ![Interschutz logo](/__l5e/assets-v1/d3b03b48-400e-44a8-be0d-b51765871e84/interschutz.avif) Interschutz, Hannover — the world’s leading fire & rescue trade fair ![DealFlowAgent stand display at The Fire Safety Event 2026, Birmingham NEC](/assets/01-Os1WBjez.jpg) Our stand at The Fire Safety Event, Birmingham NEC ![DealFlowAgent team gilets at The Fire Safety Event 2026](/assets/02-C1UT86Jf.jpg) On the floor across the three days ![DealFlowAgent featured in the official Fire Safety Event 2026 brochure](/assets/03-ChqueVJJ.jpg) Featured in the official event brochure ![Fire Safety Leaders Summit, Birmingham 2026](/assets/04-DtXNxAeg.jpg) Fire Safety Leaders Summit ![DealFlowAgent stand 4/L90 at The Fire Safety Event 2026](/assets/05-DP_YXlmQ.jpg) Stand 4/L90, meeting founders and acquirers Previous slide Next slide Magazine cover artwork shown is an illustrative mock-up ahead of print. Real tear-sheets will be added once each edition is published. ## Industry Publications & Events Industry publications and events where DealFlowAgent has either been featured in or exhibited at. It is often where we build relationships with business owners, business buyers, and team members. [ ![The Facilities Event logo](/assets/the-facilities-event-CPBsf8Qn.webp) ](https://www.thefacilitiesevent.co.uk/)[ ![The Fire Safety Event logo](/assets/fire-safety-event-0iDNksZO.webp) ](https://www.firesafetyevent.com/exhibitors/dealflowagent)[ ![Interschutz logo](/__l5e/assets-v1/d3b03b48-400e-44a8-be0d-b51765871e84/interschutz.avif) ](https://www.interschutz.de/)[ ![The Security Event logo](/assets/security-event-JDEcSV25.webp) ](https://www.thesecurityevent.co.uk/)[ ![International Fire & Safety Journal logo](/assets/ifsj-FD9CIXtn.webp) ](https://www.ifsj.co.uk/)[ ![Building and Facilities News logo](/__l5e/assets-v1/5a33e842-9cec-41d5-bc54-1d5a74306684/building-and-facilities-news.jpg) ](https://www.buildingandfacilitiesnews.co.uk/)[ ![Safety, Fire & Hygiene Journal logo](/__l5e/assets-v1/8aa3c1d5-6cbb-475a-8ff0-619890db0f3c/safety-fire-hygiene-journal.jpg) ](https://www.safetyfirehygienejournal.co.uk/)[ ![Simpro logo](/assets/simpro-48oPvm9n.webp) ](https://www.simprogroup.com/)[ ![Fix Radio logo](/assets/fix-radio-BlGCZIhi.webp) ](https://www.fixradio.co.uk/)[ ![Professional Security Installer logo](/assets/psi-O-NwQfex.webp) ](https://www.professionalsecurityinstaller.co.uk/)[ ![NHS logo](/__l5e/assets-v1/cd726a27-f2b7-4662-9542-fae74fa9b1ff/nhs.png) ](https://www.nhs.uk/)[ ![Royal College of Psychiatrists logo](/__l5e/assets-v1/95502105-5e29-4c59-be7a-1938798772ab/rcpsych.png) ](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/)[ ![Roofing Today logo](data:image/webp;base64,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) ](https://www.roofing-today.co.uk/) ## Why two businesses with the same EBITDA sell for very different prices Before any table of multiples, the point most owners miss. Take two businesses, each showing £600K of EBITDA. The first is a remedial-led contractor: it wins electrical and fire remedial projects one tender at a time, does some testing when asked, and re-wins its revenue from zero every January. The second inspects the same client estates on a statutory calendar: five-yearly EICRs, monthly legionella monitoring tasks under ACOP L8, six-monthly fire alarm services to BS 5839-1, all under third-party certification, for managing agents and housing providers who are legally required to keep buying. The first will struggle to clear 4x. The second can defend 6x or better, and the consolidators building the UK's compliance platforms will compete for it. Same EBITDA, roughly £1.2M apart, and every pound of the difference is explained by things the owner can influence. There is a second distinction in this sector that buyers price sharply and owners rarely name: **pure third-party inspection versus inspect-and-remediate**. A pure testing and inspection business (UKAS-accredited, independence-protected, paid only to inspect and certify) carries the highest-quality earnings in the sector, because its revenue arrives by statute and its independence is itself a regulatory asset. An inspect-and-remediate business (which most owner-managed compliance firms are) earns both the inspection fee and the remedial work the inspection generates. That model can be extremely valuable, because each pound of inspection revenue pulls remedial revenue behind it, but buyers will test whether the two sides are properly separated, evidenced and priced. This guide covers both, and says which evidence applies to which. Driver Why buyers pay for it Statutory, contracted revenue share Revenue that arrives by legal calendar (LOLER, L8, EICR, F-Gas, BS 5839-1) is an annuity a buyer can underwrite; remedial project revenue must be re-won Contract quality: term, notice, indexation A multi-year indexed compliance contract survives completion and wage inflation; a rolling PO survives neither The compliance stack: disciplines per client A business inspecting two or three disciplines for the same estate has cross-sell and route density a single-trade firm cannot match Accreditation moat UKAS accreditation, BAFE scopes, LCA membership and SAFed recognition gate entire statutory work streams and take years to replicate Independence and evidence integrity Buyers price the separation between inspecting and remediating; contaminated independence is a discount, clean evidence is a premium Founder independence and management depth Buyers price what still works after you leave, especially where the founder is the senior authorising engineer The process itself Four qualified bidders held in parallel price differently from one consolidator negotiating alone **Five moves that raise the multiple before you sell.** These are the highest-yield preparation actions in this sector, each covered in depth further down: (1) get indexation clauses into every renewable contract; (2) repaper your largest clients and frameworks onto multi-year terms with assignment provisions that survive a sale; (3) measure churn on the contracted book and revenue per discipline per client, because unmeasured metrics get priced pessimistically; (4) move accreditations, UKAS scopes and signatory authority off named individuals and onto the business, with a second qualified signatory in every discipline; (5) have your EBITDA bridge defended to quality-of-earnings standard before the first buyer conversation, not during it. None of these requires new customers. Together they are routinely worth more than a year of trading growth. * * * ## What is a compliance, testing or inspection business worth in 2026? The master table The ladder below is banded by defended EBITDA, because that is the number buyers price (owner-operated businesses below roughly £250K of earnings are the exception, priced on SDE, covered in the note beneath the table). Ranges are the DealFlowAgent tier view, calibrated against the published evidence cited in each band's subsection and the 2025-2026 transactions in the deal tables. The lower bound of each range describes an unprepared business sold without competition; the upper bound describes a prepared, professionally represented one with a strong contracted compliance book. Pure third-party inspection businesses with UKAS accreditation price at or above the top of their band; inspect-and-remediate businesses sit within it (DealFlowAgent view). The factor framework further down is what moves a business between the two. Defended EBITDA Indicative revenue\*\* Realistic range Who actually buys at this size What changes at this size £250K-£500K ~£1.5M-£4M 3.5x-5.0x; strong contracted books reach 5.5x Trade buyers, first consolidator bolt-ons Professional buyers arrive; revenue mix and accreditation start to dominate the price £500K-£1M ~£3M-£8M 4.5x-6.0x; multi-discipline compliance stacks reach 6.5x UK compliance consolidators' core bolt-on range, regional trade, search funds The most competed band in UK compliance M&A; process quality worth a full turn £1M-£2M ~£6M-£15M 5.5x-7.0x PE bolt-ons, platform seed deals, strategic trade £1M EBITDA opens institutional buyers and debt funding; competition widens £2M-£3M ~£11M-£25M 6.0x-8.0x Platform bolt-ons, PE platform entries, European TIC groups Management depth and register integrity become priced line items £3M-£5M ~£17M-£40M 7.0x-9.0x PE platforms, strategics, global TIC corp dev Platform grade: buyers underwrite you as the foundation, and pay for it £5M-£10M ~£30M-£80M 8.0x-11.0x Large PE, listed groups, global TIC majors Print territory: Mitie paid 11.2x for Marlowe at this scale-plus £10M+ £60M+ 10x-14x+, structure-dependent Institutional buyers, listed groups, large-cap PE Global TIC M&A has averaged 14.3x at scale; UK private evidence thin, listed comps mark the ceiling \*\*Indicative revenue assumes the 10-18% EBITDA margins typical of compliance and inspection businesses at each size (DealFlowAgent estimate from mandate work and filed UK accounts; no public source publishes compliance-sector margins by size band). The published reference points bracket the range: Marlowe's UK compliance division ran a 10.8% adjusted EBITDA margin (FY to March 2025, inspect-and-remediate mix), London Security ran a c.13.5% operating margin (FY2024, servicing-led), and the global pure-TIC majors run 16-18% adjusted operating margins ([Bureau Veritas 16.3%](https://group.bureauveritas.com/newsroom/sector-leading-organic-revenue-growth-65-fy-2025-strong-margin-improvement-163-fy), [SGS 16.0%](https://www.sgs.com/en/news/2026/02/2025-full-year-results), [Intertek 18.1%](https://www.intertek.com/siteassets/investors/2026/intertek-2025-full-year-results-announcement.pdf), all FY2025). Multiple ranges: DealFlowAgent tier view calibrated against the sources cited per band below and the linked 2025-2026 deal tables. **Below £250K of earnings:** owner-operated businesses are priced on SDE rather than EBITDA, typically at 2.0x-3.5x depending on how much of the trading genuinely transfers without the owner. We advise at this size too, and the size ladder covers it honestly, including the fastest routes up: signed multi-year compliance contracts and a second qualified signatory. * * * ## How compliance and inspection businesses are actually valued ### Defended EBITDA, not claimed EBITDA Every valuation conversation in this sector starts from the same equation: enterprise value equals adjusted EBITDA multiplied by a multiple. What most owners underestimate is that both numbers are contested, and the first one is contested line by line. Adjusted EBITDA starts from reported profit and adds back costs that will not continue under new ownership: the owner's above-market salary, personal vehicles, one-off legal or property costs. Buyers do not take that schedule on trust. Any serious acquirer, and every PE-backed one, runs a quality of earnings (QoE) review whose job is to disprove your adjustments. The number that survives that review is what we call **defended EBITDA**, and it is the number that gets priced. The mechanics of QoE survival are consistent: an add-back survives if it is genuinely one-off, genuinely personal, and documented. It fails if it recurs (recruitment costs in a business that loses a fifth of its qualified engineers every year are not one-off, they are the cost of standing still), if it is commercial rather than personal, or if the paperwork does not exist. And the damage is not confined to the rejected line. A buyer who disproves one adjustment reprices the credibility of every adjustment, and typically collects the difference in structure: heavier earn-outs, larger retentions. ### The multiple is a quality score The multiple is not a market constant you look up; it is the buyer's compressed judgement of how safely your earnings transfer to them. Two compliance businesses with identical £750K EBITDA routinely transact more than a full turn apart. The spread is explained by the questions every acquirer's investment committee asks: how much of the revenue arrives by statutory calendar under contract, what happens when the founder leaves, whether the accreditations survive the founder's exit, whether the evidence room holds up, and how many credible bidders are at the table. Section five of this guide breaks that judgement into the 30 factors buyers actually score. ### The independence question: pure TIC versus inspect-and-remediate This sector has a structural question no other trade faces: **is the business paid to find work for itself?** Pure third-party TIC businesses inspect and certify without doing the remedial work; their independence is protected by accreditation (UKAS-accredited inspection bodies operate under [ISO/IEC 17020's impartiality requirements](https://www.ukas.com/accreditation/standards/inspection-body-accreditation/)) and their earnings are the cleanest in the sector, which is why the global TIC majors trade at 9.5x-14.2x EV/EBITDA (see the £10M+ band) and why global TIC M&A has averaged [14.3x since 2016](http://cdn.hl.com/pdf/2025/bus-ticc-summer-2025.pdf) (Houlihan Lokey, weighted to platform-scale deals). Most owner-managed compliance businesses are not pure TIC; they inspect and remediate. Buyers do not treat that as a defect, they treat it as a different asset: the inspection book is the annuity, and the remedial flow it generates is the growth engine (in the nearest published evidence, APi Group reports that [every dollar of inspection revenue generates three to four dollars of service revenue annually, at gross margins roughly ten points above project work](https://s201.q4cdn.com/155847588/files/doc_presentations/2025/Feb/27/v2/APG-Investor-Presentation-vFINAL-2-27-Update.pdf), US data). What buyers will test is separation: whether inspection findings are evidenced independently of the remedial quote, whether clients are free to take remedials elsewhere and mostly choose not to, and whether the two margins are tracked separately. An inspect-and-remediate business that can show that discipline captures most of the pure-TIC premium; one that cannot invites the buyer to treat the whole book as self-generated project work. ### Below roughly £250K of earnings: SDE, not EBITDA At the small end the arithmetic changes basis. An owner-operated business where the owner surveys, inspects, signs the reports and invoices does not have EBITDA in any meaningful sense; it has **seller's discretionary earnings**: profit plus the owner's full compensation, priced on the understanding that the buyer works in the business. The only published benchmarks at this size are generic small-business marketplace medians ([BizBuySell's median service business sold at 2.38x SDE across 2021-2025](https://www.bizbuysell.com/learning-center/valuation-benchmarks/service-business/); [IBBA's Q3 2025 Market Pulse puts sub-$500K deals at 2.0x SDE and $1M-$2M deals at 3.0x](https://www.ibba.