Margin is one of the first figures a buyer will look at. It is also one that owners rarely see set against their peers’, because private companies’ accounts are seldom read side by side. We compare them side by side in our research.
Of the 7,300 companies in this range whose accounts are filed in tagged form, the median EBITDA margin is 6.4%, and the middle half fall between 2.7% and 12.3%. 32% make more than 10%, 18% more than 15%, and 9% make a loss before depreciation and amortisation. They are about 29% of the 25,215 companies in the range.
Show the figures
| Companies | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health and social care | 232 | 3.9% | 10.5% | 18.0% |
| Water and waste | 120 | 4.9% | 9.6% | 15.7% |
| Professional services | 534 | 3.0% | 7.9% | 14.7% |
| Agriculture | 124 | 4.0% | 7.5% | 17.4% |
| Manufacturing | 1,496 | 3.7% | 7.1% | 12.6% |
| Information and communication | 481 | 2.0% | 7.0% | 14.9% |
| Other services | 199 | 1.1% | 6.9% | 15.5% |
| Transport and logistics | 342 | 2.9% | 6.7% | 12.5% |
| Construction | 918 | 3.3% | 6.6% | 11.6% |
| Hospitality | 285 | 2.8% | 6.0% | 12.5% |
| Business support | 686 | 1.7% | 5.5% | 11.1% |
| Retail and wholesale | 1,664 | 2.0% | 4.7% | 8.8% |
Margins differ widely by sector
Health and social care has the highest median margin, at 10.5%, followed by water and waste at 9.6%. Retail and wholesale has the lowest, at 4.7%. That is less a verdict on wholesalers than a reflection of what they do: their turnover includes the cost of the goods they sell on, so a buyer will look at gross margin and return on capital alongside EBITDA.
The spread within each sector is wide too. In most of them the upper quartile makes two or three times the margin of the lower, so the median is a reference point, not a target.
Size and ownership
Margins fall as turnover rises: the median is 7.1% at £10–25M, 5.8% at £25–50M and 4.3% at £50–100M. Some of that is likely to be mix, since larger companies in this range include more distributors, but we have not tried to separate the two. Private equity-backed companies have the highest median, at 7.7%, against 5.9% for founder-owned ones, though the private equity group is small (170 companies).
What it means for an owner
A margin in the top quarter of its sector is worth showing a buyer, and worth explaining: how much of it will last, and why. A margin in the bottom quarter is not necessarily a problem, but a buyer will ask about it. It is far better to have the answer and the evidence ready than to meet the question in due diligence. Either way, make the comparison well before a sale, while there is time to act on it.
How we worked this out
Figures are from Companies House as at 26th September 2026. The population is UK private companies with £10–100M of turnover in their latest accounts and no insolvency notice, leaving out holding companies, whose figures describe a structure rather than a trade. EBITDA is operating profit before depreciation and amortisation, as read from each company’s latest filed accounts.
Only accounts filed in tagged form are used. Figures read from scanned accounts came out nearly two points lower on average, more than their mix of companies explains, so they are left out. Margins below −50% or above 80% are treated as misreadings. Sectors with fewer than 100 companies are not shown. No figure here identifies a company or a person.