What do the AA, Saga, Pret a Manger, Aston Martin, NCP, Toys R Us, Alliance Boots, EMI and Qinetiq have in common? They, and many others you may never have heard of, are all either owned or part owned by private equity.

That may not sound like a big deal, and clearly did not register as significant in the 20 private equity-backed firms involved in my recent research. In 16 of them, the HR manager did not know what private equity was. After all, a private equity fund is much like any other type of institutional investor in that it’s looking for secure returns for investors. Yet private equity takeovers of businesses can have a significant impact on their people management practices.