BACKING BUSINESS AMBITION

Since 1981, we’ve supported over 650 management teams and invested more than £5.5bn in mid-sized businesses.

Find out what it’s like to work with us, directly from the business leaders who’ve used private equity to realise their growth ambitions.

LDC & ME

About LDC

Over 40 years after our first investment, we remain just as keen to support management teams to build great businesses – across every region and sector of the UK economy.

Find out more

Our portfolio

The Year Ahead

2021 marked another standout year for LDC, with our teams deploying £400m of investment to support the growth ambitions of new management teams and our portfolio companies.

We backed 19 new management teams, supported our portfolio companies to make 65 acquisitions and exited 18 partnerships.

Looking ahead, we are accelerating our investment activity from 2022, with a pledge to back at least 100 medium-sized businesses over the next five years.

The Year Ahead : Read more Read more

A committed and successful private equity partner

years of backing
ambition

100

mid-market companies to be
backed over the next 5 years

650

management teams have
chosen to work with LDC

regional locations
across the UK

£100m

of flexible funding available
for each company

3-yr

partnership with
The Prince’s Trust

portfolio companies from diverse sectors of the UK economy

2/3

of current portfolio on a buy and build strategy

50+

experienced investment professionals based across the UK

The LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Leaders 2021

The past 18 months have tested UK mid-market businesses like never before. Yet some outstanding leaders have not only survived but thrived in this challenging trading environment. The LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Leaders programme is dedicated to celebrating these entrepreneurial individuals.

Backing Youth Ambition

Young people interested in business and entrepreneurship are critical to the future of the UK economy, yet the last few years have been more challenging for this generation than any other.

As part of our commitment to tackling some of the most significant social challenges facing the UK, we partnered with The Prince’s Trust in 2019; creating Backing Youth Ambition to help young people to start their own business.

We have so far supported more than 1,600 young entrepreneurs through funding, volunteering and fundraising activities across our regional teams and portfolio companies.

Backing Youth Ambition : Discover more Discover more

Meet Tracy Lewis

LDC invested in Eveden in 2006 to support Tracy’s international growth strategy. During a six-year partnership we helped the business to rollout its key brands into the US, Europe and Asia, employ more than 200 new staff and complete a strategic acquisition in France.

Read a Q&A

Meet entrepreneur Martin McKay

As featured in Management Today and inews, meet Martin McKay the entrepreneur behind the international success story Texthelp.

Discover Martin’s journey from being supported by The Prince’s Trust to becoming a global CEO.

Read the case study

Realising ambition at Lucid

Hear from Jan Steele, Founder of Lucid Group on how she grew the healthcare communications agency with a flexible minority investment to acquire and integrate complementary businesses.

Watch the video

Stuart Turner – a growth success story

CEO Richard Harden features in The Manufacturer Podcast discussing Stuart Turner’s remarkable growth and offers advice to other SME manufacturers seeking investment.

Hear the podcast