UK private equity market update 2025

Author Nikki Newton
februari 12, 2025
Color image depicting a crowd of people, thrown into silhouette and therefore unrecognisable, walking alongside modern futuristic architecture of glass and steel. In the distance we can see the ancient and iconic dome of St Paul's cathedral, London

As we move into 2025, private equity (PE) firms are beginning to look at scaling up their legal functions. With deal flow accelerating, regulatory scrutiny increasing and AI reshaping due diligence and operations, legal teams in PE firms are playing a bigger role in driving value creation, mitigating risk and ensuring compliance across funds and portfolios.

What’s changing?

Firms are actively building out their in-house legal functions to manage rising transaction volumes, tighter deal timelines and complex cross-border regulations. GCs with M&A, fund structuring and regulatory expertise are in high demand.

More funds are prioritising legal hiring within their portfolio companies. Strong in-house counsel is becoming a must-have, helping drive governance, manage risk and support accelerated growth strategies.

Mid-market driving demand

Larger PE firms moving into founder-led businesses need legal teams that can implement governance from scratch, manage integration risks and ensure compliance across diverse portfolios.

AI, compliance and data privacy

As AI transforms PE, legal teams must oversee governance, IP and regulatory risks.

PE firms doubling down on sector-focused investment strategies need legal professionals with deep industry knowledge, particularly in healthcare, tech, FinTech, infrastructure and consumer markets.

Beyond just transaction support, legal teams are now integral to value creation, portfolio oversight, and long-term investment strategies. Strong legal infrastructure is becoming a competitive advantage in PE.

The trend is clear, legal hiring is no longer just about supporting transactions at the fund level. Private equity firms are investing in legal talent across their entire ecosystem, from GCs in-house to legal leadership in portfolio companies.

Taylor Root and the private equity market

Taylor Root, alongside the whole of The SR Group, has built up a very specific track record of working with private equity firms and portfolio companies to build out their legal teams. This includes building M&A related functions within insurance, consultancies and law firms, and supporting portfolio businesses with key individual and team hires.

If you’re looking to grow your legal team or explore new opportunities in the PE / Portfolio space, please feel free to reach out to me.

If you would like to join our PE and portfolio company GC network, get in touch here.

TR_GLO_2026_in-house_report_web-banner_Global-new

Featured Content

See all news
Close up of a woman at work, green shirt, making hand gestures

The skills company secretaries need to progress into senior roles

  • Posted juli 28, 2026
Contents Share Key insights The company secretary role has always sat close to the boardroom, but the expectations placed on the function have changed considerably. Strong technical governance expertise remains essential, but it is no longer enough on its own.  Today’s company secretaries are expected to help boards navigate regulation, stakeholder pressure, ESG scrutiny, technology adoption and increasingly complex corporate structures. They are […]
Two male colleagues discuss work at a laptop

How in-house legal teams in the US energy sector are adapting to regulatory complexity

  • Posted juli 28, 2026
Contents Share Key insights Large-scale energy projects have always been complex.  What is changing is how early, and how extensively, legal teams are now involved in shaping whether those projects can move forward.  From permitting and environmental compliance to project finance, stakeholder management and major commercial agreements, in-house counsel recruitment is evolving as lawyers become involved much earlier […]
Businessman talking to colleagues in meeting

UK and Ireland in-house legal recruitment market update Q3

  • Posted juli 13, 2026
Contents Key insights Corporate and commercial, London Banking and financial services, London Interim, London Regional UK Ireland Corporate and commercial, London Q2 saw confidence continue to build across the in-house legal market, although hiring remained measured and highly strategic. Businesses continue to navigate economic uncertainty, evolving regulation and rapid technological change, but there was greater […]