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/market-pulse-highlights-q3-2025.pdf)), and they should be read as floors, not compliance-sector pricing: those medians pool laundrettes and lawn care with inspection firms, and an accredited compliance business with a statutory renewal book carries scarcity value generic small-business data does not capture. No UK-specific dataset for small compliance deals is published; in our own work, transferability (contract cover, a second qualified signatory, accreditation held by the company rather than the person) decides where a small business lands far more than the marketplace average does (DealFlowAgent data). ### Recurring revenue: what the conventions actually are Recurring revenue in this sector is the whole thesis, so it is worth being precise about how it is priced. In the UK, no published multiple-of-recurring-revenue convention exists for **compliance or inspection books**. UK buyers price contracted compliance revenue through the EBITDA multiple, awarding a premium for statutory, indexed, low-churn books rather than a separate per-contract price ([Grant Thornton's 2025 review](https://www.grantthornton.co.uk/insights/uk-fire-and-security-sector-ma-review-2025/) describes recurring compliance revenue commanding higher multiples without publishing a conversion ratio). Several US articles get repeated in UK conversations as if the conventions transfer; they do not, at least not as published data. In North America, one published convention exists for inspection books: fire and life safety inspection agreements price at roughly [2x-3.5x annual recurring revenue, reaching 4x for multi-year contracted books](https://www.breakwaterma.com/blog/fire-alarm-life-safety-company-valuation-multiples-2026) (Breakwater M&A, February 2026; broker guidance, single source, so treat as directional rather than settled market data). Alarm monitoring's x-RMR convention (35x-45x monthly recurring revenue) belongs to the security sector and should not be imported into statutory maintenance; our [security systems guide](/valuation/security-systems-multiples) covers it properly. The practical takeaway for a UK owner: measure your contracted ARR, churn and renewal rates anyway, because sophisticated buyers model the compliance book separately even when the offer letter expresses a blended EBITDA multiple, and the absence of the measurement is priced as if the answer were bad (DealFlowAgent data). * * * ## The size ladder, band by band Size is the first thing every buyer screens on, before they read a line of your accounts. Each band below states the evidence behind its range, who transacts there, and what changes crossing in. The UK-specific published base for compliance multiples is thin (thinner than for fire safety), so the honest way to use this ladder is as calibrated judgement anchored to the sources shown, not as a price list. Where the evidence is generic (all-sector) or foreign, we say so. ### Below £250K earnings: the owner-operator band Priced on SDE (profit plus the owner's full compensation), on the understanding that the buyer steps into the owner's boots. Typical range 2.0x-3.5x SDE (DealFlowAgent view). The nearest published benchmarks are generic US marketplace data ([BizBuySell service business median 2.38x SDE, upper quartile 3.13x](https://www.bizbuysell.com/learning-center/valuation-benchmarks/service-business/); [IBBA Q3 2025: 2.0x SDE below $500K rising to 3.0x at $1M-$2M](https://www.ibba.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/market-pulse-highlights-q3-2025.pdf)), and an accredited compliance business with statutory renewal contracts should beat generic small-business averages. The honest constraint at this size is transferability, not the market. A business whose UKAS scope, BAFE registration or signatory authority rests on the owner personally is priced as an income stream rather than an enterprise. The two fastest fixes are signed multi-year compliance agreements in place of habitual repeat work, and a second qualified signatory who can hold the diary and sign the reports; both move a sale from asset-value territory to a genuine multiple. ### £250K-£500K defended EBITDA: professional buyers arrive 3.5x-5.0x, with strong contracted books reaching 5.5x (DealFlowAgent tier view). The generic UK floor sits below this: [Dealsuite's UK&I mid-market monitor puts the average business with £200K of normalised EBITDA at 3.3x](https://www.dealsuite.com/en/blogs/m-a-monitor-february-2026) (February 2026, all sectors), and compliance businesses with statutory revenue should clear the all-sector floor comfortably. This is the first band where consolidators genuinely compete: several of the UK bolt-ons in our deal table (extinguisher servicing books, single-discipline water hygiene firms, regional electrical testing businesses) are businesses of this size. What changes crossing in: your accounts are read by professionals, so the gap between claimed and defendable EBITDA starts to cost real money, and revenue mix plus accreditation become the dominant pricing questions. ### £500K-£1M defended EBITDA: the most competed band in UK compliance M&A 4.5x-6.0x, and multi-discipline compliance stacks with strong contracted books reach 6.5x (DealFlowAgent tier view; the consolidation arithmetic published for the sector, [entry at 6-8x for quality assets](https://techma.bakertilly.es/en/reports/report-testing-inspection-and-certification-sector-2025/), Baker Tilly 2025, describes the top of this band and the bands above). This is the core bolt-on range for every funded UK compliance platform: large enough to move a consolidator's numbers, small enough to integrate in a quarter. Complii bought repeatedly at this scale through 2025-2026 (twenty acquisitions completed by May 2026), PTSG added four statutory testing businesses in twelve months, and Phenna's statutory inspection arm did the same. Because so many buyers compete here, process quality is worth as much as any operational lever: the difference between one consolidator negotiating alone and four held in parallel is routinely a full turn. ### £1M-£2M defended EBITDA: the institutional threshold 5.5x-7.0x (DealFlowAgent tier view; context: [Wilson Partners' UK fire and security transaction sample shows a lower quartile of 6.9x](https://www.wilson-partners.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fire-Security-Insights.pdf), April 2024, skewed to larger and PE-backed deals; IBBA's generic $5M-$50M median of 6.5x marks the all-sector floor a compliance business should clear). **The cliff edge is real: roughly £1M of defended EBITDA is the line at which private equity transacts directly**, because debt providers will underwrite it and a fund's minimum cheque starts to work. Crossing it widens the buyer pool from trade-plus-consolidators to trade, consolidators, PE bolt-ons, platform-seed investors and the European TIC groups now shopping in the UK (Normec and Socotec both bought UK compliance businesses inside the window), and the added competition is itself worth multiple. ### £2M-£3M defended EBITDA: management depth gets priced 6.0x-8.0x (DealFlowAgent tier view; UK context: Wilson Partners' transactional median of c.9x sits at the top of this band and above, on a sample weighted to larger deals). Buyers at this size are underwriting an organisation, not a book of work. A group run through two founders' phones takes a visible discount; one that presents a second tier in diligence does not. In compliance specifically, this is where register integrity becomes a priced line item: a buyer integrating their fourteenth bolt-on knows exactly what fragmented compliance records cost to fix, and prices yours accordingly. This is also where deal structure becomes rich: earn-outs, rollover equity and management incentive plans enter the negotiation alongside price. ### £3M-£5M defended EBITDA: platform grade 7.0x-9.0x (DealFlowAgent tier view). **The second cliff edge: around £3M of defended EBITDA, businesses stop being bolt-ons and start being platforms**, the asset a fund builds a consolidation strategy around. The sector's own arithmetic explains why platform status is paid for: consolidators buy at 6-8x and exit integrated platforms at 14-16x (Baker Tilly, 2025), so the buyer is underwriting your systems, accreditations and management as the foundation for that arbitrage. Obsequio (revenue grown from £17M to £70M+ between 2023 and 2025) traded to Warren Equity at this class-plus in October 2025; Axis CLC began its own buy-and-build at this scale in 2026. What changes crossing in: your buyer list becomes institutional, competitive processes become the default, and the equity you keep can matter as much as the cash you take. ### £5M-£10M defended EBITDA: print territory 8.0x-11.0x (DealFlowAgent tier view). The evidence here is actual prints and sector averages rather than broker ladders: Mitie acquired Marlowe at £366M enterprise value, 11.2x FY25 adjusted EBITDA ([Mitie, August 2025](https://www.mitie.com/insights-news/news/mitie-welcomes-marlowe-to-build-uk-leader-in-facilities-compliance/)) at scale above this band, and the upper quartile of Wilson Partners' UK sample sits at 12.7x. Sureserve consolidated the listed social housing compliance space from this class, taking over Kinovo at £56.4M, a 41.1% premium (July 2025). Cross-border buyers are fully present: Warren Equity's Obsequio acquisition put US capital directly into a UK compliance process, and the European groups (Normec, Socotec, Kiwa) all bought in or adjacent to the UK inside the window. ### £10M+ defended EBITDA: institutional demand, thin UK evidence 10x-14x+, structure-dependent, and we flag plainly that **UK evidence at this size is thin**: few independent UK compliance businesses of this scale exist outside the platforms themselves, so pricing references come from global TIC M&A and listed markets. Global TICC transactions have averaged [14.3x EV/EBITDA across 2016-2025 and 15.2x across 2020-2025](http://cdn.hl.com/pdf/2025/bus-ticc-summer-2025.pdf) (Houlihan Lokey, platform-scale sample); listed TIC comparators traded at a 12.6x LTM median ([Oaklins, June 2026](https://www.oaklins.com/uploads/2026/06/Oaklins-TICC-Spot-On-Jun2026.pdf), data 31 March 2026), with the individual names at SGS 14.2x, Intertek 13.3x, Bureau Veritas 10.4x and Eurofins 9.5x (retrieved July 2026). The large prints cleared at scale: [SGS paid $1.325bn for ATS](https://www.sgs.com/en-us/news/2026/01/sgs-successfully-closes-applied-technical-services-acquisition) (11.2x 2026E EBITDA including run-rate cost savings, c.13.9x before them), and [EQT agreed £9.3bn for Intertek](https://eqtgroup.com/news/recommended-final-cash-acquisition-of-intertek-group-plc-agreed) (June 2026). Listed and large-cap multiples do not read across directly to private UK businesses; they mark the ceiling the consolidation arbitrage is built on, which is why platform buyers can pay premium bolt-on prices and still create value. * * * ## The 30 factors that set your multiple Every range in the master table is wide, deliberately. A business with £1.5M of defended EBITDA can transact anywhere between 5.5x and 7x, and that spread is £2.25M of enterprise value on identical earnings. What follows is the framework we use to explain, and then move, where a business sits inside its band: six dimensions, thirty factors, scored the way professional acquirers and their diligence advisers actually score them. The weighting logic is exposed rather than black-boxed. **Financial (22%)** and **Deal Process & Buyer Access (22%)** carry the highest weights: the first because diligence starts and ends with the numbers, the second because identical businesses demonstrably transact at materially different prices depending on how they are taken to market. **Customer & Revenue (16%)** is next because statutory contracted revenue is what the annuity thesis is built on. **Operations (14%)**, **People & Organisation (13%)** and **Strategic (13%)** complete the picture. Weights are the DealFlowAgent house weighting, derived from how offers and diligence findings have actually moved prices in the mandates we run; they are judgement, not survey data, and we publish them so you can challenge them. For each factor below: what it measures, what drags a business to the bottom of its band, and what earns the top. ### Dimension 1: Financial (22%) Factor What buyers price Bottom of band Top of band Revenue growth and absolute scale Three-year trajectory and whether the size itself restricts the buyer universe Flat or declining revenue; sub-£2M scale limiting buyers to individuals Sustained double-digit organic growth driven by the contracted compliance book, not remedial spikes Quality of earnings and bridge integrity How much of claimed adjusted EBITDA survives an independent QoE review Add-backs exceed 20% of EBITDA with weak evidence; recruitment costs claimed as one-off while qualified-engineer churn runs high A conservatively drawn, documented bridge a QoE review confirms within 2-3% Gross margin structure and mix Blended margin, and the inspection/remedial split beneath it Margin unknown by service line; inspection and remedial revenue invoiced and reported as one number Inspection, remedial and contract lines individually priced and tracked; the inspection annuity visible on its own P&L line Working capital and cash conversion Debtor days, application-for-payment discipline, and whether EBITDA becomes cash Debtor days drifting up; framework clients paying in 90+ days untracked; no direct debit on the small-account tail Debtor days under 40, direct debit as default on the contract book, a written cash policy Forecast credibility and management information Whether monthly accounts exist and past forecasts came true No monthly management accounts; consolidation by hand; forecasts routinely missed Five-day month-end close, rolling forecast, three years of forecasts delivered within 5% ### Dimension 2: Customer & Revenue (16%) Factor What buyers price Bottom of band Top of band Customer concentration and contract terms Top-1 and top-5 revenue share, weighted by the terms behind them Largest client or framework above 15% of revenue on rolling 90-day terms with change-of-control consent required Top client below 5%, top five below 20%, all on term agreements that survive completion End-market diversification Spread across estates whose compliance demand is mandated One end-market above 60% of revenue, or a single housing framework carrying the book Five-plus regulated end-markets (social housing, healthcare, education, managed commercial property, industrial) each buying on statute Contract