Buy-side mandates are among the most demanding in corporate finance. Finding acquisition targets in the UK that genuinely fit the brief — the right sector, size, ownership structure, and culture — requires research, patience, and a systematic approach to outreach. This article looks at how M&A advisers approach the challenge and where specialist deal sourcing fits in.
The most attractive acquisition targets are rarely advertised. Owner-managed businesses that would make strong acquisitions are typically private, profitable, and not actively looking to sell. They do not appear on business-for-sale platforms, and their owners are not responding to generic approaches.
This creates a fundamental tension in buy-side advisory. The adviser's client wants to make acquisitions — but the targets they want to acquire are not raising their hands. Bridging that gap requires proactive, research-led outreach rather than passive deal flow.
Many corporate finance firms rely on a combination of network referrals, intermediary relationships, and inbound deal flow from their own reputation. For established practices, this can generate a useful baseline of opportunities. But it has clear limitations: network-driven deal flow skews towards the sectors and geographies the team already knows, and it is heavily dependent on timing — an opportunity only arrives when the intermediary thinks to make the introduction.
Business-for-sale platforms and auction processes are another traditional source, but these tend to surface opportunities where competition is high and pricing is already elevated. The off-market, proprietary deal — found through direct research and outreach — is typically the more attractive opportunity.
One of the most effective modern approaches to acquisition target research in the UK is systematic use of Companies House data. The Companies House register provides detailed information on every registered company in England and Wales — including financial accounts, director details, ownership structure, and SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes.
For buy-side sourcing, this data allows advisers and sourcing specialists to build a long list of potential targets filtered by sector, revenue range, ownership structure, and geographic location. Owner-managed businesses with a single director-shareholder, strong recurring revenue, and accounts filed in the last twelve months are relatively straightforward to identify — and to approach directly.
The depth of Companies House data also allows for adjacent sector research. An acquirer active in facilities management, for example, might be interested in businesses in related sectors — security services, commercial cleaning, or maintenance — that share customer profiles and operational characteristics. Identifying these adjacencies requires a structured approach to the data rather than a simple keyword search.
SIC codes are the foundation of sector-specific acquisition targeting. Each registered company in the UK is assigned one or more SIC codes indicating its principal activities. These codes allow acquisition criteria to be mapped precisely onto the companies register — filtering not just by broad industry category, but by specific subsector.
At Hayford Group, we use SIC code targeting as the starting point for every buy-side sourcing engagement. By mapping the acquirer's investment criteria onto the relevant codes, we can build a working universe of potential targets that reflects the actual acquisition profile — not a generic list of businesses in the same broad industry.
Identifying a target is only half the work. The other half is making contact in a way that is professional, relevant, and timed correctly. Director-level outreach requires personalisation — a generic mass email campaign will produce poor results and can damage the reputation of the adviser behind it.
Effective direct outreach acknowledges what the target has built, explains why the acquirer is interested, and makes clear that the conversation is exploratory rather than transactional. Many business owners who were not actively considering a sale become open to a discussion when approached in this way — particularly if the timing happens to coincide with a period of reflection about the future of the business.
Volume matters too. A successful buy-side sourcing campaign requires sustained outreach across a large enough universe of targets to generate a meaningful number of qualifying conversations. This is often where in-house teams struggle — the capacity for consistent, high-volume outreach while simultaneously managing live transactions is limited.
Beyond sector fit, acquirers in the UK typically look for several core characteristics when evaluating a target: owner-managed structure with a single or small number of decision makers; a track record of profitability, preferably with recurring revenue; a management team capable of continuity post-acquisition; and a clear strategic rationale — whether that is geographic expansion, service line extension, or talent acquisition.
Targets that tick all these boxes are rare. A good sourcing process identifies the full universe of potential targets and then filters progressively, prioritising outreach to those that best match the brief while keeping a wider long list in reserve.
Hayford Group provides specialist buy-side deal sourcing for corporate finance firms across the UK. We research acquisition targets using Companies House data and SIC code mapping, conduct director-level outreach on behalf of the advisory firm, and make introductions when a qualifying conversation opens up.
We work on a retainer basis, which means the outreach activity is ongoing and consistent — not a one-off campaign. To find out more about how we work, visit our services page or read more about deal sourcing in corporate finance.
Buy-side sourcing
Hayford Group identifies acquisition targets and serial acquirers for corporate finance firms across the UK — using Companies House data, SIC code targeting, and direct director outreach.