Yorkshire Private Equity Deals Jump 35%, Bucking UK Trend

KPMG says the region was a ‘real outlier’ in the first half, with deal volumes rising by more than a third even as private equity activity fell across the UK

Yorkshire private equity deals rose sharply in the first half of 2026, bucking a national decline, according to new research from KPMG. The firm’s regional study recorded 73 deals in Yorkshire and the Humber, up 35% on the same period last year, at a time when UK-wide private equity volumes fell 3.4%. The region accounted for 8% of all new private equity backing in the UK, up from 5.4% two years ago. KPMG’s Leeds office called the region a genuine outlier, pointing to the strength of its investment proposition.

Why This Matters For Leeds

Private equity money is a strong vote of confidence in a region’s businesses, so Yorkshire outpacing the rest of the UK is a genuinely good signal for Leeds. Exits did fall, so the picture isn’t uniformly rosy, but the weight of deal activity backs up what Leeds Today has reported through the summer; a steady run of funding rounds and buy-outs across the city. With large volumes of capital still waiting to be invested, there is good reason to think the momentum can carry into the second half.

Inside the Yorkshire Private Equity Deals Figures

The 35% rise stands out because deal volumes grew in only five UK regions while the national total fell. Bolt-on deals – where an investor adds a smaller company to one it already owns – were comfortably the largest category with 47 completed, making up 64.4% of all activity in the region. Traditional buyouts, including leveraged buyouts, came next with 14 deals followed by eight minority-stake investments. The pattern mirrors the national market, where investors have favoured bolt-ons to build scale while larger deals stayed cautious. Giles Taylor, a partner at KPMG UK in Leeds, described the divergence as significant and a reflection of the strength of the region’s investment proposition.

“Our region has been a real outlier in the first half of the year, with private equity deal volumes rising by more than a third at a time when activity across the UK as a whole declined.”

— Giles Taylor, Partner, KPMG UK in Leeds

Strong Momentum, With One Caveat

The figures are not uniformly positive. Private equity exits in the region fell 20% to 12 transactions, part of a wider national squeeze as firms hold assets longer amid economic and AI-related uncertainty. Even so, the weight of deal activity combined with large volumes of capital that investors still need to put to work, gives KPMG reason to expect the momentum to carry into the second half. The trend chimes with a steady stream of investment reaching Leeds businesses this year, and with Lloyds recent survey showing Yorkshire business confidence among the highest in the UK, together this points to a regional economy that investors are backing more heavily than most.