quality: term, notice and indexation Share of revenue on signed, dated, indexed multi-year compliance agreements Under half of contracted value signed and dated; indexation below 30% of the book 95%+ signed on standard terms; indexation above 80%; renewals worked from a 120-day pipeline Retention and churn Gross revenue churn on the contracted book, and whether it is even measured Contracted churn above 15%, or unmeasured (buyers price unmeasured as bad) Churn below 6% with cause codes, win-back tracking and referenceable clients The compliance stack: disciplines per client Lines per client across fire, water, electrical, lifts and air Single-discipline accounts never offered a second regime; cross-sell accidental Whitespace mapped estate by estate; two-plus disciplines on the majority of key accounts; multi-discipline penetration rising quarter on quarter ### Dimension 3: Operations (14%) Factor What buyers price Bottom of band Top of band Engineer and assessor utilisation Billed hours over available hours, one definition, travel excluded Not measured, or measured differently in each discipline 75%+ sustained with engineer-level visibility and scheduling managed to it Statutory calendar management Whether every contracted obligation is scheduled from one auditable compliance calendar Due dates tracked in spreadsheets per discipline; missed statutory visits discovered by clients One system generating the forward workload from contract obligations; on-time completion evidenced on demand Subcontract dependency Share of inspections subcontracted, the premium paid, and the assurance file behind it Over 20% of visits subcontracted; competency and insurance certificates missing for regular subcontractors Under 8% subcontracted, full assurance files, premium consciously traded against recruitment Right-first-time and report turnaround Failed visits, certificate and report turnaround, credit notes as a share of invoiced value Failed visits above 10% for want of an access step; reports and certificates a week behind the visit Failed visits under 3%; same-day digital certificates from site; credit notes under 0.5% Evidence integrity and register unification One source of compliance truth a buyer can audit, with inspection independence demonstrable Paper records, three systems, findings and remedial quotes indistinguishable; a legacy database one person can operate All disciplines on one platform, findings evidenced independently of remedial quotes, legacy registers archived read-only ### Dimension 4: People & Organisation (13%) Factor What buyers price Bottom of band Top of band Key-person dependency What walks out of the door at completion Founder personally holds key client relationships, pricing authority and signatory responsibility for reports The business demonstrably runs, inspects and signs for months without founder involvement Management depth Whether a second tier exists with real delegated authority No genuine second tier; ten-plus direct reports converging on one director A management team that presents the business itself in diligence Qualified-workforce retention and pipeline Field churn in disciplines that are structurally short of competent people Churn above 20% among qualified engineers and assessors; no trainee pipeline Churn under 10%, a competency ladder with pay steps, trainees producing under supervision Knowledge documentation Whether the knowledge that runs the business is written down or resident in heads Contract quirks, site access arrangements and system configurations held by named individuals A maintained operations manual; any competent hire can run any documented process Incentive alignment and equity hygiene Whether the cap table is clean and management incentives point at the same exit Minority holders without drag-along; option promises made by email and never papered Executed shareholders' agreement, HMRC-agreed EMI scheme, no loose promises ### Dimension 5: Strategic (13%) Factor What buyers price Bottom of band Top of band Market position and route density Sites per engineer-day in a defined territory; in inspection businesses, density is margin Thin, scattered coverage; no territory where the business is a top-three provider Clear top-tier position in a defined territory with route density competitors cannot match Regulatory tailwind capture Named programmes converting the statutory calendar into won work Services technically mandated but no capture programme; the social housing EICR wave passing the business by Named programmes capturing the social housing electrical deadlines, Building Safety Act safety-case work and FRA competency demand Accreditation moat Third-party accreditation and scarce scopes competitors cannot quickly replicate Minimum accreditations, renewal at risk, scopes tied to one named individual UKAS accreditation plus the discipline set that fits the client base (BAFE scopes, LCA registration, SAFed membership, NICEIC approval), held by the company and actively maintained Organic growth engine Whether growth machinery exists independent of the founders Growth from founder relationships and inbound luck Mapped whitespace, running campaigns, conversion tracked, capacity planned Exit readiness and transactability How quickly and cleanly the business could actually transact No data room; key contracts non-assignable; accreditation transfer never considered A maintained evidence room answering first-round diligence same-day, with accreditation continuity pre-checked ### Dimension 6: Deal Process & Buyer Access (22%) This dimension is the one owners most often refuse to believe until they watch it play out, so we will state it plainly: the same business transacts at materially different prices depending on who runs the process, which buyers are reached, and whether parallel tension is held to signature. Buyers price the counterparty as well as the company. An unrepresented seller negotiating with a single consolidator is, from the buyer's side of the table, a process that can be won cheaply; four qualified bidders held in parallel is a market. In our own completed engagements, competitively run processes have delivered a 27% average uplift against the first offer received (**DealFlowAgent data**, not a market statistic; your outcome depends on your business and your bid table). Factor What buyers price Bottom of band Top of band Specialist sector representation Whether the process is run by a specialist in compliance services, a generalist, or the founder alone Founder self-running the process, or a one-person generalist brokerage A mandated specialist with live deal flow and completed transactions in compliance and building services Access to pre-qualified buyers Relationships with acquirers whose criteria, funding and appetite are known and current A cold list of trade names with no criteria knowledge Pre-qualified acquirer relationships with per-buyer criteria maintained and current Deal-team niche expertise Fluency in the sector's accreditation regimes, consolidator playbooks and comparable transactions The company educates its own adviser A team that knows the niche's regulations, buyers and comparables cold Process credibility and competitive tension Whether acquirers take the process seriously: response rates, speed to NDA, parallel parties held Outreach ignored; single-party talks; no tension held Strong response rates, fast NDAs, multiple credible parties held to final terms Evidenced inbound buyer demand Credible, logged acquisition approaches over the trailing twelve months Approaches unlogged and unanswered; claimed interest with no record Ten-plus logged approaches including PE platforms, several progressed to conversations * * * ## Two worked examples, with the arithmetic shown ### Example one: the same £750K, priced £1.1M apart Take two compliance businesses, each with £5M revenue and £750K of defended EBITDA. Same band on the master ladder (£500K-£1M defended EBITDA: 4.5x-6.0x, more for a multi-discipline stack), same headline profitability. **Business A** is remedial-led: 60% of revenue is project work won tender by tender, the largest client is 18% of revenue on a rolling purchase order, inspection findings and remedial quotes are produced as one document, the compliance calendar lives in three spreadsheets, and the founder is the senior authorising signatory on every discipline. Every one of those facts anchors a factor score at the bottom of its band. Priced accordingly: £750K defended EBITDA × 4.5x = **£3.4M enterprise value** **Business B** earns 65% of its revenue from contracted statutory work (EICR cycles, legionella monitoring, fire alarm servicing) across housing providers, healthcare estates and managing agents, indexed on 80% of the book, churn measured at 5%, one compliance platform generating the forward workload, UKAS-accredited with a second qualified signatory in every discipline, and a specialist-run process with four qualified bidders. Same band, top of it and past it on the stack premium: £750K defended EBITDA × 6.0x = **£4.5M enterprise value** The spread is **£1.1M on identical earnings**, and none of it is luck. Every element of Business B's premium is a factor from the table above, built deliberately, most of them inside eighteen months. ### Example two: £2M of EBITDA crossing the platform boundary A £14M revenue compliance group with £2.0M of defended EBITDA sits in the 6.0x-8.0x band. Presented as an ordinary bolt-on, mid-band: £2.0M × 6.5x = **£13.0M enterprise value** Now move three facts: the group unifies its registers onto one platform with findings evidenced independently of remedial quotes, papers a management team that presents without the founders, and pushes contracted multi-discipline revenue past 60% with churn and renewal rates evidenced. To a platform investor, this is no longer a bolt-on; it is the foundation asset a fund can build the buy-at-6-8x, exit-at-14-16x arithmetic on, and platform grading is paid for: £2.0M × 8.0x = **£16.0M enterprise value** The boundary crossing is worth **£3.0M without a pound of new EBITDA**. There is a second, quieter lesson in the same example: had the owners walked into that process with £2.3M of claimed EBITDA of which only £2.0M survived diligence, the price would have been rebuilt off the £2.0M anyway, and the credibility cost would have shown up in structure: a larger earn-out, a longer lock-in, a heavier retention. The defended number, not the claimed one, is the one that gets multiplied. * * * ## 2025-2026 transaction evidence: UK Every deal below is dated 2025 or 2026, verified against a citable public source, and linked. Where consideration was not made public we write undisclosed rather than guessing; almost every UK compliance bolt-on in the window is undisclosed, which is normal for private deals below £20M and does not mean the prices were low. The table is scoped to compliance, testing, inspection and statutory maintenance; deals that were security-led rather than compliance-led are covered in our [fire safety](/valuation/fire-safety-multiples) and [security systems](/valuation/security-systems-multiples) guides. Date Target Acquirer (backer) Niche Region Consideration / metrics Why it happened Feb 2025 Abbot Fire Group Compliance Group, now Complii (Ansor) Fire compliance: extinguishers, alarms, kitchen suppression South East Undisclosed Fire division bolt-on to a multi-discipline compliance platform Mar 2025 Omega Asbestos Consulting Environmental Essentials (BGF) Asbestos surveying, sampling, testing North East Undisclosed Fourth BGF-backed bolt-on; bridges Stoke HQ to Scotland coverage May 2025 (completed Jul 2025) [Kinovo plc (AIM)](https://www.ajbell.co.uk/news/rns/rns-6b1ef7ae-4194-40d0-a1e4-cd6a7e14bde5) Sureserve Group (Cap10) Electrical safety and compliance, social housing London £56.4M cash, 87.5p per share, 41.1% premium Consolidation of listed social housing compliance rival May 2025 Statutory Inspections Ltd Phenna Group (Oakley Capital) LOLER thorough examination East Midlands Undisclosed Folded into Phenna's statutory inspection arm; 8th Phenna deal of 2025 Jun 2025 UK Safety Management PTSG (Macquarie) PAT, fixed wire testing, emergency lighting Yorkshire Undisclosed Scale in recurring SME electrical testing Jun 2025 ARMA Connect Normec (Astorg) Electrical compliance UK Undisclosed Dutch TIC consolidator's push into UK compliance Jul 2025 UKTC Socotec UK & Ireland (Cobepa) UKAS fire resistance testing laboratory Scotland Undisclosed Post-Grenfell and Building Safety Act fire testing demand Jul 2025 [Reigate Environmental Services](https://www.stservices.co.uk/2025/07/21/were-proud-to-announce-that-aqualytix-has-acquired-reigate-environmental-services/) Aqualytix (Severn Trent plc) Water treatment and legionella control Surrey Undisclosed Third Aqualytix bolt-on in 18 months; a listed utility consolidating water hygiene Aug 2025 [**Marlowe plc**](https://www.mitie.com/insights-news/news/mitie-welcomes-marlowe-to-build-uk-leader-in-facilities-compliance/) Mitie Group plc Compliance platform: fire and security, water and air hygiene, asbestos UK national **£366M EV, 11.2x FY25 adjusted EBITDA** Mitie's stated aim: the UK leader in facilities compliance Sep 2025 [Total Fire Safety](https://internationalfireandsafetyjournal.com/compliance-total-fire-safety-acquisition/) Compliance Group (Ansor) Passive fire: doors, stopping, FRAs West Midlands Undisclosed; 18th group deal Passive fire capacity against regulatory demand Sep 2025 [Aquatech](https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/eastmidlands/news/2102351-aquatech-acquired-as-phenna-accelerates-buy-and-build-strategy/) Phenna Group (Oakley Capital) Water hygiene, legionella risk assessment, air hygiene West Midlands Undisclosed; 18th Phenna deal of 2025 Built-environment compliance division growth Oct 2025 [System Hygienics](https://www.facilitatemagazine.com/2025/10/15/ptsg-finalises-acquisition-system-hygienics) PTSG (Macquarie) Ventilation hygiene and fire damper testing East Sussex Undisclosed; 93 staff Strengthens compliance-led fire solutions division Oct 2025 [Obsequio Group (plus Atlas World and PLP add-ons at completion)](https://www.beechtreepe.com/post/beech-tree-private-equity-exits-its-investment-in-obsequio-group) Warren Equity Partners, from Beech Tree PE Fire, water hygiene, asbestos and environmental compliance platform UK national Undisclosed; revenue grown £17M to £70M+ since 2023 US sponsor takes a UK compliance platform into its next buy-and-build phase Dec 2025 [Universal Fire and Security](https://rangerfs.com/ranger-fire-and-security-expands-into-south-west-with-acquisition-of-plymouth-based-universal-fire-and-security/) Ranger Fire and Security (Hyperion) Fire and security servicing, 90%+ recurring maintenance South West