UK Electrical Business Market Report 2026

For business owners considering when and how to sell, understanding the current market dynamics is essential to timing a sale correctly and achieving the best possible outcome.

This report draws on Companies House data and published government sources.

Market Size and Structure

The Companies House register does not say how many people these companies employ, and it leaves out sole traders and partnerships.

Infrastructure Spending: The Demand Driver

Several structural spending programmes are creating sustained demand for electrical contracting services and, by extension, increasing the value of established electrical businesses.

EV Charging Network Expansion

The UK government plans to end sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, with every new car zero emission by 2035. Under the zero emission vehicle mandate, 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Great Britain are set to be zero emission by 2030. This creates a multi-year pipeline of electrical installation work for qualified contractors, from domestic charge point installations to commercial fleet charging depots and public rapid charging hubs.

Smart Building Retrofits

The push towards net zero is driving demand for smart building technology retrofits across commercial and public sector estates. Energy management systems, LED lighting upgrades, building management system (BMS) integration, and solar PV installations all require qualified electrical contractors.

Data Centres

Each new data centre requires significant high-voltage and low-voltage electrical infrastructure, and the work that keeps it running carries on after the build.

PE Consolidation Activity

Private equity firms have recognised the electrical contracting sector as an attractive consolidation opportunity. The combination of recurring revenue, regulatory demand drivers, and a fragmented market of acquisition targets makes it a textbook sector for a PE roll-up, where one business is bought and smaller ones are added to it.

Notable recent PE activity in the electrical and building services space includes:

• Duke Street backing Suir Engineering, an M&E services platform expanding through acquisition
• Magnesium Capital partnering with ABEC, a building management and electrical power monitoring specialist for data centres, with capital for acquisitions

Buyers of this kind look closely at recurring testing revenue, current registrations and whether the qualified team will stay.

Valuation Trends

EBITDA multiples, the number of times its yearly profit before interest, tax, and the write-down of equipment, vehicles and other assets that a business sells for, depend on the kind of work an electrical business does. Electrical businesses with a mix of installation and testing work, NICEIC or NAPIT registered with moderate recurring revenue, sit at the lower end; specialist testing and inspection firms with strong recurring revenue, public sector frameworks and retained qualified teams sit higher; and testing-led businesses with established framework positions, NICEIC registration, ISO certification and deep qualified teams sit at the top.

The rate of BADR (Business Asset Disposal Relief, the lower rate for owners selling a business they work in) rose from 14% to 18% in April 2026. On a qualifying gain of £1m, the difference between the old and new rate is £40,000 in additional Capital Gains Tax, the tax on the gain from a sale.

What This Means for Business Owners

For sellers, the work described above, from EV charging to the testing cycle and building upgrades, gives buyers reasons to look at well-run electrical businesses.

However, buyer appetite can change. Interest rate movements, PE fund deployment cycles, and political changes can all affect buyer appetite. Business owners who are considering a sale within the next two to three years should, at minimum, understand their current valuation and begin preparation.

The owners who achieve the best outcomes are those who start preparing 12 months before they go to market: cleaning up financials, formalising contract documentation, ensuring registrations are current, and making the business less reliant on the owner.

Tax treatment depends on your own circumstances, so take advice from your own accountant or tax adviser; we set out which professionals you will need, and when.