Professional Services Still Dominates the Small to Mid‑Market
From the second half of last year, and into the first half of 2026 it has reinforced a clear reality: professional services firms; of which wealth management, insurance brokerage, accountancy, and specialist consulting, continue to command the lion’s share of small to mid‑market M&A interest, due to their predictable earnings, embedded client relationships, and talent‑driven moats.
This is consistent with the wider succession‑planning pressures highlighted in a range of trade-related news flow. Professional services firms are growing, but founders are ageing, and many are only now confronting structured exits after years of delay, something repeatedly emphasised around succession‑planning discussion groups.
At M&A Chambers, our experience mirrors this broader market view. Owners who plan early, referring to structurally, financially, and emotionally; obtain materially stronger outcomes, a message echoed across our professional ecosystem of accountants and lawyers, as well as our clients’ testimonials highlighting pragmatic, solution‑oriented execution.
Deal Multiples Trends (H1 2026)
In trying to demonstrate the trends we are experiencing, below is a consolidated, data‑led snapshot of what buyers are paying in the professional services mid‑market, informed by live deal flow data (credit MarktoMarket valuation patterns, and the Professional Adviser deal logs), all being supported by our own first-hand experiences.
Wealth Management / IFA Multiples
Even with deeper Consumer Duty diligence, quality IFAs still command robust pricing:
Professional Adviser’s live 2026 acquisition log continues to show strategic buyers and platforms (e.g., BRI Wealth, Fairstone, Titan Wealth, Wren Sterling) acquiring across the UK with disclosed AUM contributions shaping the competitive landscape. [All the ad…ce in 2026]
Insurance Brokerage Multiples
Insurance broking remains a hot segment due to fee/commission recurrence:
Multiples remain stable due to underwriting performance and long‑tail recurrence. Buyers are heavily scrutinising binder authority exposure and claims‑ratio volatility (a key valuation sensitivity).
Accountancy & Specialist Consulting
This segment sees the most consistency:
This aligns with the succession‑planning narrative: firms with productised service or modernised workflows are better placed for transition as founders retire.
B2B Services, Logistics & Technical Services – Mid‑Market Benchmarks
Drawing from buyer behaviour we observe and MarktoMarket valuation trendlines:
MarktoMarket’s Barometer series through 2025–2026 shows mid‑market services multiples holding firm where recurring revenue + margin stability are evident. [Mark to Market]
Succession Planning Trends which are Shaping Multiples
There are four things that could directly affect mid market multiples:
Founders are delaying planning, to their detriment
We have seen a number of occasions where owners who delay succession planning, results in a reduction of optionality and constraining valuations. Early planning almost always results in stronger multiples.
Talent and continuity planning are core value drivers
It is widely accepted by trade and Private Equity buyers that companies who “grow their own” teams and build internal successors, drive tremendous value. Talent risk is now priced into every mid market deal, because flight-risk is an ever present factor to consider.
The market rewards structured, phased handovers
At M&A Chambers have always been advocates that succession is not merely a transaction; it is a phase that every successful business needs to anticipate, as buyers value firms where cultural and client continuity are mapped before signing.
Cross Sector Takeaways from wider SME M&A
In our experience professional services M&A is outperforming, but broader SME sectors reinforce similar trends:
- Buyers want predictable revenue reinforcing the laser focus on quality of earnings (platform migrations in wealth, binder quality in broking, retainers in consulting).
- Compliance is now a valuation filter, and not just a tick box exercise (Consumer Duty in wealth, conduct governance in broking, engagement QA in consulting).
- Integration readiness remains paramount. Buyers want ops, systems and teams that plug in without the need for heavy lifting.
These themes echo M&A Chambers’ own casework and the execution-led reputation reflected across our client testimonials.
Lessons from the wider Commercial Small to Mid-Market
H1 deal practice from adjacent sectors strengthens professional services playbooks:
- Logistics & B2B services: buyers underwrite route density / utilisation the same way we underwrite adviser productivity / client stickiness; it’s all about repeatability and capacity absorption on integration.
- Niche tech & data tooling: multiples improved for recurring SaaS with strong net retention; the takeaway for advisers/consultancies is to productise, bundle data and codify workflows, because buyers pay for software like characteristics in service firms too.
Our view from M&A Chambers
Two years on, our thesis remains intact.
Great firms deserve great exits.
Mid market buyers pay premiums for prepared, data backed, integration ready businesses.
Our role, and our differentiation, is to package exactly that:
- Clean recurring revenue evidence
- Adviser/specialist succession pathways
- Preemptive compliance proof
- Integration maps backed by operational logic
- Data validated valuation stories using third party sources, trendlines and deep and longstanding relationships with the accounting, corporate finance and legal professional ecosystem.
This is the craft that accelerates deals and lifts multiples, one founder at a time.
On our Second Birthday: What We’re Doubling Down On
Two years in, our differentiator remains unchanged: hands on execution for owner managers. We package the recurrence, pre wire the people plan, clean the compliance story and present the integration upside in a way that clears investment committees quickly. That’s the DNA that runs across our entire Team at M&A Chambers.