Criteria
Zenith focuses on exceptional UK businesses where disciplined ownership and operating leadership can support the next phase of growth. The criteria below are indicative rather than exhaustive, but they reflect the type of opportunity we are most interested in.
Core criteria
Businesses with strong fundamentals and a reputable market position.
Geography
UK headquartered.
Size
Typically £10m to £80m revenue and £2m to £8m EBITDA.
Sectors
B2B services, healthcare services, built environment, and other resilient lower mid-market sectors.
Situations
Founder succession, ownership transition, or businesses ready for more structured growth.
Areas of interest
Within our broader sector focus, these are examples of areas we find attractive. The list is illustrative rather than exhaustive.
- Technical services
- Specialist outsourced services
- Compliance-driven services
- Healthcare-related services
- Specialist solution businesses combining hardware, service and a software layer
- Fragmented niches with scope for broader platform development
- Small niche leaders with strong pricing power
- Quality service businesses with embedded customer relationships
Situations we like
We are particularly interested in founder succession situations, ownership transitions, professionalisation opportunities and businesses with scope to compound under structured long-term ownership.
Founder succession
AttractiveOwnership transition
AttractiveProfessionalisation opportunity
AttractivePlatform for long-term growth
AttractiveSelective international expansion potential
AttractiveBusiness characteristics
Across sectors, we look for a consistent set of business-quality indicators.
01
Established and profitable
We are drawn to businesses with a proven model and a strong base to build from.
02
Strong service proposition
We value businesses that are genuinely good at what they do and matter to their customers.
03
Repeat or recurring revenue
Durability and customer stickiness are important.
04
Operational complexity
We are comfortable where the business is harder to run well than it may appear from the outside.
05
Embedded customer relationships
Long-standing, trusted relationships are often a sign of real underlying quality.
These criteria are indicative rather than exhaustive. Zenith remains open to exceptional businesses that sit naturally within its broader focus.