News
“Encouraging signs” for the West Midlands M&A market after challenging year
2 Jan 2026
As featured in Insider.
The West Midlands M&A market is showing “encouraging signs”, according to Chris Handy, Partner and Head of West Midlands at LDC, following a challenging year impacted by “macro-economic headwinds”. The private equity firm also hailed its investment in 140-strong law firm Harper James.
In September, LDC completed its investment in the Birmingham-based commercial law firm that’s on a “mission to make high-quality legal expertise more accessible for the UK’s most ambitious businesses”.
Chris Handy said Harper James “stood out to us as a business challenging traditional legal models and putting innovation at the heart of its service”.
“Our support for the firm’s management team, led by founder and CEO Toby Harper, will support continued organic growth through further investment in its technology-enabled model, as well as exploring complementary acquisitions that broaden the firm’s offering.”
The firm, which is part of Lloyds, also continued to support its portfolio companies with strategic acquisitions, backing The Pace Group through a further five, including Abacus Elevators, Total Lift Care, Bourne Lifts, Excel Elevator and The Lift Company & DJ Lifts, and helping Bramble Foods to acquire Whitakers Chocolates.
Handy observed that the main challenge during 2025 has been “bifurcation in the market”.
“There’s been intense competition for businesses with the strongest fundamentals, while other processes have moved more slowly.”
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The dealmaker is seeing “encouraging signs as we head into 2026”, with “confidence starting to return to the market”. However, he noted that it has been a “challenging year for M&A across the UK” and the West Midlands “hasn’t been immune”.
“In terms of the Budget specifically, the UK economy needs growth for management teams to be in a position to take on private equity. While there are challenges in the broader economic environment, what matters most is confidence – and that’s starting to return.
“What’s encouraging is that we continue to meet ambitious management teams with a commitment to navigating the current challenges and to find routes to growth, and at LDC we remain equally committed to supporting them as they look to expand.
“Ambition is what will drive the economy forward.”
When looking at potential growth areas in 2026, Handy identified “real momentum in professional and legal services”, with more businesses coming to market. Investor appetite is “strong”, he said, and so expects activity across these sectors “to continue in 2026”.
“Infrastructure and building services, particularly compliance-driven areas like fire safety and building services, also represent a sector with strong fundamentals,” he added. “Healthcare continues to show resilience, too. What ties these sectors together is that the companies outperforming have the agility to pivot when needed, finding new growth opportunities to help them scale.