Whilst global leaders are shifting their stance on sustainability, the past year has seen significant advancements in ESG and sustainability practices, especially within the mid-market private equity sector in the UK. Companies have increasingly embedded sustainability into their core strategies, responding to heightened investor demand for responsible and ethical investments.

PocDoc based in Cambridge, Eden Futures located in Long Bennington, Nottingham’s Peppermint Technology, and Leicestershire’s Blue Light Card, have won the BVCA's Vision 2025 Awards for the Midlands & East.

In 2024 alone, private capital invested £1.18bn into businesses in the Midlands. Private capital employs an active ownership model which is a hands-on approach that helps drive value creation in portfolio companies through strategic and operational improvements, whilst supporting wider economic development.

The BVCA’s ‘Venture capital in the UK’ 2025 report sets out the latest research on the scale of venture capital investment across the nations and regions of the UK. It found that the VC industry played a bigger role in the UK economy in 2024, increasing both investment and fundraising activity compared to 2023.

New research by the BVCA – finds that the venture capital industry played a bigger role in the UK economy in 2024, increasing both investment and fundraising activity compared to 2023.

This report estimates the current direct economic activity of UK companies supported by private equity and venture capital firms within the UK economy in 2025. This provides a snapshot of the direct economic footprint of activity supported by private equity and venture capital investments - as measured by employment, employee earnings, and gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025. 

This report demonstrates the activity of the UK private equity and venture capital industry in 2024. The statistics in this report are the results of the BVCA’s Investment Activity Study, covering fundraising, business investments and business exits. Data is sourced from a detailed member survey, supplemented by data from third party sources.

New research by the BVCA finds that in 2024, the total amount invested by private equity and venture capital in UK businesses was £29.4bn – a 44 per cent increase on the £20.4bn invested in 2023.

New data reveals that the British venture capital industry almost doubled the amount of funds raised in 2024 compared to the previous year.

Leeds-based Nexus Vehicle Rental, Rosemont Pharmaceuticals, Hippo Digital and iPac Packaging Solutions in Gateshead, have won the BVCA Vision 2025 awards in the Yorkshire & North East.

In 2024 alone, private capital invested £1.5bn in Yorkshire and the Humber businesses. Private capital employs an active ownership model which is a hands-on approach that helps drive value creation in portfolio companies through strategic and operational improvements, whilst supporting wider economic development.

In 2024 alone, private capital invested £149 million in North East businesses. Private capital employs an active ownership model which is a hands-on approach that helps drive value creation in portfolio companies through strategic and operational improvements, whilst supporting wider economic development.

The issue of getting more UK pensions fund investment into private capital is one the BVCA has long championed. However, it has become something of a hot topic in recent years, with both the last and the current Government increasingly seeing that it's a conundrum that, if resolved, provides solutions to two challenges keeping them up at night: the lack of UK growth and a pending retirement crisis.

This final report sets out the recommendations and key findings of the Pensions and Private Capital Expert Panel.This work builds on the Expert Panel’s interim report, published in September 2024. As highlighted in that report, the UK’s world-leading private capital fund industry offers a huge opportunity for UK DC pension savers to benefit from greater investment in the country’s innovative growth companies.

Leaders from the pensions and private capital industries have issued new recommendations on how to facilitate UK DC pensions to invest in private capital, and how the Government can support this aim – boosting investment in fast growing British businesses and helping UK pension savers access potentially higher returns. 

Meghan Stevenson-Krausz, Co-CEO of Diversity VC shares her reflections on the newly published BVCA/Level 20 Diversity Report and gives her outlook on diversity from a VC perspective and takes a wider look at diversity initiatives that are needed to charter the path forward.

In this special Annual Review Voicenote podcast, BVCA Chief Executive, Michael Moore, is joined by Sarah Adams, BVCA Co-Director of Policy and Matthew Sabben-Clare, BVCA Chair and Senior Adviser at Cinven, to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the challenges and opportunities that are still to come in 2025.

The BVCA's latest Annual Review highlights the wide-ranging issues the association has addressed on behalf of the industry over the past 12 months, as well as detailing how the BVCA has supported the development of the industry through events, training and other activities.

Suzi Gillespie, the BVCA’s Head of Research provides her perspective on the latest analysis published about the industry’s performance and reflects on what will impact private market conditions in 2025.