M&A in the UK hospitality sector: October 2025 – March 2026

The latest study from Moore Kingston Smith finds that deal activity is up, but that private equity has given way to trade acquirers.

The group said: "UK hospitality M&A activity has continued to build in recent months.  The final quarter of 2025 saw 56 deals completing, a 14% increase on the 49 transactions recorded in Q3 2025. Across 2025 as a whole, 215 transactions were completed, representing an 8% increase on the 199 deals recorded in 2024. 2026 started steadily, with 48 deals completed in Q1. Although below the previous quarter’s total, this still points to healthy investor interest in UK hospitality businesses.

"After softer activity in the first nine months of 2025, acquirers have shown renewed enthusiasm in pubs and bars over the last six months. Fine and casual dining had a stellar end to 2025, but activity slowed significantly in this space in the first quarter of 2026. Hotel and other leisure deals remained the most popular categories for investors."

Andrew Williamson, Partner, Corporate Finance, said: "The UK hospitality M&A market has seen strategic acquirers playing an increasingly dominant role and a notable shift away from private equity-led transactions in Q1 2026.

“For business owners, this creates both opportunity and urgency. Well-positioned operators with strong brand identity and, scalable and differentiated concepts, especially experiential hospitality, continue to attract significant interest. At the same time, ongoing cost pressures and margin compression are accelerating consolidation across the sector, particularly in more challenged mid-market segments”.