Undisclosed; 13th Ranger deal Recurring compliance revenue density Jan 2026 [Earth Tech LPS](https://www.facilitatemagazine.com/2026/01/12/ptsg-acquires-earth-tech-lps-scotland-expansion) PTSG (Macquarie) Lightning protection testing and inspection Scotland Undisclosed Compliance-led testing with long-term maintenance contracts Jan 2026 (completed Mar 2026) IWS Water Hygiene (carve-out from South Staffordshire Plc) Andwis Group (parent of Rock Compliance) Water hygiene, legionella control, risk assessment UK national Undisclosed Corporate carve-out; group now 700+ staff in tech-enabled compliance Mar 2026 [Testing Services (UK) Ltd](https://www.facilitatemagazine.com/2026/03/26/ptsg-acquires-testing-services-bolster-electrical-services-arm) PTSG (Macquarie) Electrical testing UK Undisclosed Bolsters electrical testing arm; PTSG's fourth statutory testing deal in ten months Apr 2026 [Abbey Fire UK + Clear Flow Water Treatment (dual deal)](https://www.mainsights.io/ma-news/warren-equity-backed-fire-safety-services-provider-obsequio-group-acquires-fire-safety-and-water-treatment-specialists-abbey-fire-uk-and-clear-flow-water-treatment) Obsequio Group (Warren Equity) Extinguisher servicing; legionella control and water treatment North West; North East Undisclosed First post-Warren add-ons, pairing fire compliance with water hygiene May 2026 [Parr Fire Protection](https://www.facilitatemagazine.com/2026/05/01/complii-acquires-parr-fire-protection-services) Complii (Ansor) Fire alarms, emergency lighting, extinguishers, FRAs North West Undisclosed; 19th acquisition North West fire compliance coverage May 2026 [LSTC Group](https://www.socotec.com/media/news/socotec-uk-acquisition-lstc) Socotec UK (Cobepa) Engineering asset inspection, regulated energy sector East Yorkshire Undisclosed; 16th Socotec UK deal since 2017 Grid infrastructure inspection demand May 2026 [Tay Fire and Security](https://www.complii.com/news-and-insights/complii-marks-20th-acquisition-with-tay-fire-and-security) Complii (Ansor) Fire and security compliance Scotland Undisclosed; 20th acquisition Geographic broadening May 2026 Celtic Fire Security Complii (Ansor) Fire safety services UK Undisclosed Fire capability and reach Jun 2026 Ranger Fire and Security (majority investment) Inflexion (Enterprise Fund VI); Hyperion re-invests Fire and security compliance platform: 25 businesses, 500+ staff, £75M+ revenue UK and Ireland Undisclosed Institutional capital behind a proven compliance consolidator Jun 2026 iFire; Henderson Fire and Safety; FireCheck (triple deal) Ranger (Inflexion) Alarms; suppression; extinguishers, FRAs, PAT testing Edinburgh; Galway; Warrington Undisclosed Post-investment acceleration across three regions Jun 2026 Fieldway Group Axis CLC (Foresight exit) Active and passive fire compliance, FRAs, social housing frameworks North West Undisclosed; second Axis CLC bolt-on Framework positions in social housing fire safety Jul 2026 Sweetbriar Ltd Complii (Ansor) Water hygiene, water treatment, legionella control Hampshire Undisclosed Extends the water compliance leg of an end-to-end building safety platform **What the UK table says when read together.** Three patterns matter for sellers. First, the buyers are assembling the compliance stack deliberately: Complii's twenty acquisitions span fire, passive fire and now water hygiene; Obsequio's first post-Warren deals paired an extinguisher business with a water treatment business on the same day; PTSG added electrical testing, ventilation hygiene and lightning protection inside twelve months. A single-discipline business is being bought to become part of a stack, and a business that already is a stack is priced as one. Second, the capital keeps upgrading: Beech Tree sold Obsequio to Warren Equity, Hyperion brought in Inflexion behind Ranger, Foresight exited Fieldway to a new consolidator, and each sponsor change re-arms a buyer with a larger cheque book. Third, private equity featured in 58% of the UK's 184 facilities-services deals in 2025 (Grant Thornton), and the only two disclosed prices in the window (Marlowe at 11.2x, Kinovo at a 41.1% premium) were both set by competitive, public-market tension, which is exactly the dynamic a well-run private process recreates. * * * ## 2025-2026 transaction evidence: US and global The global TIC market is deeper and further through its consolidation cycle than the UK, and its buyers increasingly shop in the UK directly. The same rule applies to this table: 2025-2026 only, every row linked, undisclosed means undisclosed. Date Target Acquirer (backer) Niche Geography Consideration / metrics Why it happened Jan 2025 [Pye-Barker Fire & Safety (minority stakes)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pye-barker-fire--safety-announces-minority-investments-from-adia-and-gic-to-fuel-new-growth-302347964.html) ADIA and GIC, alongside Altas Partners and Leonard Green Fire and life safety inspection, testing and maintenance roll-up US (45+ states) Undisclosed Sovereign wealth capital behind the most acquisitive US compliance platform Jan 2025 [Contec AQS (with Exenet and PMPI)](https://group.bureauveritas.com/newsroom/bureau-veritas-acquire-leading-buildings-infrastructure-business-italy-line-leap-28) Bureau Veritas Buildings and infrastructure TIC, HSE services Italy Undisclosed LEAP 28 expansion into Italian construction compliance Mar 2025 [QIMA (minority stake, from CDPQ)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250320587274/en/QIMA-Welcomes-TA-Associates-as-a-New-Strategic-Partner-to-Propel-Ambitious-Growth-Plans-in-the-Testing-Inspection-and-Certification-Industry) TA Associates Consumer goods, food and life sciences TIC Global Undisclosed New sponsor to fund technology-led TIC growth Apr 2025 [TESIS](https://www.intertek.com/news/2025/intertek-expands-into-brazils-attractive-building--construction-industry-with-acquisition-of-leading-building-products-testing-company/) Intertek Building products testing and assurance Brazil £11.2M; c.3.0x sales Entry into Brazil's construction assurance market Jul 2025 (closed Jan 2026) [**Applied Technical Services (ATS)**](https://www.sgs.com/en-us/news/2026/01/sgs-successfully-closes-applied-technical-services-acquisition) SGS, from Odyssey Investment Partners Testing, inspection, calibration and forensics US **$1.325bn; 11.2x 2026E EBITDA incl. run-rate cost savings (c.13.9x before them)** Delivers most of SGS's goal to double North America sales by 2027 Aug 2025 [Summit Companies (SFP Holding)](https://summitcompanies.com/insights/news-press/summit-companies-announces-acquisition-by-bdt-msd-partners/) BDT & MSD Partners, from BlackRock LTPC Fire and life safety incl. code-required inspection, testing and maintenance US (37 states) Undisclosed; management rolled equity Platform trade of one of the largest US fire and life safety groups Aug 2025 [MS Bio, MJ Reider, NorthEast BioLab (three deals)](https://normecgroup.com/news/normec-enters-us-with-three-acquisitions/) Normec (CVC-backed) Food, water and bioanalytical testing labs US Undisclosed European TIC consolidator's platform entry into the US Oct 2025 [Solida; London Building Control](https://group.bureauveritas.com/newsroom/bureau-veritas-accelerating-its-leap-28-strategy-two-signed-agreements-acquisitions) Bureau Veritas Renewables owner's engineering; statutory building control Spain; UK Undisclosed LEAP 28 bolt-ons; LBC adds regulated UK building compliance Nov 2025 [M.A.N Elevator Inspections](https://www.themiddlemarket.com/latest-news/tscp-backed-atis-acquires-m-a-n-elevator-inspections) ATIS (Thompson Street Capital Partners) Third-party elevator inspection US (Florida) Undisclosed Geographic infill for the leading US elevator inspection consolidator Dec 2025 Advance Testing; AAR Testing & Inspection Socotec (Cobepa) Construction materials testing and inspection US Undisclosed; +260 staff, Socotec USA at $350M revenue East Coast and Pacific Northwest build-out towards a $500M US platform Jan 2026 [14 acquisitions incl. India entry (programme)](https://www.callabmag.com/trescal-expands-global-footprint-with-14-acquisitions-and-entry-into-india/) Trescal Calibration services Global c.EUR 50M+ added sales, 800 staff Continued consolidation of fragmented calibration Jan 2026 [ECM (Ente Certificazione Macchine)](https://www.leadersleague.com/en/news/normec-expands-healthcare-and-certification-portfolio-with-ecm-acquisition) Normec (CVC-backed) Product certification and machinery safety Italy Undisclosed Certification and regulatory compliance coverage Feb 2026 [Suomen Katsastusasemat (from Helix Partners)](https://www.tuvsud.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026/february/tuev-sued-acquires-finland-based-provider-of-pti-services) TUV SUD Statutory periodic vehicle inspection Finland Undisclosed; 11 stations Entry into a statutory inspection market Feb 2026 [NVI](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260217710842/en/GenNx360-Capital-Partners-Announces-Investment-in-NVI-A-Testing-Inspection-Certification-and-Compliance-Platform) GenNx360 Capital Partners Industrial testing, inspection and compliance platform US Undisclosed New PE platform creation in industrial TICC Feb 2026 [Aerial PV Inspection (AePVI)](https://www.intertek.com/news/2026/intertek-strengthens-global-solar-assurance-leadership-with-acquisition-of-tek-based-inspection-provider-aepvi/) Intertek Drone-enabled solar PV inspection Germany / global Undisclosed Tech-enabled inspection capability Feb 2026 (completed) [APEM Group (from WestBridge)](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/applus-services-s-a-completed-the-acquisition-of-apem-group-limited-from-westbridge-ii-managed-by-ce7e5adcde8cf524) Applus+ (I Squared/TDR) Environmental and ecological assessment UK / international c.£340M Group diversification under post-take-private ownership Feb 2026 [Quality Support Group](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260224826173/en/TV-Rheinland-Strengthens-U.S.-Portfolio-with-Integration-of-Quality-Support-Group-Inc.) TUV Rheinland QA consulting, auditing and training US (Massachusetts) Undisclosed US assurance portfolio strength Mar 2026 [Electro-Test (into Vincotte)](https://www.kiwa.com/en/news/Kiwa-expands-in-europe/) Kiwa (SHV Holdings) Statutory inspections: electrical, gas, water, lifts, fire Belgium Undisclosed Consolidates Belgian statutory inspection Mar 2026 [American Engineers Group](http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/socotec-expands-further-into-mid-atlantic-with-strategic-acquisition-of-american-engineers-group-302710292.html) Socotec (Cobepa) Infrastructure engineering and inspection US (Mid-Atlantic) Undisclosed; c.60 professionals US infrastructure inspection platform Apr 2026 Lotusworks Bureau Veritas Commissioning, QA/QC and calibration for data centres and semiconductors Ireland / global EUR 375M EV; c.2.9x sales Mission-critical technical assurance platform Apr 2026 (close Q4 2026) Eurofins electrical & electronics testing business (incl. MET Labs) UL Solutions E&E testing and certification, 44 labs EMEA, APAC, US c.EUR 575M cash; c.2.9x sales Listed TIC player buys a carve-out; Eurofins rotates its portfolio Apr 2026 Elevator Safety Inspection Services VDA Third-party elevator and escalator inspection US (8 states) Undisclosed Serial elevator inspection consolidation May 2026 DEKRA Rail (Netherlands and Taiwan) Apave, via CERTIFER Rail testing, laboratory services and certification NL / Taiwan Undisclosed Rail certification leadership; DEKRA divests non-core May 2026 GEI Apave Industrial inspection, NDT, metrology and calibration Singapore / SE Asia Undisclosed Expansion into high-growth Asian inspection markets Jun 2026 [Intertek Group plc (take-private)](https://eqtgroup.com/news/recommended-final-cash-acquisition-of-intertek-group-plc-agreed) EQT, backed by ADIA and Mubadala Global TIC platform UK-listed, global £9.3bn (c. $12.3bn); £60 per share cash The largest TIC deal of the period: PE takes a top-three global TIC player off the LSE Jun 2026 Fire Protection Specialists Pye-Barker (Altas, Leonard Green, ADIA, GIC) Fire suppression incl. inspection and testing US (Washington) Undisclosed The highest-velocity US roll-up continues after 57 deals in 2025 Jun 2026 (close Q1 2027) Bureau Veritas oil, petrochemicals and coal testing carve-out Triton Partners Commodities testing and inspection Global (320 sites) EUR 470M EV; c.1.0x sales Portfolio rotation out of lower-growth commodities testing **What the US and global table says when read together.** The capital behind compliance consolidation is among the deepest in business services: sovereign wealth funds (ADIA, GIC, Mubadala) now sit behind both the largest US fire compliance roll-up and the take-private of a global TIC major, and PE-backed buyers account for around 65% of all TICC acquirers ([Oaklins, June 2026](https://www.oaklins.com/uploads/2026/06/Oaklins-TICC-Spot-On-Jun2026.pdf)). The disclosed pricing shows the gradient sellers should understand: commodity-exposed testing traded at c.1.0x sales (the Bureau Veritas carve-out), specialist technical assurance at c.2.9x-3.0x sales (Lotusworks, TESIS, the Eurofins carve-out), and the one fully disclosed EBITDA print at scale, SGS/ATS, cleared at 11.2x-13.9x depending on the cost-savings basis. Statutory inspection is a global theme, not a UK quirk: the same window saw elevator inspection consolidators (ATIS, VDA) buying in the US, TUV SUD buying statutory vehicle inspection in Finland, and Kiwa consolidating Belgian statutory inspection. For a UK owner the practical point is that the buyers of UK compliance platforms (Warren Equity, Cobepa via Socotec, Astorg via Normec, CVC) fund themselves against exactly these reference points. * * * ## 2026 demand drivers and the consolidation map Buyers are not paying these multiples out of enthusiasm. They are underwriting a demand environment that is unique in business services: in this sector, **demand arrives by law, on a calendar**. LOLER prescribes the inspection interval for every passenger lift in the country. ACOP L8 puts monthly tasks on every water system. The Electrical Safety Standards Regulations put a five-year cycle on millions of rented homes. That statutory periodicity is the annuity the whole consolidation thesis is built on, and 2026 has added to it. Five drivers matter most, each with a date attached. ### The statutory calendar itself: the sector's base load The core regimes and their periodicities, each from the primary source: [LOLER 1998](https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/thorough-examinations-lifting-equipment.htm) requires thorough examination of lifting equipment every 6 months where it lifts people and every 12 months otherwise, with a written