Hello Rainmakers,

We’re not in a recession, and deals still getting done. Here is a round up of the most eye-catching deals from around the country, including a glimpse into what Peter ardy might do next. Then after that you can find details of how to book a place at the Rainmaker awards.

This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.

Kids Planet Day Nurseries, the second largest childcare provider in the UK, has expanded internationally acquiring 34 settings in Ireland, bringing its total number of settings to over 300.

The multi award-winning group founded by Clare Roberts OBE in 2008, has acquired Tigers Childcare, based in Dublin.

Founded and owned by Karen Clince, Tigers Childcare is one of the largest childcare groups in Ireland with over 640 colleagues across 34 settings caring for more than 3,200 children

Although operating within the Kids Planet group Clince will remain leading the business day-to-day with no planned changes to the Tigers Childcare team.

Both nursery groups are recognised for delivering high-quality childcare, grounded in educational excellence. They provide nurturing environments where children can explore and thrive, supported by exceptional early years practitioners dedicated to learning and development.

Kids Planet remains family-owned, with its nature-first curriculum central to its approach. Each setting is deeply connected to its local community, celebrating diversity, giving back, and promoting equality and inclusion.

The acquisition has been enabled by investment from Private Equity firm Fremman, supporting the group’s continued commitment to growth and international expansion.

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Fletchers Group has laid down the law in the legal sector after striking a deal to acquire the clinical negligence and court of protection teams from Freeths.

The agreement will see 42 staff pass the bar into the Fletchers fold, with 21 clinical negligence specialists joining Fletchers Solicitors and another 21 court of protection experts moving across to EMG, the group’s standalone private client business.

The deal also hands Fletchers a hefty case load boost, adding more than 530 active matters to its books as it continues building its presence in the serious injury and negligence market.

Fletchers Group chief executive Peter Haden said the acquisition would strengthen the business across both specialist legal areas, while Freeths national managing partner Karl Jansen said: “The market continues to evolve, and long-term success in these specialist areas increasingly requires scale, focus and sustained investment.”

Once the deal reaches its final verdict in June, Fletchers’ clinical negligence division will boast more than 400 staff handling upwards of 10,300 cases, while EMG’s court of protection and private client arm will grow to more than 300 employees.

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Gateley Legal are pretty pleased with themselves at the appointment of Daniel Hall as partner.

He joins the firm after working for 30 years at Eversheds Sutherland as a highly respected corporate lawyer. He specialises in mergers and acquisitions involving both public and private companies and has extensive expertise in capital markets transactions.

Widely recognised as one of the region’s leading corporate lawyers, Daniel has been voted the leading North West Corporate Lawyer on five occasions.

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Rydal Group has made a strong connection in the Midlands after completing the acquisition of Coventry-based HBT Communications Limited.

Founded in 1988 by brothers Zamurad and Ajmal Hussain, HBT has spent nearly four decades keeping Midlands businesses connected - and will continue operating under its existing name from its Coventry offices, with no changes to staff, management, contracts or customer contact details.

The deal gives Peterborough-headquartered Rydal Group an even stronger regional signal as it expands its telecoms, cloud, cyber security and managed IT services across the UK.

The group already supports more than 3,000 businesses nationwide through a 120-strong team and operates its own UK data centre and ISP facilities.

Steffan Dancy, CEO of Rydal Group said: “HBT Communications has an exceptional reputation built over decades of trusted service, expertise and strong customer relationships. We are proud to welcome the business into the Rydal Group and look forward to supporting its continued growth while preserving the local, customer-focused approach that has made HBT so respected since 1988.”

As part of the move, HBT customers will gain access to optional new services including cloud telephony, AI-powered communications, managed IT support and cyber security - though existing services will continue exactly as before.

The acquisition forms part of Rydal’s wider growth strategy focused on investing in established regional businesses while keeping their local identity firmly switched on.

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A 46-year-old Sheffield-based secondary glazing manufacturer has started a new chapter as part of £1.9bn turnover Stockholme-listed industrial conglomerate Lifco AB. The Nordic giant has swooped for Granada Secondary Glazing and its subsidiary Clearview Secondary Glazing. Founded in 1980, Granada supplies a range of bespoke products to the trade and commercial sectors, as well as directly to consumers through its Clearview subsidiary.

