BGF has completed a multi-million-pound investment in Black Cat, a Manchester-based commercial project and building consultancy, to support its expansion plans. Terms were not disclosed.

Black Cat, founded in 2015, works across commercial, industrial, retail and public sector property, offering building surveying, design, rating, mechanical and electrical, compliance and project management services. The firm has delivered projects totalling more than £734 million across 83 million sq ft, operates from ten offices including a Dublin base, and employs a team of 91.

BGF is a Manchester-headquartered growth capital investor backing companies across the UK and Ireland from a network of 15 offices, with an evergreen balance sheet of £3 billion.

As part of the deal, Ian Plumb will join Black Cat as non-executive chair, drawn from BGF's Talent Network, having previously worked with BGF portfolio businesses including Emma Bridgewater and Evoke Creative.

Advisors: None mentioned.

The logic here rests on a consolidating UK professional services market, where private capital is increasingly viewed as a natural next step for founder-led firms. A recent Macfarlanes survey of equity partners across legal, accounting and consulting firms found that 75 per cent would consider external private capital investment, reflecting a shift in appetite that now extends into building consultancy.

BGF's backing gives Black Cat patient capital to widen its footprint at a point when bolt-on and buy-and-build strategies are dominating UK private equity activity, particularly in fragmented professional and business services markets.

For Black Cat, the timing matters because the firm already has a foothold in Dublin, positioning UK growth capital as a springboard for deeper Irish market entry rather than a purely domestic play.

For BGF, the deal extends a broader pattern, as reported by BusinessCloud: the investor has committed £3 billion to UK companies over five years, including £400 million earmarked for the North West, building on £596 million already deployed in the region since 2011.

For the sector, specialist building consultancies with transparent, people-first models are increasingly viewed as scalable platforms rather than niche regional players, a shift likely to encourage further consolidation and investment activity across UK and Irish property services markets.

Source: BusinessCloud / Macfarlanes / Shoosmiths