Directory · London lower mid-market
Small private equity firms in London
By Dan Keegan · Page updated
An equity ticket is the investor’s stated equity contribution; enterprise value describes the business on a different basis.
Keep the source measure and currency together; a published range is not a promise that a business qualifies.
25 small-cap, lower mid-market and growth investors based in London.
These firms typically back owner-managed and founder-led businesses, and many publish the equity ticket they invest.
Where a firm states its ticket on its own site, we show it with a link to that page.
- 25 firms
- Published tickets linked
- Unranked, alphabetical
- Checked October 2026
Who are you hiring?
Deal team and partner hires for buyout, growth and credit funds.
See how we search →Permanent CFOs for PE-backed businesses, with fractional and interim options.
See how we search →Operating partners and value creation leads for a fund or a portfolio.
See how we search →COO, CFO, risk, compliance and investor relations for hedge funds.
See how we search →Retained search for finance directors, COOs and NEDs.
See how we search →01/ directory
Smaller London firms, A to Z
Filter by strategy, or search by name or sector.
Showing 25 of 25 · listed alphabetically, not ranked
Listed alphabetically, not ranked.
Each focus line is our summary of the firm’s own website, checked in October 2026, and an equity ticket appears only where the firm’s site states one, linked to that page.
We do not publish assets under management.
Spot an error?
Email hello@fractional.quest.
02/ approaching a firm
Before you approach a firm
Whether you are raising capital or looking for a role, check the fit first.
0 of 8 ready
03/ reading the list
How private equity firms differ
The firms in a directory do different things.
Pick a strategy to see what sets it apart.
CONTROL · LARGE DEALS
Large-cap buyout
Large-cap firms buy control of big companies, often with significant debt, and many run several strategies from offices around the world.
Their London teams usually cover European deals.
CONTROL · MID-SIZED DEALS
Mid-market buyout
Mid-market firms buy majority or significant minority stakes in established, profitable businesses.
Many state the equity ticket or company size they target on their own websites.
SMALLER COMPANIES
Lower mid-market and small-cap
Smaller firms back owner-managed and founder-led businesses, often in the company’s first deal with a private equity investor.
MINORITY · GROWTH
Growth equity
Growth investors take minority stakes in fast-growing companies, often in software and technology, with less or no debt.
DEBT · REAL ASSETS
Private credit, infrastructure and real estate
Many managers also run private credit, infrastructure or real estate strategies, which lend to or own assets rather than buy companies.
04/ for founders
Is a smaller firm the right fit?
Situations where founders and owners talk to lower mid-market firms.
Which sounds like you?
An owner-managed business taking outside capital for the first time, often with the founders keeping a stake.
- → Check the firm’s published ticket
- → Look at its portfolio page for similar companies
A management team buying the business from its founders or a parent group.
- → The firm backs the management team
- → Lenders often join alongside
A minority investment to fund expansion, acquisitions or new markets.
- → Growth investors in this directory are tagged as Growth
After investment, a smaller business often needs a CFO or other senior hire.
- → Portfolio company CFO recruitment
- → Or hire a fractional CFO for part of the week
05/ guide
Working with smaller private equity firms
UK smaller businesses raised £12.3 billion of equity investment across 2,002 deals in 2025, according to the British Business Bank’s Small Business Equity Tracker 2026.
Regulation
A UK private equity manager may need FCA authorisation or registration, depending on its activities, assets under management and eligibility.
Small registered AIFM status is available only for specified categories; it is not automatic for every sub-threshold manager.
You can check a manager’s status on the FCA Financial Services Register, and the FCA has published a review of private market valuation practices.
Checking a company
Ownership, directors and charges for a UK portfolio company are public at Companies House.
Tax
HMRC has published a revised tax regime for carried interest, which affects how UK investment professionals are paid.
More firms
UK Private Capital publishes a member directory of its member firms.
06/ questions
Questions, answered
No.
Firms are listed alphabetically, with a short description of each firm’s focus from its own website and a link to that site.
We do not rank firms or publish assets under management.
We included firms whose own websites show an active private equity investment strategy and a UK office, and dropped any whose site we could not open or which say they have stopped investing.
Only from the firm’s own website, and each one links to the page where the firm states it.
Where a firm does not publish a ticket, we leave it out.
Yes.
Rainmakrr runs private equity executive search for funds and portfolio companies.
There is no formal definition.
We include London firms whose own sites describe small-cap, lower mid-market or growth investing, often with a published equity ticket.
Yes: see portfolio company CFO recruitment.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to talk through the hire
Tell us the seat, the fund or company, and the timing. We set out how we would run the search.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02We scope the role and the search
- 03A written search plan after the call
- 04Permanent, interim and fractional briefs
Pick a day that suits · live availability
07/ sources
Sources and further reading
Primary sources for the rules and figures on this page.