Business services
Companies that sell people's work rather than products, such as outsourcing, consulting and staffing.
Business services firms sell brainpower, labour and execution, not products, capital-efficient, but harder to diligence because assets walk out the door each evening. Six sub-sectors matter, consulting, staffing, facilities management, BPO, TIC (testing, inspection, certification), and government services.
Productivity is measured by revenue per FTE (consulting $300–500k, staffing $100–200k, FM $80–150k) and utilisation, billable hours as a share of available hours, typically 70–95%. The fundamental unit economics is bill rate minus pay rate spread, which must cover overhead and profit.
Margins vary sharply. Staffing runs razor-thin at 3–6% EBITDA. Consulting and TIC reach 12–22%. Retainer revenue trades at two to three times the multiple of time-and-materials work, because it's recurring and predictable.
Watch the cash. People-based businesses aren't asset-heavy but they aren't cash-light. Staffing especially, workers paid weekly, clients billed monthly, cash collected in 30–45 days. Growth eats working capital.
Roll-up platforms scale through bolt-on acquisitions, driving overhead down as revenue grows, a $50M firm at 50% overhead ratio can hit 12% at $500M. That's the flywheel.
AI threatens staffing and basic BPO hardest; TIC and hard FM least. Multiples range from 5–7x for temp agencies up to 14–20x for TIC. Watch revenue mix and organic growth, same-store beats acquisition-driven every time.
Open jobs
| Job | Firm | Level | Stage | Posted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading · Front office services |  State Street Investment Management | Experienced | 3+ years | 8 days Closes 29 Nov |
| Investment banking · Technology & services |  Baird | Associate | 3 to 5 years | 13 days |
| Mergers and acquisitions · Financial services advisory |  Interpath Advisory | Manager | 3+ years | 13 days |
| Investment banking |  Selby Jennings | Associate | 3 to 6 years | 2 weeks |
| Transaction services |  Standard Chartered | Off-cycle starts Jun 2027 | Second-to-last year at university | 3 weeks Closes 31 Dec |