report every time. ACOP L8 and HSG274 put a rolling task regime on water systems: monthly sentinel temperature checks, quarterly shower and tap cleans, annual calorifier and tank inspections, plus the legionella risk assessment itself, reviewed whenever its validity is in doubt. [The Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/312/contents) mandate five-yearly EICRs across the private rented sector with remedial work within 28 days. [GB F-Gas rules](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/checking-f-gas-equipment-for-leaks) set leak-check intervals of three, six or twelve months depending on charge size. [TM44 inspections](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-conditioning-inspections-for-buildings/a-guide-to-air-conditioning-inspections) run five-yearly on air conditioning above 12kW. [BS 5839-1:2025](https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/fire-detection-and-fire-alarm-systems-for-buildings-design-installation-commissioning-and-maintenance-of-systems-in-non-domestic-premises-code-of-practice) sets six-monthly fire alarm servicing, and the [Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/547/regulation/7/made) added monthly lift and equipment checks in high-rises and quarterly communal fire door checks above 11 metres. A compliance business is, in financial terms, a portfolio of these calendars under contract. That is what buyers mean when they call the sector non-discretionary, and it is why Oakley Capital's published thesis for Phenna leads with regulation-driven, non-discretionary demand. ### The social housing electrical wave: dated, funded and live now The [Electrical Safety Standards (Extension to the Social Rented Sector) Regulations 2025](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1043/contents/made) extended the five-yearly EICR duty to social landlords: in force for new tenancies from 1 November 2025, for all social tenancies from 1 May 2026, with a first-inspection deadline of 1 November 2026. That is a one-off compliance surge across roughly four million social homes running right now, followed by a permanent five-year cycle, and housing providers are tendering framework agreements to meet it. [Awaab's Law](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/awaabs-law-guidance-for-social-landlords/awaabs-law-guidance-for-social-landlords-timeframes-for-repairs-in-the-social-rented-sector) (phase 1 in force since 27 October 2025) adds statutory response clocks for emergency and damp-and-mould hazards, which forces social landlords to hold surveying and remediation capacity on standby contracts. The M&A market has already voted on what this is worth: Sureserve's £56.4M takeover of Kinovo (July 2025) was a direct consolidation of social housing compliance capacity, and Axis CLC's acquisition of Fieldway (June 2026) was built on social housing fire safety frameworks. ### The Building Safety Act pipeline: measured monthly The [Building Safety Act's safety case and golden thread duties](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/907/regulation/5) are fully in force for occupied higher-risk buildings, with the Building Safety Regulator calling in building assessment certificate applications since April 2024. Every registered higher-risk building needs safety case authorship, fire and structural assessments, and maintained digital records, on a rolling regulatory cycle. The remediation workload alongside it is published monthly: as at the [May 2026 MHCLG data release](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-remediation-monthly-data-release-may-2026/building-safety-remediation-monthly-data-release-may-2026) (published 24 June 2026), 4,411 buildings of 11 metres and over are in monitored remediation programmes, 53% have started or completed remediation, 38% are complete, and 2,080 have not yet started, against an estimated £9.2bn of government remediation funding. The 2,080 not-yet-started buildings are a multi-year pipeline of surveys, fire engineering, remediation and post-works reinspection, and the [Building Safety Levy](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1236/made) (in force 1 October 2026) sustains the funding pool behind it. ### The competency squeeze: certification becomes the licence to trade Two 2026 developments tighten the supply side of the market at the same time as the demand side grows. First, MHCLG ran a consultation from [26 March to 18 June 2026 on regulating the fire risk assessor profession](https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fire-risk-assessors-profession/fire-risk-assessors-profession), delivering a Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 recommendation; the government response had not been published as at July 2026, but the direction is one-way: assessment work is being restricted to demonstrably competent, certificated providers. Second, [BS 7671 Amendment 4 published on 15 April 2026](https://www.theiet.org/media/press-releases/press-releases-2026/press-releases-2026-april-june/15-april-2026-iet-bsi-officially-publish-amendment-4-2026-to-bs-76712018-iet-wiring-regulations), triggering the retraining and requalification cycle across the electrical testing workforce. For business owners the implication is double-edged: certified capacity in your business is being made scarcer and more valuable by statute, and the same scarcity makes your qualified staff a retention risk that buyers will examine. Businesses that hold accredited capacity at company level, with a trainee pipeline feeding it, are being bought partly for exactly that. ### UKAS accreditation: the master moat Underneath every regime sits the accreditation architecture. UKAS is the UK's [sole national accreditation body](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/3155/contents); UKAS accreditation to [ISO/IEC 17020 or 17025](https://www.ukas.com/accreditation/standards/inspection-body-accreditation/) is statutorily required for [asbestos analysis and clearance work](https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/analysts-surveyors.htm) and is the de facto requirement insurers and large clients impose for engineering inspection (LOLER thorough examinations above trivial scale are overwhelmingly performed by UKAS-accredited inspection bodies). Accreditation takes years to obtain, is audited continuously, and, critically for deal-making, [is held at legal-entity level: transferring it to a new entity requires prior notification and UKAS assessment, and is not guaranteed](https://www.ukas.com/customer-area/change-of-ownership-name-or-legal-entity/). That is why accredited businesses are bought rather than replicated, why share deals dominate asset deals in this sector, and why accreditation continuity is one of the first questions in every diligence process (DealFlowAgent observation). ### The consolidation map: who is actually buying **UK.** The active buyer set is broader than most owners realise, and few of them look like each other: PE-backed multi-discipline compliance platforms (Complii under Ansor, 20+ acquisitions; Obsequio under Warren Equity; Rock Compliance under Andwis; Axis CLC), infrastructure-capital specialists (PTSG under Macquarie, four statutory testing deals in twelve months), global TIC consolidators buying UK businesses directly (Phenna under Oakley Capital, 31 acquisitions in the last twelve months globally; Socotec UK, 16 deals since 2017; Normec under Astorg), listed strategics (Mitie post-Marlowe; Bureau Veritas, which bought UK building control in the window), social housing compliance specialists (Sureserve under Cap10), fire-led compliance consolidators (Ranger under Inflexion since June 2026), and even a listed water utility (Severn Trent, through Aqualytix). Grant Thornton counted 184 UK facilities-services deals in 2025, a record fourth quarter of 60, with PE in 58% of them. Multiple funded buyer types competing over a fragmented base is the structural reason well-prepared sellers can run genuinely competitive processes. **US and global.** [Oaklins' June 2026 tracker](https://www.oaklins.com/uploads/2026/06/Oaklins-TICC-Spot-On-Jun2026.pdf) shows the ten most active global TICC buyers taking 42.8% of all deals in the trailing twelve months: Phenna (31), SGS (22), Celnor (17), Normec (13), Certania (12), Sansidor (11), SOCOTEC (10) and Bureau Veritas (9) lead it. Beneath the majors, US statutory inspection is consolidating trade by trade: elevator inspection under ATIS (Thompson Street) and VDA, fire and life safety inspection under Pye-Barker (57 acquisitions in 2025 alone) and Summit (BDT & MSD), industrial testing under new platforms like GenNx360's NVI. The listed strategics publish their intent: SGS's ATS acquisition was framed as delivering 80% of its goal to double North American revenue by 2027, and EQT's Intertek take-private puts a top-three global TIC platform into private hands with sovereign co-investment behind it. * * * ## What kills the multiple Symmetry demands the other half of the story. The factors above build value; the six patterns below are the ones we watch destroy it in live diligence. Each is written with the buyer's actual reasoning, because the discount only makes sense once you see the deal from their chair. **Remedial-heavy revenue presented as compliance revenue.** The buyer's logic: the inspection book is an annuity, the remedial flow is project work, and if the accounts cannot separate them the buyer separates them pessimistically. In the nearest published evidence, inspection and service work carries gross margins roughly ten points above project work (APi Group, US data), and buyers underwrite the two revenue types at different multiples. A business that invoices inspection and remedials as one line, on one margin, invites the whole book to be priced as re-won project work. The fix is accounting, not operations: split the lines, track the margins, and show the remedial attach rate as the growth engine it is. **Concentration on weak terms.** A housing framework at 30% of revenue is a discount; the same framework two years from re-tender with no incumbent-performance evidence pack is a structural problem, because the buyer must underwrite the re-tender at the exact moment they are pricing your business. The same applies to any client above 15% on rolling terms with a change-of-control consent clause: the buyer must ask that client's permission to buy your business, at the moment the relationship is least secure. Diligence prices the documented terms, not the strength of the relationship. **Unmeasured churn.** Retention is the single clearest external verdict on a compliance business, because statutory demand means a client who leaves chose a competitor, not the absence of the regulation. A contracted book churning at 6% by value is genuinely strong; a book whose churn nobody can state gets modelled pessimistically, because the buyer's downside case is built from your missing data. **Founder-as-chief-assessor.** When the founder personally holds the top client relationships, prices every major contract and is the senior authorising signatory on the reports, the buyer is not buying a business; they are buying the founder, on terms where the founder is leaving. In accredited disciplines the problem compounds: if the UKAS scope, BAFE registration or authorising-engineer status rests on the founder's name, part of the asset legally walks out with them. The response is mechanical: consideration shifts from completion cash into earn-outs and lock-ins. Every hour spent building a second qualified tier converts earn-out money back into completion money. **Accreditation fragility.** Buyers verify accreditation status in week one, because it gates the revenue: UKAS accreditation is held at legal-entity level and does not transfer automatically, BAFE and scheme registrations lapse on missed audits, and scopes tied to named individuals follow the individuals. A lapsed or at-risk accreditation in an accreditation-led business is one of the few findings that can stop a deal rather than merely discount it (DealFlowAgent observation). The pre-sale checklist is short: accreditations held by the company, two qualified signatories per discipline, audit history clean, and the transfer question answered before a buyer asks it. **Fragmented registers and an unpapered cap table.** Three compliance systems, a spreadsheet and a legacy database operable by one individual is an integration cost line, estimated pessimistically by people who have integrated twenty businesses before yours; in a compliance business it is also an evidence problem, because your product is the record. And the corporate housekeeping equivalent kills quietly: a forgotten 4% legacy shareholding with no drag-along, or option promises made by email and never formalised, surfaces in week ten of a process, when your negotiating position is weakest. The legal cost of resolving these items a year before a process is modest; the cost of resolving them mid-process is measured in negotiating position. * * * ## Deal structure by size: headline price versus cash at close The multiple gets the headline; the structure decides what arrives in your account. Published data on structure is thinner than on price, so this section states its sources carefully and labels the gaps. **Earn-outs are common, not universal, and rising on both sides of the Atlantic.** In the US, [24% of private-target deals in 2025 carried an earn-out](https://www.fasken.com/en/knowledge/2026/05/private-ma-deal-trends-to-watch-key-takeaways-from-srs-acquioms-2026-study) (SRS Acquiom 2026 Deal Terms Study, 2,300+ deals), with the median earn-out worth 34% of the closing payment and one-to-two-year terms the most common. In Europe, the [CMS European M&A Study 2026](https://cms.law/en/int/publication/CMS-European-M-A-Study-2026) (March 2026, 601 deals) reports earn-out use increasing through 2025 from the [record 27% recorded in 2024](https://cms.law/en/int/legal-updates/cms-european-m-a-study-2025-buyers-take-the-lead-in-a-shifting-market). Among European SME deals specifically, [42% of advisers reported rising earn-out use, the deferred element was most commonly 10-20% of total price, and vendor loans appeared in around a third of transactions](https://www.dealsuite.com/en/blogs/m-a-deal-terms-report-november-2025-earn-outs-and-vendor-loans-on-the-rise-across-europe) (Dealsuite, November 2025, survey of 959 advisory firms). **What that means by size (DealFlowAgent view, labelled as such because no published dataset splits structure by enterprise value band):** below £1M of consideration, deals are often majority cash with a modest holdback, because there is little management to incentivise and the buyer is usually taking over operations directly. In the £1M-£5M range, expect 70-85% at completion with the balance deferred or contingent, tied to client and contract retention. In PE bolt-ons from £5M upwards, structure becomes richer: completion cash, an earn-out against maintained EBITDA, and frequently rollover equity of perhaps 10-30% of proceeds where the vendor stays (practitioner norms; no current published survey exists, the last systematic one being [Goodwin's 2018 rollover survey](https://www.goodwinlaw.com/en/flex-pages/rollover-survey)). At platform scale, rollover and management incentive plans are standard and the negotiation is as much about the equity you keep as the cash you take. Directional support for the rollover pattern: 21% of 2025 US private deals combined cash with management rollover, while all-cash deals fell to 51% (SRS Acquiom). **Working capital and completion mechanics.