Melrose has acquired, and in some cases also sold numerous engineering companies, including Dynacast, McKechnie, FKI, Elster, Nortek, and GKN.

Its acquisition techniques have allegedly included hostile takeover tactics;[4] Melrose has also been publicly criticised for issuing high paying performance linked incentive schemes to its top executives.

[17] During the late 2010s, the company was reportedly subject to vigorous criticism over the generosity of its long-term bonus scheme, which paid out £167m to Melrose's four bosses over its performance in 2018, during which revenues and profits had both dramatically increased.

[20] By 2018, Nortek was reporting a 52 per cent increase in adjusted operating profits across the previous year, having met its original three-to-five-year targets for the company within 18 months.

[25][26] Following a formal review of the purchase, including of various objections put forward by GKN workers and trade unions, the UK Government allowed the transaction to proceed in April 2018;[27][28] Melrose agreed to comply with several national security measures.

[30][31] During 2020, David Roper, one of the Melrose's three original founders, was set to step down as executive vice-chairman and depart the firm; the move would be allegedly due to disagreements over recent business strategy.