PROJECT UPLINK
A collective exit platform for UK technology business owners
Most IT services owners leave millions on the table when they sell. Not because their business isn’t worth more – because they sell as a standalone company.
Join other profitable UK IT services, cybersecurity and cloud companies to prepare for a larger, coordinated private equity transaction.
Project Uplink is not a business broker and does not buy your company. It helps selected owners build the scale, financial evidence and transaction readiness needed to approach private equity buyers as a coordinated group.
You retain ownership, control and responsibility for running your company throughout the preparation process. Ownership changes only if you agree to a transaction and that transaction completes.
Registration is a confidential expression of interest. It is not a commitment to join Project Uplink, sell your company or transfer any ownership.
Keep control
Continue owning and independently operating your business throughout the preparation process. You may step away before signing binding transaction documents, subject to the agreed membership and notice terms.
Build scale
Combine with other high-quality businesses to create a platform targeting £10m+ of independently verified normalised EBITDA.
Exit together
Approach private-equity buyers as a coordinated, investment-ready platform.
Why a Combined Platform Outperforms a Solo Exit
| Comparison | Selling Alone | Project Uplink |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership and control | Sale required today; you hand over the keys. | 100% ownership retained until you choose to exit. |
| Exit valuation | Standalone multiple, typically 4x to 6x EBITDA. | Institutional platform premium, typically 10x to 14x EBITDA at scale. |
| Profitability during the build | Your margins are yours, but so are all your overhead costs. | Shared central infrastructure designed to expand your margins while we build. |
| Access to buyers | Limited to trade buyers and smaller PE funds. | A pre-packaged institutional platform positioned for global PE. |
| Integration risk | Single-point, all-at-once integration. | Structured two-phase build that is phased, controlled, and independently governed. |
Exit multiples shown are illustrative ranges based on published market data. They are not a forecast or guarantee. Actual outcomes depend on market conditions, platform composition, and individual circumstances.
What this is
Project Uplink brings together UK IT services, cybersecurity and cloud technology owners. Not to merge today, but to build together the scale and operational readiness that institutional buyers require. Each business stays fully independent while the platform grows.
Still 100% yours
You keep legal ownership and run the business as normal. Nothing about your day-to-day changes.
Get investor-ready
Clean reporting, shared standards, and a shared back-office where it genuinely helps.
A much bigger price
A combined platform built to the scale and reporting standards that institutional buyers require reaches more buyers and commands better outcomes than any one business alone.
Why now
169+
disclosed IT and cybersecurity deals in 2025 alone. Many more happen quietly and never make the news.
69%
of those had private equity money behind them
11x–15x+
the price multiple a business gets once it's platform-scale, vs 4x–6.5x when small and alone
Illustrative figures based on published market research. Not a forecast or guarantee.
How it works
- 1
A Structured Two-Phase Build
We do not attempt to bring every owner into a single structure simultaneously. Phase One establishes an anchor group of members to build a proven operational base and shared infrastructure. Phase Two layers in additional members through established central systems, progressively strengthening the platform ahead of a collective exit. Each phase is independently governed and deliberately sequenced to reduce execution risk for every member.
- 2
Shared Technology and Reporting Infrastructure
Members contribute a standardised onboarding fee and a recurring platform subscription. These pooled funds are deployed into building shared central infrastructure which may include financial reporting, operational support, technology tooling, and AI-assisted workflows, depending on the collective needs and direction of the membership. The specific services provided will evolve as the platform grows. The aim is to reduce individual overhead costs during the build while creating the operational foundations that support a stronger collective outcome at exit.
- 3
Governance and Competition Law Compliance
Each member retains full operational autonomy throughout. Governance is managed through a founder-led Oversight Board, structured under independent legal counsel to support compliance with UK competition law. No commercially sensitive information, including client data, pricing, or territorial metrics, is shared between members at any stage. Members remain fully independent competitors until the point of a collective exit decision.
- 4
Staff Continuity Protection
Buyers consistently price key-person risk into every offer. The platform addresses this structurally: a Key Person Retention Fund is built into the exit structure, providing a post-sale framework to retain the people who matter most to your business. This is designed to protect your team and strengthen the platform's appeal at exit, at no out-of-pocket cost to members during the build.