Lifco says the deal provides Granada with a long-term ownership structure which supports its management team and growth strategy, but emphasises that the takeover will preserve the business’s operational independence, culture and brand. It adds the acquisition further reflects its strategy of buying “niche, market-leading businesses with strong cash generation and opportunities for sustainable, long-term growth.”

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Peter Vardy’s eponymous group has sold its Motherwell-based car finance broker CarMoney to Japanese group ITOCHU Corporation for an undisclosed sum.

It will continue to operate as an independent business - with the management team remaining in place - but now plans to scale and expand further across the UK and internationally.

Vardy has also sold of his last couple of car dealerships, with Benelux-based Van Mossel Automotive Group buying its Porsche Centres in Perth and Aberdeen.

As Vardy told TheBusinessDesk in January, after selling off much of his car dealership empire, he is now focussed on investing in, and fostering the leadership of, early stage Scottish companies.

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The King’s Speech this week was welcomed by UK Private Capital’s Chief Executive Michael Moore, who said: “The UK’s status as a hub for private capital depends on maintaining a competitive and proportionate regulatory environment. We therefore welcome the Government bringing forward Bills to regulate for growth and reform the competition landscape.”

On the Regulating for Growth Bill, he said: “The new sandbox powers should provide more opportunities for private capital-backed businesses to do what they do best – grow, innovate and support jobs. This approach has the potential to increase opportunity for founders and investors alike to test the fast growing technologies that are often backed by private capital.”

On the Competition Reform Bill, he added: “We welcome the Government’s commitment to improving the agility and responsiveness of the UK’s regulatory framework by strengthening the ‘growth duty’. Enhancing the speed and focus of market reviews will provide more certainty for UK private capital firms. Alongside this, ensuring that there is flexibility in merger investigations will help businesses invest with increased clarity.”

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The 2026 Rainmaker Awards

The North West, Yorkshire and West Midlands Rainmaker Awards are upon us, once again bringing together the region’s deals community to celebrate the standout deals, teams, and individuals of the past 12 months.

Voted for by the corporate finance community itself, the awards are decided on a one-firm, one-vote basis – making the Rainmaker a genuine peer-led recognition.

Voting forms start landing next week, after the shortlists have been agreed by a judging day involving all the region’s leading firms.

The Rainmaker Awards ditch black-tie formality and speeches in favour of a relaxed evening focused on what the deals and the people who made them happen.

The evening is also a great way to connect with leading firms and individuals shaping the regional deal landscape.

There is a new individual category this year, as we will recognise Lifetime Achievement of one of our Rainmakers for the first time.

The 2026 Yorkshire awards are on June the 11th at New Dock Hall in Leeds, the North West awards will take place on the 25th of June 2026 at the Kimpton Hotel in Manchester city centre, and the West Midlands at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham on the 2nd of July.

Last year sold out, so book early to secure your table.

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Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.

We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.

The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.

We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.

If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.

Rainmakers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

As the region’s SaaS ecosystem matures across Leeds, Sheffield and beyond, Sheryl Moore asks whether the region can hold onto its scale-ups long enough to turn momentum into lasting economic power.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates on sector trends, like this one, as well insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from other VC and PE investors like Endless, BGF and WestBridge.

For years, the accepted narrative around UK technology was straightforward: build in the regions if you want to, but the serious money, major investors and largest exits would eventually push companies south.

That assumption shaped a generation of founders. Yorkshire businesses often reached a point where scaling seemed inseparable from London through relocation, fundraising or acquisition.

But Yorkshire’s technology economy has matured significantly over the past decade, especially across SaaS, fintech, compliance technology, data analytics and digital infrastructure. Leeds has built one of the UK’s strongest software ecosystems outside the capital, while Sheffield, York, Hull and Harrogate have developed specialist clusters of their own.

The question facing the region now is no longer whether Yorkshire can create credible technology businesses. It is whether it can keep independent businesses scaling for long enough to create lasting economic gravity.

“There is no longer any serious argument about whether Yorkshire has a real tech ecosystem,” says one Leeds-based investor. “The question now is whether the region can consistently retain and scale the businesses it creates.”

The region is producing stronger software companies than ever, but in a market fundamentally changed since the dizzying heights of 2021: capital is more selective, growth expectations are more disciplined, and SaaS consolidation has accelerated. For many founders, the debate is no longer ideological but practical.

The excesses of the 2021 technology market still cast a shadow over SaaS valuations and fundraising behaviour. During the peak years, venture capital flooded software markets. Growth often mattered more than profitability, and founders became used to revenue multiples that now look hard to sustain.

