These are core findings of our white paper, the first of its kind of European business services as a sector, which offers unique insights for investors seeking to outperform in a “perma-crisis” world.

Business Services sector transformed by turmoil

Business Services are fundamental to the European economy. Comprising 23% of the EU’s economy, the sector benefits from the continent’s distinctive combination of skilled workforce, robust infrastructure and rich business environment, historically making it an attractive hunting ground for investors

However, over the past five years, Business Services companies have found themselves in what has been described by an interviewed CEO as a “perma-crisis” era, a constant stream of evolving challenges. These crises emerge from unpredictable events such as Covid-19, supply chain disruptions or the Ukraine War and the resulting inflation. More recently, political upheavals, including the dissolution of the French National Assembly and the re-election of Donald Trump, as well as geopolitical tensions like the escalating tariffs between the USA and Europe have also increased business uncertainties for 65% of our interviewees since September 2024.

Taken together, these dynamics suggest an emerging risk of “deservicisation”—a gradual erosion in the profitability, and potentially the survival, of European services groups failing to adapt, in the image of the deindustrialisation that has been widely publicised.

The ripple effects of these crises have shifted the sector’s focus towards increasing resilience, notably from activating operational value creation levers, and pushed some companies to think about diversifying “perceived geographic risk” and company locations. In this complex climate, Eight Advisory and Eight International partnered to explore how Business Services leaders are responding. Our 2025 white paper titled “ The profitability challenges for Services groups in a “perma-crisis” world” presents exclusive insights from 82 companies and specialist Business Services Private Equity teams across 10 countries, with a combined workforce of over one million and €125 billion in revenue.

Key insights from the study

Nearly half of the sector (47%) has yet to return to pre-crisis profitability levels. But among the firms that have bounced back or even outperformed their pre-crisis benchmarks common themes emerge:

Resilience, anticipation and adaptability,

Focus on people and productivity, including through structural levers,

Bold technology investments.

These themes represent actionable levers for PE sponsors seeking to drive operational improvement and sustainable growth post-acquisition.

Productivity boost and talent retention

Labor management has been a central topic in conversations and transformation initiatives across Business Services sectors and countries, regardless of the states of the underlying labor markets. Given their labor and skill-intensive nature, nearly half of Business Services companies have actively pursued productivity levers to mitigate the challenges posed by inflation as well as growing recruitment and retention difficulties due to new generations’ different approach to work – and these levers have yielded the expected results.

For PE investors, prioritising workforce transformation and talent strategies can unlock significant operational efficiency and support long-term value creation.

Thinking big on technology

Business Services companies are particularly eager to transform their businesses with AI, as Tech is the key to unlocking more client value from operations, modernising processes & integrating networks. AI is widely seen as a transformative force, reshaping offerings, ways of working, and the broader market landscape, posing a risk of falling behind for those slow to adapt. However, only 15% of companies perceive themselves as ready from a technology standpoint for this major change, which highlights the need for further transformation on the path to resilience.

High value collaboration

The perma-crisis environment has resulted in P.E shareholders taking a more hands-on role in company oversight: close to three quarters of companies perceive a closer involvement of their shareholders. Management teams are embracing the shift as they perceive an increase in value creation from this deeper involvement of shareholders. This is built on structural frequent and practical support that heightens a sense of trust among shareholders and management.

Our white paper presents a framework of 9 key levers, based on real-world strategies, which have yielded significant results for the companies (and funds) that activated them. Download “The profitability challenges for Services groups in a perma-crisis world” to gain strategic insights and operational guidance from the companies who are turning disruption into opportunity.