- 5
Tax and Legal Structure
The platform operates via an option-based legal structure designed to minimise unnecessary complexity and preserve individual member tax positions. Appropriate advance clearance applications are made with specialist tax and legal counsel at each material stage. Each member is strongly recommended to obtain independent tax advice regarding their individual position, including Business Asset Disposal Relief eligibility, before committing to the exit process.
Illustrative Exit Maths
What a Platform Exit Could Look Like
A purely illustrative model based on published market data and modelled assumptions. Not a forecast, guarantee, or projection of actual returns.
Illustrative Platform Assumptions
- Members in platform
- 14 independent businesses
- Average EBITDA per member
- £625,000 (illustrative)
- Combined base EBITDA
- £8.75m
- Target platform EBITDA (post-build)
- £10m (illustrative)
- Illustrative exit multiple at scale
- 13.5x (institutional premium range)
- Illustrative gross enterprise value
- £135m
- Key Person Retention Fund (2%)
- (£2.7m), secured for staff continuity
- Illustrative net distributable value
- £132.3m
One Member. Two Scenarios.
Same business. Very different outcome.
- Standalone sale (illustrative)
- £3.1m
- Exit via Project Uplink (illustrative)
- £7.3m
- Illustrative uplift
- +£4.2m
£625k EBITDA × 5x standalone multiple
Proportionate share of net platform proceeds
+132% vs going it alone
All figures are illustrative only. They are based on modelled assumptions and published market data, not a forecast or guarantee of actual returns. Individual outcomes will vary based on your EBITDA, market conditions at exit, platform composition, tax position, and other factors. This page does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Independent professional advice is strongly recommended.
Who this is for
Project Uplink is built for owners of UK IT services businesses across three core areas: managed IT services and MSPs, cybersecurity and MSSP operators, and cloud and data architecture businesses.
You are likely a good fit if:
- Your business generates £350k or more in EBITDA or SDE (for owner-operated businesses, this is broadly your operating profit before your own salary and drawings are taken out) with a believable path to more
- You have recurring contracted revenue rather than purely project-based work
- Your numbers are reasonably clean or can be made clean with support
- You want to keep running your business day to day throughout the process
Adjacent technology businesses including connectivity, ERP, business continuity and digital transformation are also considered. A platform that can serve clients end to end commands a stronger valuation than one that cannot.
You do not need to fit neatly into one category, and you do not need to have made any decisions about your future. If you serve UK businesses with technology services and you are even beginning to think about what comes next, it is worth a confidential conversation first.
Your confidentiality is our first obligation.
Registering interest creates no record visible to your staff, your bank, your customers or your competitors.
Seen by two people. No one else.
Expressions of interest are seen only by the founding principals of Project Uplink. Project Uplink's core executive leadership and board are informed only after a formal NDA has been signed by all parties. No other members. No third parties. Ever.
Formal NDA before any detail is exchanged.
If we progress beyond an initial conversation, a mutual NDA is signed before any commercially sensitive information changes hands.
You can withdraw at any time.
Registering interest is not a commitment. You can step back at any point with no record kept and no questions asked.
Our confidentiality promise in plain English
- Who sees your registration
- The founding principals of Project Uplink only. Core executive leadership and board are informed only after a formal NDA has been signed by all parties.
- When we share your details
- Never, unless you explicitly ask us to make an introduction and approve it first
- What we tell other members
- Nothing. Other members do not know who else has registered interest or who we are speaking with
- What happens if you withdraw
- Your details are deleted within a reasonable timeframe. No record is retained.
- Formal NDA timing
- Signed by all parties before any commercial discussion, term sheet, or financial information is shared
- Your ongoing operations
- Nothing about registering interest affects your business, your staff, your banking relationships or your customers in any way
Project Uplink is an exclusive and confidential Research International Limited initiative, led by a team with deep experience across M&A, investment banking and technology. Our team has sat on both sides of these transactions as advisers, as operators, and as owners. We built this because we know what a good exit looks like, and we know most owners never get one.
“We understand that for many owners, even exploring an exit is something they have never discussed with anyone: not their business partner, not their accountant, not their family. We treat that trust with the seriousness it deserves.”
Register your interest
This is a confidential expression of interest, not a commitment. A member of the team will get back to you within a few working days.