Private equity investment boosts UK business revenue by more than 50 per cent

Private equity backed businesses saw revenue soar by more than half in the last five years, new data published today shows.

Investment by private equity firms boosted revenue at UK firms by 53 per cent, from £30.7bn in 2013 to £47.1bn last year.

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In the last financial year PE-backed companies had a growth rate of 10 per cent, according to analysis of 2,000 firms by accountancy firm BDO

Jamie Austin, head of private equity at BDO, said: “The figures speak for themselves. Businesses that have the backing of private equity investors are driving growth and creating jobs against a backdrop of uncertainty and the UK economy would suffer without them.”

The research showed that private equity backed firms also created on average between five to ten new jobs a year and boosted employment levels by 43 per cent over the five year period, creating an additional 86,500 positions in the UK.

“These businesses are the squeezed middle of the business world. They are too big to benefit from the raft of policies aimed at startups yet too small to have the ear of policymakers like big corporations,” Austin added.

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“While successive governments have worked hard to create a business-friendly environment in the UK, there is always more that can be done.

“Fast-growth businesses are the backbone of our economy and should be front and centre of the Government’s post-Brexit thinking.”