** UK private deals split between completion accounts and locked box; on the CMS dataset locked box appeared in 54% of European non-adjustment deals in 2024 and it dominates UK PE practice, while the US runs on post-closing adjustments (90%+ of US private deals carry a working capital mechanism, ABA 2025). Either way, the buyer will set a normalised working capital peg, and a business with drifting debtor days and slow-paying framework clients funds the difference out of its own price. Escrows on US deals averaged 12.1% of deal value in 2025, falling to 5.1% where warranty insurance was used (SRS Acquiom); UK retention practice at SME scale is not centrally published, but the mechanism and the logic are the same. Two structure points specific to this sector. First, UKAS accreditation is held at legal-entity level and transfer to a new entity requires prior UKAS assessment, which is a structural argument for share deals over asset deals in accredited businesses, and a diligence item either way. Second, [TUPE applies to service provision changes](https://www.acas.org.uk/tupe/advice-for-employers-and-employees), so contracted compliance books carry their workforce terms with them; buyers price TUPE exposure on framework transitions, and sellers with clean, documented employment terms remove a negotiating excuse. The practical rule we give every seller: negotiate the structure with the same energy as the price, because a 6.5x offer at 85% cash with a defendable peg routinely beats a 7x offer built on a two-year earn-out against integration-controlled numbers. * * * ## UK versus US: what actually differs Owners on both sides of the Atlantic read the same articles, so the differences are worth stating precisely. Dimension UK US Buyer landscape Multi-discipline compliance platforms (Complii, Obsequio, PTSG, Phenna, Rock Compliance) plus global TIC groups buying directly; PE in 58% of 184 facilities deals in 2025 (Grant Thornton) Trade-by-trade statutory inspection roll-ups (Pye-Barker and Summit in fire ITM, ATIS and VDA in elevator inspection) plus the global TIC majors; top 10 global TICC buyers take 42.8% of deals (Oaklins) Recurring revenue convention Priced through the EBITDA multiple with a premium for contracted statutory books; no published x-ARR convention One published convention for inspection books: 2x-3.5x ARR, to 4x for multi-year contracts (Breakwater, fire and life safety, single source) Regulatory architecture National statutes and ACOPs: LOLER, L8, the Electrical Safety Standards Regulations, the Building Safety Act; one enforcement direction State-level codes and licensing enforced by thousands of local authorities having jurisdiction; requirements vary state by state Competency moat UKAS accreditation at company level, plus scheme registrations (BAFE, LCA, SAFed, NICEIC) State licences and individual certifications (QEI for elevator inspectors, NICET for fire); credentials held by individuals, so key-person risk is structural Labour structure Non-union; TUPE transfers workforce terms with contracted books Elevator trade heavily unionised (IUEC represents over 80% of the US/Canada elevator workforce); union exposure and multiemployer pension liability are standard diligence items Deal mechanics Locked box dominant in PE deals; 54% of European non-adjustment deals (CMS) Working capital pegs near-universal (90%+ of deals, ABA 2025); escrows larger without warranty insurance Debt environment (Jul 2026) Bank Rate 3.75% (held June 2026) Fed funds 3.50-3.75% (held June 2026) Three implications for owners. First, UK sellers should not import US ARR multiples into their own expectations: the UK monetises the same contract quality through the EBITDA multiple and through competition among funded UK buyers, and a well-run process is how that competition is created. Second, UK accreditation held at company level is a stronger transferable asset than the US individual-licence model, provided it is genuinely held by the company and not by the founder personally; that single distinction moves businesses between the bottom and top of their band. Third, global capital now prices UK compliance assets directly (Warren Equity behind Obsequio, Cobepa behind Socotec UK, Astorg behind Normec, EQT behind Intertek), so a well-run UK process increasingly prices against both markets' appetite. * * * ## Frequently asked questions ### How much is my compliance, testing or inspection business worth in 2026? Prepared, professionally represented UK compliance businesses with £1M+ of defended EBITDA are transacting at roughly 5.5x-9x; platform-grade groups above £3M EBITDA at 7x-11x; businesses in the £500K-£1M EBITDA band typically at 4.5x-6x, reaching 6.5x for multi-discipline compliance stacks with strong contracted books. A £750K defended EBITDA business will usually sit between 4.5x and 6.0x (£3.4M-£4.5M enterprise value). Owner-operated businesses below roughly £250K of earnings are priced on SDE, typically 2.0x-3.5x. The master table above gives every band with sources. ### What EBITDA multiple do TIC businesses sell for? It depends heavily on scale. Global TIC transactions have averaged 14.3x EV/EBITDA since 2016 (Houlihan Lokey), but that sample is weighted to platform-scale deals; listed TIC companies trade at a 12.6x median (Oaklins, 2026); and the sector's consolidators are reported to buy smaller businesses at 6-8x and exit integrated platforms at 14-16x (Baker Tilly, 2025). The UK's defining print is Mitie's acquisition of Marlowe at 11.2x FY25 adjusted EBITDA (August 2025). Owner-managed UK compliance businesses transact along the size ladder above, from roughly 3.5x at the small end to 11x+ at platform scale. ### Does UKAS accreditation increase the value of my business? Yes, though no study quantifies the premium as a single figure, so treat specific claims sceptically. UKAS accreditation gates entire statutory work streams (it is legally required for asbestos analysis and the de facto requirement for engineering inspection), takes years to obtain, and is held at company level, which makes accredited businesses targets to buy rather than replicate. The sharper effect is downside: accreditation tied to a named individual, or at risk at its next audit, is one of the few diligence findings that can stop a deal rather than merely discount it (DealFlowAgent observation). ### Are inspection and maintenance contracts valued as recurring revenue? Buyers model them that way, but the pricing convention differs by market. In the UK no published multiple-of-ARR convention exists; contracted compliance revenue is priced through the EBITDA multiple, with a premium for statutory, indexed, low-churn books. In North American fire and life safety, inspection agreements are reported at 2x-3.5x annual recurring revenue (Breakwater M&A, 2026, single source). Measure your contracted ARR, churn and renewal rates either way, because sophisticated buyers will ask, and the absence of the measurement is priced as if the answer were bad. ### What is the difference between a pure inspection business and an inspect-and-remediate business at sale? A pure third-party inspection business is paid only to inspect and certify; its independence is protected by accreditation and its earnings are the cleanest in the sector, which is why pure TIC carries the sector's highest multiples. An inspect-and-remediate business earns the inspection fee plus the remedial work the inspection generates; buyers value the remedial attach as a growth engine provided the two sides are separated, tracked on their own margins, and the inspection findings are evidenced independently of the remedial quotes. Most owner-managed UK compliance businesses are inspect-and-remediate, and the ones that show that separation discipline capture most of the pure-TIC premium. ### What deal structure should I expect when I sell? Depends on size. Below £1M: mostly cash with a modest holdback. £1M-£5M: typically 70-85% at completion, balance deferred against retention (DealFlowAgent view). Above £5M with PE buyers: completion cash plus earn-out plus, where you stay, rollover equity of perhaps 10-30% of proceeds. Earn-outs appeared in 24% of US private deals in 2025 (SRS Acquiom) and are rising across European SME deals (Dealsuite, November 2025). In accredited businesses expect share deals to dominate, because UKAS accreditation does not transfer automatically to a new entity. Negotiate structure as hard as price. ### Is 2026 a good time to sell a compliance business? The demand evidence is unusually strong: the global TIC market is averaging 23 acquisitions a month (Oaklins), UK facilities M&A set a record in 2025 with PE in 58% of deals (Grant Thornton), and the statutory calendar keeps adding demand (the social housing EICR deadlines run through November 2026, and Building Safety Act workloads are published monthly). Whether it is a good time for your business depends on preparation: unprepared businesses sell into this market at the bottom of their band, and the same consolidation wave that creates exit demand also recruits from your qualified-engineer pool while you wait. ### What reduces the value of a compliance business most? The recurring killers: an EBITDA bridge that fails quality-of-earnings review, remedial-heavy revenue presented as compliance revenue, a large client or framework on short-notice or change-of-control terms, unmeasured churn, founder dependency (especially founder-held accreditations and signatory authority), and fragmented compliance registers. Each is covered with the buyer's reasoning in the teardown section above; most are fixable in six to eighteen months, which is precisely why preparation windows exist. * * * ## Glossary **ACOP L8.** The HSE's Approved Code of Practice for legionella control; departure from it must be justified, which gives its task regime near-statutory force. **Adjusted EBITDA.** Reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, adjusted for costs that will not continue under new ownership. **ARR.** Annual recurring revenue; in this sector, the annualised value of contracted inspection and maintenance work. **BAFE.** The UK's independent registration body for third-party certificated fire safety organisations. **Bolt-on.** An acquisition added to an existing platform, priced below platform grade. **Competent person.** The legal standard for who may perform statutory inspections (LOLER, EICR, fire risk assessment); competence requirements are tightening across disciplines. **Compliance stack.** Multiple statutory disciplines (fire, water, electrical, lifts, air) delivered to the same client estate; carries cross-sell and route-density value single-trade firms cannot match. **Defended EBITDA.** The adjusted EBITDA figure that survives a buyer's quality-of-earnings review; the number that actually gets priced. **Earn-out.** Deferred consideration contingent on post-completion performance. **EICR.** Electrical Installation Condition Report; five-yearly in the private rented sector and, from 2025-26, the social rented sector. **Enterprise value (EV).** The value of the business itself, before adjusting for cash and debt to reach equity proceeds. **F-Gas.** The GB regime governing fluorinated gases; sets statutory leak-check intervals of three to twelve months by charge size. **Golden thread.** The digital record of building safety information required for higher-risk buildings under the Building Safety Act. **Inspect-and-remediate.** A business model earning both the inspection fee and the remedial work the inspection generates; contrast pure third-party TIC. **LCA.** Legionella Control Association; the membership standard water hygiene clients and buyers expect. **Locked box.** Price mechanism fixing value at a historic balance sheet date; dominant in UK PE deals. **LOLER.** The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998; mandates six- or twelve-monthly thorough examination of lifting equipment. **Multiple.** The ratio of enterprise value to earnings; in this sector, a compressed quality score. **Platform.** The foundation business a fund builds a consolidation strategy around; commands a premium over bolt-ons. **QoE.** Quality of earnings; the buyer-side accounting review that tests every EBITDA adjustment. **Rollover equity.** Vendor proceeds reinvested as shares in the acquiring platform. **Safety case.** The structured risk assessment and evidence the accountable person for a higher-risk building must maintain under the Building Safety Act. **SAFed.** The Safety Assessment Federation; the trade body for independent engineering inspection bodies. **SDE.** Seller's discretionary earnings: profit plus the owner's full compensation; the valuation basis below roughly £250K of earnings. **Thorough examination.** The statutory inspection of lifting equipment by a competent person under LOLER, with a written report every time. **TIC.** Testing, inspection and certification; pure TIC businesses inspect and certify without doing the remedial work. **TUPE.** The UK transfer-of-undertakings rules; contracted service books carry their workforce terms with them. **UKAS.** The United Kingdom Accreditation Service, the sole national accreditation body; UKAS accreditation is held at legal-entity level and gates statutory work streams. **W&I insurance.** Warranty and indemnity insurance, which substitutes for larger escrows in bigger deals. **Working capital peg.** The normalised working capital level the business must be delivered with at completion. * * * ## Methodology and sources **How this page is built.