‘Financial pandemic’: £1 in every £11 spent on UK public contractors goes to private equity

Politicians and economists have raised concerns over the ‘financial fragility and sharp cost cutting’ created by private equity-backed firms. Composite: Prina Shah for the Guardian / Getty Images View image in fullscreen Politicians and economists have raised concerns over the ‘financial fragility and sharp cost cutting’ created by private equity-backed firms. Composite: Prina Shah for the Guardian / Getty Images ‘Financial pandemic’: £1 in every £11 spent on UK public contractors goes to private equity Almost £24.4bn of government money went to private equity-run firms in year to April 2025, Guardian analysis shows ‘Treating children like cattle’: what happens when private equity takes over a UK care home? Nurseries, vets and shops: the sectors where private equity plays a big role One pound in every £11 of UK government spending on contractors went to private equity-controlled companies last year, research shows, including key services such as transport, waste management and healthcare. Politicians and economists have raised concerns over the “financial fragility and sharp cost cutting” created by private equity-backed firms, which often have high levels of debt, and the “conflicting interests” in running public services for maximum profit. Private equity firms are investment companies that raise money from investors and banks to acquire and manage other companies in order to eventually resell them for a profit. Some have described the rapid spread of private equity across public and private services as a “financial pandemic” the government has yet to fully grasp the scale of. Exclusive Guardian analysis found that almost £24.4bn of public spending on contractors went to companies controlled by a private equity firm in the year to April 2025 – equivalent to 8.8% of government contracts. The investigation, based on procurement data provided by the public sector market intelligence firm Tussell, company filings, market data from the financial database PitchBook and reported public information, reveals for the first time the extent of private equity’s stake in Britain’s public services. Almost £9.8bn in contracts from local councils went to companies majority-controlled by private equity firms, an estimated 10% of their external spending in the year to April 2025. This includes more than half a billion paid to an infrastructure group – providing services across water, energy, transport and telecoms – controlled by the private equity group CVC Capital Partners. More than £5bn of NHS contracts – 10.7% of its external spending – were paid to private equity-backed firms in the last year. Among the top recipients were a business software company jointly controlled by the private equity firms Hg Capital and TA Associates, which received almost £1bn. Almost £500m went to a pharmaceutical and healthcare services company controlled by the London-headquartered Vitruvian Partners. View image in fullscreen More than £5bn of NHS contracts – 10.7% of its extern