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Data infrastructure and managed IT businesses in the UK
UK data infrastructure runs from large data centre operators to the small managed IT, network and hosting firms that keep other businesses working. The smaller firms are often founder-led, with monthly contracts and technical knowledge held by a few engineers, so succession depends on handing over systems, access and client trust without an outage.
Standing disclosure. This is outsider analysis, compiled from public sources named at the foot of the page. Orvane Group does not own, and has not operated, a data infrastructure or managed IT business. We write about the sector as buyers who have done their reading, not as insiders.
How the market is structured
At one end of the sector sit the data centre operators, which the UK government designated as Critical National Infrastructure in September 2024. At the other sits a long tail of managed service providers, network installers, hosting companies and IT support firms serving small and mid-sized organisations. That tail is where we look, and managed IT services sit inside it.
Customers in this part of the market buy reliability and trust. Security certifications such as ISO/IEC 27001 and Cyber Essentials, the government-backed scheme overseen by the National Cyber Security Centre, are increasingly asked for in tenders and supply chains. They take sustained effort to earn and to keep.
Most of these firms earn their revenue through monthly support and hosting contracts, with project work on top. That recurring base is what makes a well-run firm stable, and it is also why the relationship between a client and the engineer who knows their systems matters so much.
Consolidation activity
Managed IT has seen steady consolidation, as larger providers and investor-backed platforms buy regional firms for their contracts and their engineers. Published acquisition announcements are the clearest record of that activity.
A platform buyer will often move clients onto its own tooling, service desk and brand. For some clients that brings welcome scale. For others, the local engineer who understood their network was the reason they stayed, and the change is felt quickly.
Succession pressure
We have not found a public figure we trust that measures succession planning in managed IT or data infrastructure specifically. The closest reliable figures are cross-sector, and they are consistent with each other.
34%
of family business owners have a formal succession plan
Source: Hymans Robertson Personal Wealth, March 2025 [4]
64%
of UK SME bosses had no clear succession plan in 2017
Source: Aldermore Future Attitudes, Opinium, February 2017 [5]
40%
of large family businesses are in, or expect, a leadership succession within ten years
Source: Deloitte Private, 2026 [6]
In a managed IT firm, much of the value lives in access and memory: who holds the administrator credentials, who knows why a client’s network is set up the way it is, which engineer the client calls first. Succession here means writing that knowledge down and moving access across securely, well before anyone needs it in an emergency.
Against our criteria
What a good business looks like in this sector
| Criterion | In data infrastructure and managed IT, that usually means |
|---|---|
| Revenue £2–5M | A managed service or infrastructure provider with a base of business clients on monthly contracts. |
| EBITDA positive | Recurring monthly contract revenue, with project work on top rather than instead. |
| Owner-managed | A founder still close to the technical work or the largest client relationships. |
| UK-wide | A UK base, often regional, serving business or public-sector clients. |
| Founder timeline 12–36 months | Enough time to document systems, transfer privileged access and introduce the operator partner to key clients. |
Related insights
Further reading for this sector
Sector analysis
Platforms, trade buyers and long-term owners, and what each one changes for clients.
Operations
A practical order for moving credentials, documentation and on-call cover to a new team.
Selling & succession
Contracts, TUPE and the conversation you have with the team, in the order it happens.
Sources
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, written statement on the designation of UK data infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure, 12 September 2024. parliament.uk
- National Cyber Security Centre, Cyber Essentials overview. ncsc.gov.uk
- International Organization for Standardization, ISO/IEC 27001 Information security management systems. iso.org
- Hymans Robertson Personal Wealth, research on family business owners’ succession planning, March 2025. Only 34% of family business owners have a formal succession plan; 19% have none at any stage.
- Aldermore, Future Attitudes report, survey conducted by Opinium, February 2017, n=1,003 UK SME decision-makers. 64% of UK SME bosses have no clear succession plan.
- Deloitte Private, Family business succession planning and the next generation, 2026. Survey of 1,587 family businesses with revenue of US$100 million or more, fieldwork March to June 2025. 40% of family businesses are undergoing, or expect, a leadership succession within the next ten years. deloitte.com
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