TARGET BUSINESS PROFILE
What we look for.
Financial
- Normalised EBITDA of £300,000 minimum
- 50% or higher recurring revenue
- No single customer over 30% of revenue
Operational
- UK-based with a minimum of 15 years continuous trading
- Relevant statutory accreditation held and transferable
- Commercial customer focus
- No critical key man dependency
- Identifiable improvement opportunities
Ownership
- Founder and family-owned business
- Willing to remain involved post-completion to support a smooth handover
Our Thesis
Compliance is not optional.
Compliance is not optional. It is not deferrable. It does not disappear when budgets are cut or economies slow.
Every building in the United Kingdom carries a legally mandated stack of inspection, testing and certification requirements. Fire safety. Electrical integrity. Gas safety. Water hygiene. Lift safety. Miss them and regulators intervene. Ignore them and people get hurt. There is no middle ground.
The businesses that deliver these services do not rely on customers choosing to spend. They rely on customers being legally obligated to spend. That is a fundamentally different commercial position, and it is the only sector W1 Group operates in.
We acquire businesses the market cannot switch off. That is not a niche. That is a foundation.
W1 Group targets businesses across six sectors: Fire Safety, Electrical Safety, Gas & Mechanical, Water, Vertical Transport and Environmental & Specialist.
sectors we operate in
The six groups.
Fire Safety
Electrical Safety
Gas & Mechanical
Water
Vertical Transport
Environmental & Specialist
All group companies additionally hold cross-sector quality, environmental, health & safety and procurement accreditations, including:
ISO 9001 (Quality) • ISO 14001 (Environmental) • ISO 45001 (Health & Safety) • CHAS • SafeContractor • Constructionline • Achilles • Avetta
Outside our mandate
What we don't acquire.
- Majority residential focussed businesses
- Domestic-only businesses with no commercial contract base
- Less than 40% recurring revenue with no clear path to improve
- No statutory accreditation in place
- Normalised EBITDA below £250,000
- A single customer representing more than 50% of revenue
- Full cash-on-completion
If your business sits adjacent to building safety or statutory compliance and isn’t listed above, we’d still welcome an introduction. Get in touch and we’ll tell you honestly whether there’s a fit.