News
28 Sep 2026
It’s 25 years to the day that August was founded and our purpose was clear from the start:
Invest in markets we know well and work alongside ambitious management teams to build high quality, market-leading businesses.
Our chosen market was the UK lower mid-market and we remain as dedicated to that choice today as we were 25 years ago…
25 years later, a lot has changed in the world. The private equity landscape has evolved materially, technology has reshaped our lives and how we operate, processes have become more sophisticated and the challenges in successfully operating and scaling businesses are becoming ever greater.
At August, we have remained focused.
Our long-term dedication to “doing what we know best” has helped us compound specialist knowledge to become the partner of choice for management teams, investors and the August family. As a result, our team has grown; our networks have broadened and our approach to value creation is at its best. We can always do better, but on our 25th birthday we are reflecting proudly on our market-leading track record, its consistency and the DPI delivery across multiple vintages and market cycles.
Today, we still see the UK lower mid-market as a highly attractive place to invest, and a market where we believe we can make the greatest difference in partnering with founders and entrepreneurs to realise our joint ambitions.
An institution built on 25 years of learning
Longevity only matters if you learn from it.
Over 25 years, August has evolved from an investment team into a broader institutional platform. Alongside our investment professionals, we have built specialist capabilities across value creation pillars, talent, finance, legal and investor relations, enabling us to support businesses and investors as a partner of choice throughout the investment lifecycle.
Through longevity, we have accumulated a substantial knowledge base relevant to our specialism within the lower mid-market, but we don’t simply rely on what worked 20+ years ago. Each investment brings new experience, new challenges, opportunities and lessons that we can layer into what we do next.
Our experience is one of the things we value most about the platform we have built, using our deeply embedded knowledge base of how to grow exciting businesses into high-quality platforms of scale that are attractive to a wide range of buyers. Over time, this experience has helped us build a repeatable investment model, combining deep sector knowledge, direct origination and a clear value creation plan.
Our objective is to distil what we have learned, and compound it to continually improve how we invest, how we support management teams and, ultimately, how we deliver premium outcomes.
Investing in today’s world of technology
At August, we have a clear understanding of what it takes to support management teams through growth and change, and of the practical levers that can help businesses become more resilient and therefore more valuable.
Technology is playing an ever-greater role in the work across our portfolio and internally. When August was founded, investment teams relied heavily on desktop research and manual processes to build an understanding of markets and companies alongside printed Board packs and faxes. Today, August has embedded technology and AI practices which enhance the way we process and interrogate information, helping us make better and faster decisions in markets where we have leading knowledge and experience.
A critical differentiator for us however is judgement. Technology does not replace judgement, it makes judgement more important.
“The most important thing about reaching 25 years is not the milestone itself, but what it represents. For 25 years we have remained focused on the markets we know best, partnering with ambitious management teams to build stronger businesses. While the tools, technologies and opportunities continue to evolve, our belief in the UK and Ireland lower mid-market remains as strong today as it was when August was founded. We are proud of what has been achieved, but even more excited about what comes next.
David Lonsdale - Managing Partner
The next 25 years
There is something reassuring about looking back and seeing that the fundamental focus has not changed. We are committed to the lower mid-market and building relationships in the markets we know. But the way we do those things will keep developing.
Our team will evolve and networks will continue to grow. Technology and AI will become an increasingly important part of how we create value and the experience we gain from each investment will continue to inform the next.
We are proud of what has been built over the past 25 years and of the businesses and management teams we have had the opportunity to support. The most interesting and exciting part, however, is what comes next.
Above all, our success has been built by the people who have contributed to August over the last 25 years, from colleagues and portfolio company leaders to advisers, investors and wider networks who have supported us along the way. To all of you – we say thank you.