** Multiple ranges in the master table are DealFlowAgent's tier view, calibrated against the published sources below and the 2025-2026 transactions in the deal tables. Every deal in the tables is dated 2025 or 2026 and linked to a citable public source; consideration is stated only where publicly disclosed. Figures labelled DealFlowAgent data (the 27% competitive-process uplift, the 12,900+ registered acquirer network, margin norms by band, structure norms by size, the pure-TIC premium overlay) are house data from our own mandates and network, not market statistics. The UK-specific published base for compliance multiples is thinner than for some adjacent sectors, and this page says so wherever it applies rather than dressing judgement as data. This page is reviewed quarterly; the update stamp at the top states the current revision. This guide is general information, not a valuation of any specific business or financial advice. **Multiples and market data.** [Houlihan Lokey, TICC Market Update Summer 2025](http://cdn.hl.com/pdf/2025/bus-ticc-summer-2025.pdf) · [Oaklins, TICC Spot On (Jun 2026)](https://www.oaklins.com/uploads/2026/06/Oaklins-TICC-Spot-On-Jun2026.pdf) · [Baker Tilly, TIC Sector Report 2025](https://techma.bakertilly.es/en/reports/report-testing-inspection-and-certification-sector-2025/) · [Grant Thornton, UK Fire and Security Sector M&A Review 2025](https://www.grantthornton.co.uk/insights/uk-fire-and-security-sector-ma-review-2025/) · [Wilson Partners, Fire & Security Sector M&A Insights](https://www.wilson-partners.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fire-Security-Insights.pdf) · [Dealsuite UK&I M&A Monitor (Feb 2026)](https://www.dealsuite.com/en/blogs/m-a-monitor-february-2026) · [BizBuySell valuation benchmarks](https://www.bizbuysell.com/learning-center/valuation-benchmarks/service-business/) · [IBBA Market Pulse Q3 2025](https://www.ibba.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/market-pulse-highlights-q3-2025.pdf) · [Breakwater M&A, Fire Alarm & Life Safety Valuation Multiples 2026](https://www.breakwaterma.com/blog/fire-alarm-life-safety-company-valuation-multiples-2026) **Margins.** [Bureau Veritas FY2025 results](https://group.bureauveritas.com/newsroom/sector-leading-organic-revenue-growth-65-fy-2025-strong-margin-improvement-163-fy) · [SGS FY2025 results](https://www.sgs.com/en/news/2026/02/2025-full-year-results) · [Intertek FY2025 results](https://www.intertek.com/siteassets/investors/2026/intertek-2025-full-year-results-announcement.pdf) · [APi Group investor presentation](https://s201.q4cdn.com/155847588/files/doc_presentations/2025/Feb/27/v2/APG-Investor-Presentation-vFINAL-2-27-Update.pdf) **Deal structure.** [SRS Acquiom 2026 Deal Terms Study via Fasken](https://www.fasken.com/en/knowledge/2026/05/private-ma-deal-trends-to-watch-key-takeaways-from-srs-acquioms-2026-study) · [CMS European M&A Study 2026](https://cms.law/en/int/publication/CMS-European-M-A-Study-2026) · [ABA 2025 Private Target Deal Points Study](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/resources/business-law-today/2025-december/aba-2025-private-target-mergers-acquisitions-deal-points-study/) · [Dealsuite Deal Terms Report (Nov 2025)](https://www.dealsuite.com/en/blogs/m-a-deal-terms-report-november-2025-earn-outs-and-vendor-loans-on-the-rise-across-europe) · [UKAS change of ownership policy](https://www.ukas.com/customer-area/change-of-ownership-name-or-legal-entity/) · [Acas TUPE guidance](https://www.acas.org.uk/tupe/advice-for-employers-and-employees) **Regulation and demand.** [HSE, LOLER thorough examination](https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/thorough-examinations-lifting-equipment.htm) · [Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/312/contents) and [2025 social housing extension](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1043/contents/made) · [MHCLG, Awaab's Law guidance](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/awaabs-law-guidance-for-social-landlords/awaabs-law-guidance-for-social-landlords-timeframes-for-repairs-in-the-social-rented-sector) · [F-Gas leak checks](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/checking-f-gas-equipment-for-leaks) · [TM44 air conditioning inspections](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-conditioning-inspections-for-buildings/a-guide-to-air-conditioning-inspections) · [BS 5839-1:2025](https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/fire-detection-and-fire-alarm-systems-for-buildings-design-installation-commissioning-and-maintenance-of-systems-in-non-domestic-premises-code-of-practice) · [Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/547/regulation/7/made) · [Higher-Risk Buildings Regulations 2023](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/907/regulation/5) · [MHCLG Building Safety Remediation data May 2026](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-remediation-monthly-data-release-may-2026/building-safety-remediation-monthly-data-release-may-2026) · [Building Safety Levy Regulations 2025](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1236/made) · [MHCLG fire risk assessors profession consultation](https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fire-risk-assessors-profession/fire-risk-assessors-profession) · [IET/BSI BS 7671 Amendment 4](https://www.theiet.org/media/press-releases/press-releases-2026/press-releases-2026-april-june/15-april-2026-iet-bsi-officially-publish-amendment-4-2026-to-bs-76712018-iet-wiring-regulations) · [UKAS inspection body accreditation](https://www.ukas.com/accreditation/standards/inspection-body-accreditation/) and [Accreditation Regulations 2009](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/3155/contents) · [HSE asbestos analyst requirements](https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/analysts-surveyors.htm) · [Bank of England Bank Rate](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/the-interest-rate-bank-rate) · [Federal Reserve FOMC statement](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20260617a.htm) * * * ## Related valuation guides - [Fire Safety Multiples 2026](/valuation/fire-safety-multiples) - [HVAC Multiples 2026](/valuation/hvac-multiples) - [Electrical Multiples 2026](/valuation/electrical-multiples) - [Security Systems Multiples 2026](/valuation/security-systems-multiples) **Compliance niches we cover:** [Fire Risk Assessment](/home-services/fire-risk-assessment) · [Fire Safety Overview](/home-services/fire-safety) · [Passive Fire Protection](/home-services/passive-fire-protection) · [Fire Doors](/home-services/fire-doors) · [Electricians](/home-services/electricians) · [Building Automation](/home-services/building-automation) * * * **Book a confidential, no-obligation valuation call** → [dealflowagent.com/contact](/contact) **For acquirers:** Register your acquisition criteria for off-market deal flow → [dealflowagent.com/buyside](/buyside) _DealFlowAgent provides M&A advisory services. Investment outcomes are not guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All transactions are subject to due diligence and regulatory approval where applicable._ ## Related sector pages and valuation guides **Sector pages for this trade** - [Testing, inspection and certification M&A](/tic) - [Compliance services M&A](/compliance-services) - [Water hygiene and legionella control M&A](/water-hygiene) - [Asbestos removal M&A](/home-services/asbestos-removal) **Every DealFlowAgent valuation guide** - [Fire Safety Valuation Guide](/valuation/fire-safety-multiples) - [Fire Sprinkler & Suppression Valuation Guide](/valuation/fire-sprinkler-suppression-multiples) - [Passive Fire Protection & Compartmentation Valuation Guide](/valuation/passive-fire-protection-multiples) - [HVAC Valuation Guide](/valuation/hvac-multiples) - [Electrical Contractor Valuation Guide](/valuation/electrical-multiples) - [Security Systems Valuation Guide](/valuation/security-systems-multiples) - [Maintenance Contracts Valuation Guide](/valuation/maintenance-contracts-multiples) - [Water Hygiene & Legionella Control Valuation Guide](/valuation/water-hygiene-multiples) - [Lift & Elevator Maintenance Valuation Guide](/blog/lift-maintenance-business-valuation-uk-us-2026) - [Commercial Plumbing & Drainage Valuation Guide](/valuation/plumbing-drainage-multiples) - [Waste Management & Recycling Valuation Guide](/valuation/waste-management-multiples) - [Pest Control Valuation Guide](/valuation/pest-control-multiples) - [Heat Pump & Decarbonisation Valuation Guide](/valuation/heat-pump-multiples) - [Dental Practice Valuation Guide](/valuation/dental-practice-multiples) - [Care Home Valuation Guide](/valuation/care-home-multiples) **Plan your exit** - [All valuation guides](/valuation/guides) - [Free valuation estimate](/valuation) - [Exit planning guide](/exit-planning) - [Testing, inspection and certification hub](/tic) - [See who is buying: free buyer list](/buyer-match) - [Book a confidential call](/contact) Your Advisory Team ## Experienced Dealmakers Lead Your Exit A senior M&A bench, plus a sector specialist recruited for your industry on every deal. ![Duncan Moore, M&A Deal Lead at DealFlowAgent](/assets/duncan-moore-C2duPR51.jpg) M&A Deal Lead ### Duncan Moore M&A Deal Lead Joined full-time on 22 August 2026 from the largest M&A advisory firm in the UK, owned by K3 Capital. As an ex-Director he managed teams of M&A advisors, analysts and associates, working daily with business owners, buyers and stakeholders on live acquisition deals. Selected from 260 applicants alongside colleagues from investment banking backgrounds, he brings that experience and network to lead the advisory bench across Building Services, Facilities Management, and Healthcare. Read full bio Joined full-time on 22 August 2026 from the largest M&A advisory firm in the UK, owned by K3 Capital. As an ex-Director he managed teams of M&A advisors, analysts and associates, working daily with business owners, buyers and stakeholders on live acquisition deals. Selected from 260 applicants alongside colleagues from investment banking backgrounds, he brings that experience and network to lead the advisory bench across Building Services, Facilities Management, and Healthcare. ![Martin Watson, Senior Building Services & FM Advisor at DealFlowAgent](/__l5e/assets-v1/9be3db54-9672-4a9e-9b11-bb57e662ddc3/martin-watson.jpg) Industry Specialist ### Martin Watson Senior Building Services & FM Advisor [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinwatson) Martin is one of the most well-connected figures in UK fire, security, building services and FM. He is Chairman of both the Fire Industry Association and the British Security Industry Association, the only person in the UK to hold both roles simultaneously. Martin spent over a decade in senior leadership at Mitie, latterly as Industry Liaison Director for its fire and security division, helping scale the business past £500m in revenue and playing a role in the £366m acquisition of Marlowe plc, which created one of the UK's largest compliance, fire and security services groups. He joined DealFlowAgent because owners in these sectors deserve a genuine sector-specialist advisor across valuation, business optimisation and buyer access. In recognition of his industry roles, he acts in a personal, non-partisan capacity. Read full bio Martin is one of the most well-connected figures in UK fire, security, building services and FM. He is Chairman of both the Fire Industry Association and the British Security Industry Association, the only person in the UK to hold both roles simultaneously. Martin spent over a decade in senior leadership at Mitie, latterly as Industry Liaison Director for its fire and security division, helping scale the business past £500m in revenue and playing a role in the £366m acquisition of Marlowe plc, which created one of the UK's largest compliance, fire and security services groups. He joined DealFlowAgent because owners in these sectors deserve a genuine sector-specialist advisor across valuation, business optimisation and buyer access. In recognition of his industry roles, he acts in a personal, non-partisan capacity. ![Nick Barker, Industry Partner at DealFlowAgent and founder of FM Talent Partners](/images/nick-barker-fm-talent-partners.png) Industry Partner ### Nick Barker Industry Partner, Hiring and Leadership [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickbarker1/) Nick leads FM Talent Partners, the facilities management and real estate leadership search firm, and is a leading specialist in building services and FM management talent. He partners with DealFlowAgent on two-way referrals: helping business owners and acquirers fill the key roles that decide whether a business is sellable, and introducing owners who are thinking about their next chapter to a team that knows their industry and their market. Key-person dependency is one of the two most common reasons a sale collapses, and Nick fixes it at source. Read full bio Nick leads FM Talent Partners, the facilities management and real estate leadership search firm, and is a leading specialist in building services and FM management talent. He partners with DealFlowAgent on two-way referrals: helping business owners and acquirers fill the key roles that decide whether a business is sellable, and introducing owners who are thinking about their next chapter to a team that knows their industry and their market. Key-person dependency is one of the two most common reasons a sale collapses, and Nick fixes it at source. ![James Duboullay](/assets/james-duboullay-7K417Rji.jpg) ### James Duboullay Senior M&A Advisor - • 25+ years across investment banking, M&A and fundraising - • Sector focus: essential services and software - • Long-standing relationships with private equity buyers and growth funds - • Personally advising DealFlowAgent founders for the past four years Read full bio - • 25+ years across investment banking, M&A and fundraising - • Sector focus: essential services and software - • Long-standing relationships with private equity buyers and growth funds - • Personally advising DealFlowAgent founders for the past four years ![Emerson Patton](/assets/emerson-patton-B1xTuqDt.jpg) ### Emerson Patton Sector Specialist: Building Services & Facilities Management - • 20+ years advising owners in building services, fire safety, HVAC, plumbing, and construction - • Guided 200+ companies through growth, profit improvement, and exit planning - • Builds equity value and operational structure long before a sale - • Partners with DFA to prepare owners for exit while the advisory team runs the sale Read full bio - • 20+ years advising owners in building services, fire safety, HVAC, plumbing, and construction - • Guided 200+ companies through growth, profit improvement, and exit planning - • Builds equity value and operational structure long before a sale - • Partners with DFA to prepare owners for exit while the advisory team runs the sale ![Kaya Kesici](/assets/kaya-kesici-BgkHgPoR.jpeg) ### Kaya Kesici M&A Advisor, Fire Safety, Security & Compliance - • 17 completed