The three things every buyer asks in the first ten minutes
Owners expect the first buyer conversation to be about the numbers. It rarely is. Why buyers ask about people first, funding second and the accounts last, and what to do a year early.
ReadThe opportunity in plain sight.
Why this sectorEducation and training has never been stronger, or more fragmented. Thousands of founder-run providers face succession risk, rising quality demands, and consolidating buyers.
Private equity platforms, strategics, universities and awarding bodies are all acquiring at once. Owners with a genuinely good business have real choices, provided they prepare for them. Acquirers with a clear thesis can build platforms of lasting value. Thomsett Lockey exists for both.
Read our insightsBoth sides
of the table
Sell-side mandates for owners preparing to exit. Buy-side mandates for groups building by acquisition.
366 deals
on the record
Verified education and training transactions tracked across 35 countries, from 286 distinct acquirers.
Two principals
on every deal
No junior team, no handover. The people you meet are the people who negotiate.
Latest from the deal map.
Open the deal map| Date | Target | Acquirer | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | Aspiration Training | Verano Acquisitions Limited | Vocational training |
| Sep 2026 | Decoded | First Intuition | Corporate learning |
| Sep 2026 | Tech Professionals | Aquila Energy Group Ltd | Vocational training |
| Aug 2026 | CIPHER MEDICAL CONSULTANCY LIMITED | Health Transportation Group Uk Limited | Vocational training |
| Aug 2026 | EAS MECHANICAL LIMITED | Realise Training | Vocational training |
| Aug 2026 | Oakwood Specialist Colleges Limited | Phoenix Learning & Care Group Limited | Vocational training |
The six most recent entries on the public layer of the map, which runs to 366 verified transactions. We map M&A across the global education and training market continuously; this is intelligence, not a client list. The live map, including who is in market today, is maintained privately. The same approach now reads accounts and public registers for advisory firms: see how we build.
The sectors we watch: education and training worldwide, and specialist advisory firms
Two mandates. One standard.
Practice
Practical guide · By Joe Thomsett · 22 September 2026
Sell-side
For owners preparing to exit
We position the business, run a discreet and controlled process, and bring the right acquirer to the table on terms worth taking. You commit very little to start, and only move forward when there is something genuinely worth moving forward for. No buyer is approached without your sign-off.
Start a conversation
Buy-side
For acquirers building by acquisition
We sharpen the acquisition thesis, originate targets quietly, including those not on the market, and steer the deal to completion at the right price. Diligence is managed by a principal, and the structure reflects what it finds.
For an advisory firm growing by acquisition, we run the programme end to end: the map of the market, the approaches to owners, the assessment of each target, and the deal through to completion. A monthly fee during the search and a success fee on completion.
Start a conversationBuilt for one firm in each market.
How we buildThe deal map taught us to read public records at scale. We now apply the same reading to filed accounts and public registers for one purpose: to find the clients a firm should have and the targets an acquirer should buy. Each engine is built for one firm, in one market, and is not built again for a competitor of that firm while we work together.
An example build
Which companies should be our clients, and are not?
A specialist tax adviser asked that one question. We read every set of accounts filed at Companies House against the shape of a company that needs the firm's service, and return a ranked list each month with the reason beside each name. The same reading gives an acquirer its map of the market.
The client we build for
A firm with a market it knows and no way to see all of it
Specialist advisory firms: tax, accounting, legal, consulting, and the tech-enabled advisers alongside them. Usually founder-led, £1m to £50m of revenue, either growing by referral and ready to grow by data, or growing by acquisition and in need of a map.
The sectors we serve
Education and training worldwide. Specialist advisory firms in the United Kingdom.
Every build starts with a sample on the firm's own market, so the list is judged before anything is committed. Each build is scoped and priced for the firm.
Start a conversationThe people in the room.
People
Principal
Alex Lockey
Twenty years advising leaders across education and training, and one of the sector's most connected networks of operators, investors and acquirers. Alex has built, run and sold businesses himself, and brings an operator's judgement to positioning, buyer strategy and negotiation. Counsel from someone who has sat on the owner's side of the table.
LinkedIn
Principal
Joe Thomsett
A chartered accountant with deep corporate finance and due diligence experience across a career of transactions. Joe reads the accounts before the pitch, defends value through diligence, and structures terms that stand up to scrutiny. Steady, exacting counsel from first conversation to completion.
LinkedIn
Between us
The record.
The sale of Boom Training to Turing College. The sale of MO University Assistant to UCAS, advising the founder. Valuation and post-deal work for Reed in Partnership on its investment in Eintech. Strategy, resilience and valuation work for an education group and its e-assessment subsidiary. Advisory work with Stephen Austin. And a live sell-side in UK skills, going to market this autumn. Twenty years in the sector on one side of the table, a career of transactions on the other.
Insights.
View all
Market view · By Alex Lockey · 1 July 2026
Where the capital is moving in education and training
A read of 366 verified deals across 24 months: where the money is going, who is buying, and what it means for owners.
Read
Practical guide · By Joe Thomsett · 1 July 2026
Are you ready to sell? A readiness rubric for founders
The mindset of a sale, what to expect from the process, and a scorecard to grade yourself honestly before you speak to anyone.
Read
The briefing
Get the briefing.
The Thomsett Lockey read on education and training M&A. No noise.
Thinking about a sale, or an acquisition?
The first conversation is confidential, costs nothing, and commits you to nothing. We typically work where enterprise value is £2m or more.