M&A transactions over the past six years across UK SME fire safety, security and compliance-led services - • Sell-side and buy-side experience, buyer research, acquirer mapping, outreach and live process coordination - • Information request lists, databook prep, IC-style summaries and EV-to-equity bridge work - • Direct sector exposure across fire protection, security systems, CCTV, access control and intruder alarms Read full bio - • 17 completed M&A transactions over the past six years across UK SME fire safety, security and compliance-led services - • Sell-side and buy-side experience, buyer research, acquirer mapping, outreach and live process coordination - • Information request lists, databook prep, IC-style summaries and EV-to-equity bridge work - • Direct sector exposure across fire protection, security systems, CCTV, access control and intruder alarms Previously [![Ranger Fire & Security](/assets/ranger-fire-security-l11Opbce.jpg)](https://rangerfs.com/ "Ranger Fire & Security")[![Complii](/assets/complii-DafeX_ZO.png)](https://www.complii.com/ "Complii") Ranger Fire & Security · Complete Building Services · Compliance Group ![Joe Lewin](/assets/joe-lewin-BSqoYwSF.webp) ### Joe Lewin Founder, DealFlowAgent [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jp-lewin/) - • 22 completed M&A transactions - • Direct relationships with hundreds of strategic and financial acquirers - • Previously built a mobility and field services business to 30 staff and 6 UK warehouses, then sold via competitive process with an EY M&A partner - • Raised £2m in funding; placed 3rd of 1,900 at OnStage (the "Y Combinator of Europe") - • Full-stack developer of advanced agent systems and second-brain tooling for the M&A process Read full bio - • 22 completed M&A transactions - • Direct relationships with hundreds of strategic and financial acquirers - • Previously built a mobility and field services business to 30 staff and 6 UK warehouses, then sold via competitive process with an EY M&A partner - • Raised £2m in funding; placed 3rd of 1,900 at OnStage (the "Y Combinator of Europe") - • Full-stack developer of advanced agent systems and second-brain tooling for the M&A process [Call: 020 7293 0327](tel:+442072930327) Recruited Per Deal ### Sector Expert Industry-Specific Advisor For every engagement we add a sector specialist from your industry to the core team: a 15–25 year operator or advisor with direct relationships in your niche. Recruited per deal so you get the right fit, not a generalist. Read full bio For every engagement we add a sector specialist from your industry to the core team: a 15–25 year operator or advisor with direct relationships in your niche. Recruited per deal so you get the right fit, not a generalist. The bench is growing. Two senior M&A hires confirmed for late July 2026, selected from 200+ applicants out of Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, EY, KPMG and leading boutique M&A firms. [See open roles →](/careers) Proprietary Technology ### The AI layer behind every advisor Two in-house AI systems work alongside the human bench. They are software, not people, built and supervised by the advisory team. ![Sage, AI agent](/assets/sage-avatar-ZCGsJYPl.webp) AI Agent #### Sage AI Deal Concierge Available 24/7. Monitors every signal in your deal and keeps the advisory team one step ahead. Trained on thousands of M&A transactions. ![Sterling, AI agent](/assets/sterling-profile-D8TSq_mZ.webp) AI Agent #### Sterling Buy-Side Deal Origination Agent Engages 13,000+ acquirers to surface live mandates and intent, then feeds your advisors with warm, ranked buyer matches. Two minutes ## Watch the intro from our founder, Joe How we take these multiples and turn them into a competitive, confidential sale process for owners of building services, facilities management and healthcare businesses. Loading video... Stock market reference ## What publicly traded testing, inspection & certification companies are valued at 7 companies whose shares trade on a stock exchange sit in this sector, at a median of 15.8x EV/EBITDA as at 14 August 2026. Private companies sell well below that level, but the publicly traded set shows which earnings profiles acquirers pay up for. Reference data only, not investment research. 15.8x Median EV/EBITDA 7 Publicly traded companies [See the testing, inspection & certification stock market benchmarks](/public-market-benchmarks/testing-inspection-certification) Your next step ### What would you like to do next? Pick the path that matches where you are right now. All three are free. [ #### Get my valuation 60-second calculator using current 2026 multiples for your sector. Calculate ](/valuation?utm_source=valuation_guide&utm_medium=conversion_card&utm_campaign=valuation&utm_content=compliance-testing-inspection-multiples)[ #### See who would buy it Free buyer list. Matched from 13,000+ active acquirers in the UK and US. Get buyer list ](/buyer-match?utm_source=valuation_guide&utm_medium=conversion_card&utm_campaign=buyer_match&utm_content=compliance-testing-inspection-multiples) [Book a 20-minute call with Joe](/contact?utm_source=valuation_guide&utm_medium=conversion_card&utm_campaign=book_call&utm_content=compliance-testing-inspection-multiples) No obligation. UK and US. Typical response within one working day. ## Sectors covered in this guide We work with owners across each of these sub-sectors. Open the dedicated landing page for the buyer landscape, recent transactions, and an exit conversation. [testing and inspection](/home-services/tic)[compliance and inspection](/home-services/compliance-testing-inspection) JL ### Joe Lewin Exited entrepreneur and M&A advisor who has guided 20+ business owners through successful exits. Joe built and sold his first company after scaling to 80,000+ users and raised over £2M in funding. He founded DealflowAgent to combine traditional M&A expertise with AI technology, creating aligned advisory solutions for SME business owners. Joe regularly speaks on exit planning and M&A trends, and has built a network of thousands of strategic acquirers across UK and US markets. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jp-lewin/) ## More Valuation Guides [ ### The 15-Minute Valuation vs the 15,000 Valuation: What You Actually Get A chartered accountant charges 10,000 to 20,000 for a formal valuation opinion. Our calculator gives you 80 per cent of the same analysis in 15 minutes, for free. Read guide ](/valuation/free-valuation-vs-chartered-accountant-valuation)[ ### The 30 Things That Determine What a Buyer Will Pay for Your Business Two businesses with identical profit can trade at multiples that differ by 100 per cent. The difference is not luck. It is these 30 factors that experienced acquirers test. Read guide ](/valuation/what-buyers-value-30-factors-business-valuation)[ ### Your Business Valuation Is Wrong. Here Is Why. Most online valuation tools were built for startups raising capital. If you are a profitable business considering a sale, the number they give you is based on a completely different transaction. Read guide ](/valuation/funding-round-vs-acquisition-valuation-difference)[ ### We Tested Every Free Business Valuation Calculator. Most of Them Are Dangerous. We entered the same business into every free valuation calculator online. The results ranged from 960,000 to 4.8 million. Here is what each tool gets wrong and what to use instead. Read guide ](/valuation/free-business-valuation-calculator-comparison-2026)[ ![The 2026 Security Systems Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide](https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation-guides/security-systems.webp) ### The 2026 Security Systems Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide The 2026 guide to UK and US electronic security M&A: EBITDA and RMR ranges by defended-EBITDA band, verified 2025-2026 transactions, the 30 factors buyers score, and the Martyn's Law, PSTN switch-off and URN/ECHO calendar underwriting demand. Read guide ](/valuation/security-systems-multiples)[ ![The 2026 Electrical Contracting Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide](https://www.dealflowagent.com/valuation-guides/electrical.webp) ### The 2026 Electrical Contracting Business Valuation & EBITDA Multiples Guide The 2026 guide to UK and US electrical contracting M&A: EBITDA and SDE ranges by defended-EBITDA band, verified 2025-2026 transactions, the 30 factors buyers score, and the EICR, BS 7671 A4:2026 and data centre pipeline underwriting demand. Read guide ](/valuation/electrical-multiples) Confidential enquiry ## Thinking of selling in the next 3 to 36 months? Send a short message about your situation and we will come back to you within 24 hours. We will build a detailed valuation and value drivers report, personalised to your business, at no cost and with no obligation. First name Last name Email Phone (optional) A few words about your business or your plans Send confidential message We will respect your privacy. Your details are never shared with acquirers or any third party without your written permission. ## Latest announcements [![Building & Facilities News names DealFlowAgent Company of the Month announcement cover](/assets/company-of-the-month-building-facilities-news-2026-Br7-aO4K.jpg)Company of the Month Building & Facilities News names DealFlowAgent Company of the Month The July 2026 feature on sector specialism, buyer relationships and what actually drives value for owners. ](/blog/company-of-the-month-building-facilities-news-2026)[![Martin Watson joins DealFlowAgent announcement cover](/__l5e/assets-v1/cb678acf-553d-43d7-85f3-82f6c174523b/martin-watson-joins-dealflowagent-cover.png)Senior Industry Advisor Martin Watson joins DealFlowAgent Chair of both the Fire Industry Association and the British Security Industry Association, after three decades in fire and security including Mitie. ](/blog/martin-watson-joins-dealflowagent-fire-security-advisory)[![Nick Barker joins as Industry Partner announcement cover](/__l5e/assets-v1/65c42b7f-b12d-46f7-b4e0-63df6f3383e6/fm-talent-partners-dealflowagent-cover.png)Industry Partner Nick Barker joins as Industry Partner Founder of FM Talent Partners, helping owners close key-person dependency gaps before a sale and connecting buyers with senior operators. ](/blog/valuation-gaps-key-person-dependency-fm-talent-partners) [![DealFlowAgent](/assets/dealflowagent-logo-white-BtiUZq_y.webp)](/) Specialist M&A advisory for Building Services, Facilities Management, and Healthcare business owners. Dedicated advisors, systematic buyer research, confidential process. London HQ · Battersea Power Station, SW11 8BZ New York · Manhattan, NY ### Building Services - [Testing, Inspection & Certification](/tic) - [Fire Safety & Security](/fire-safety) - [HVAC & Heating](/hvac) - [Heat Pumps](/home-services/heat-pumps) - [Electricians](/home-services/electricians) - [CCTV](/home-services/cctv) - [Access Control](/home-services/access-control) - [Security Guarding](/home-services/security-guarding) - [Water Hygiene](/home-services/water-hygiene) - [Browse all 30+ sectors →](/home-services) ### Healthcare - [Dental Practices](/healthcare/dental) - [Care Homes](/healthcare/care-home) - [Veterinary](/healthcare/veterinary) - [Personal Care](/healthcare/personal-care) - [Podiatry](/healthcare/podiatry) - [Urgent Care](/healthcare/urgent-care) - [Dermatology](/healthcare/dermatology) - [Browse all healthcare →](/healthcare) ### Technology & Professional Services - [B2B SaaS & Technology](/technology) - [IT Managed Services](/technology/it-managed-services) - [Accounting Firms](/technology/accounting-firms) - [Law Firms](/technology/law-firms) - [Insurance Brokerage](/technology/insurance-brokerage) - [Digital Marketing Agencies](/technology/digital-marketing-agency) - [E-Commerce](/ecommerce) ### Sell Your Business - [Off-Market Register](/off-market) - [Buyer Intelligence](/buyer-match) - [Valuation Guides](/valuation/guides) - [Already Approached?](/already-approached) - [Live Mandates](/mandates) - [Off-Market Register](/off-market) ### For Buyers - [Buy-Side Coverage](/buyside) - [Buyer Match](/buyer-match) - [Buyer Registration](/buyside) - [Live Mandates](/mandates) - [Acquisition Briefs](/acquisition-briefs) - [All Listings](/for-sale) - [Featured Opportunities](/opportunities) ### Resources - [Blog & Insights](/blog) - [Valuation Guides](/valuation/guides) - [Public Market Benchmarks](/public-market-benchmarks) - [Exit Planning](/exit-planning) - [Exit Readiness](/exit-readiness) - [AI Automation Guide](/ai-automation-for-service-businesses) - [Comparisons](/comparisons) - [Case Studies](/case-studies) - [Media / Press](/media) - [Company of the Month](/company-of-the-month) - [FAQ](/faq) - [Sitemap](/sitemap) ### Company - [About Us](/about) - [Contact](/contact) - [Careers](/careers) - [Pricing](/pricing) Building Services Healthcare Technology & Professional Services Sell Your Business For Buyers Resources Company Referral Programme ### Earn introducer fees on every successful deal Tailored programmes for sellers, buyers, advisors, and niche operators across building services, facilities management, and healthcare. [Programme overview](/referral) [→ Refer a Seller (Operators)](/referral/operators)[→ Refer a Buyer](/referral/buyers)[→ Advisor Referrals](/referral/advisors)[→ Platform Referrals](/referral/platforms)[→ Embed the Valuation Widget](/partners/valuation-widget)[→ Building Services Referrals](/referral/operators)[→ Healthcare Referrals](/referral/operators)[→ Programme Overview](/referral) ### Locations [London](/locations/london)· [Manchester](/locations/manchester)· [Birmingham](/locations/birmingham)· [South East](/locations/south-east)· [Florida](/locations/florida)· [Miami](/locations/miami) ### Partnerships [Advisor Partnership](/advisorpartner)· [Strategic Partnerships](/partnerships)· [Buyers (Building Services)](/buyers-home-building-services)· [Radio Partner](/radio) © 2026 DealFlowAgent. All rights reserved. [Privacy Policy](/privacy)· [Terms of Service](/terms)· [Comparisons](/comparisons)· [Sitemap](/sitemap) [](https://www.linkedin.com/company/dealflowagent)[](https://twitter.com/dealflowagent)[](mailto:joe@dealflowagent.com) DealFlowAgent is a trading name of BTB Holdings Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15460344, The Foundry, Wandsworth, London SW18. US operations are conducted through BTB Holdings USA LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. DealFlowAgent provides M&A advisory services. Investment outcomes are not guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All transactions are subject to due diligence and regulatory approval where applicable. 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