Giles Moore, regional development manager at PXN Group, says that environment has changed materially. “Founders will always want to achieve the highest valuation possible, but recently, after seeing a handful of local companies almost fail because of inflated valuations with very little revenue to justify them, founders are becoming more aware of the challenges and are entering conversations with a more realistic expectation of where valuations will land.”

Across the Yorkshire ecosystem, investors say founders are increasingly focused on predictable recurring revenue, commercial execution and customer retention rather than relying on IP or market narrative alone.

“I’m starting to see a shift in Yorkshire, where founders are becoming much more focused on driving stronger annual recurring revenue and providing clearer evidence of scalable sales execution, rather than assuming their IP alone can justify a high valuation.”

Businesses that once raised substantial growth rounds on future potential alone now face higher expectations around traction, revenue quality and operational discipline, especially at Series A.

“The requirements for a Series A round have shifted significantly in recent years, with investors now expecting to see higher ARR thresholds before they’ll commit,” he says. “With less capital available, investors must be far more selective.

“There is still a lot of education to be done across the region around this, and it remains a common topic of conversation, even when companies are not actively fundraising. That said, it is now rare to come across founders post 2022 expecting to achieve the same peak valuations seen in 2021.”

That change may ultimately prove healthy for the region. At the same time valuations have cooled, consolidation across SaaS markets has intensified. Strategic buyers, private equity-backed platforms and larger technology businesses are becoming more active acquirers of specialist software capability.

For Yorkshire companies, that creates both opportunity and risk. “I can’t speak for every exit that has happened across Yorkshire, but from the companies and founders I know who have exited in recent years, these have primarily been strategic acquisitions,” Moore says.

“However, PE-backed consolidation is becoming far more common, especially in managed services, cybersecurity and B2B software. Yorkshire produces many strong £5m–£20m EBITDA businesses that fit PE roll-up strategies well.”

That consolidation trend is particularly visible in compliance technology and regulated software markets.

Last October, Ilkley-based SmartSearch acquired Credas Technologies, a specialist in compliance and onboarding solutions for the legal and property sectors, in a £77.8m deal.

Phil Cotter, CEO of SmartSearch, says acquisitions in the sector are increasingly driven by regulatory complexity, customer demand and platform economics.

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BGF is rolling out the boss of its best deal yet at its fifteenth birthday celebration this week.

The fund is at a strategic crossroads, its chief executive Andy Gregory tells Rainmakers, but he also has his red lines and is determined to preserve its unique characteristics and not be just another private equity fund.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from major investors, like this one, as well insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from other VC and PE investors like Endless River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

For a fund that was set up in 2011 by the banks in the wake of the financial crisis, BGF has exceeded all expectations as to what it could achieve.

In London tomorrow night, BGF will roll out Craig Marshall, the CEO, OrganOxt, which it sold last year in a $1.5bn valuation.

That exit marked BGF’s largest-ever return, and highlights the importance of patient capital in scaling UK medtech innovation. No wonder when I sit down in the Manchester office with Andy Gregory, BGF’s CEO, he is purring.

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First, a reminder for readers in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the North West. Voting is now open for the Rainmaker Awards.

Here’s how it works.

Voted for by the corporate finance community itself, the awards are decided on a one-firm, one-vote basis - making the Rainmakers a genuine peer-led recognition.

We’ve also added information about the deals and the individual categories, so you can see who has worked on which deals to help you come to your decision.

After we’ve shared a round up of the most eye-catching deals from around the country, you can find details of how to book a place at the Rainmaker awards.

This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.

Subscribe now

OCU Group has almost trebled its revenues in the four years since it was taken over by private equity investor Triton in July 2022.

This week Stockport-based OCU acquired Athena PTS, an independent electrical engineering specialist based in Ulverston, Cumbria, adding grid connection infrastructure skills to its wider offer.

Since Triton acquired OCU which describes itself as “energy transition and utilities infrastructure services company revenue has soared from over £300m to £886m in the last accounts, largely by acquisition of specialist technical service providers in utility, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering, alongside expert competencies in network design and project management.

Funded as O’Connor Utilities and Instalcom, in 1994 by Tim and Tom O’Connor, it is now quietly adding all the skills needed to support big projects.

Athena has built a strong reputation for delivering technically demanding electrical engineering services across multiple sectors, including renewable energy, marine electrical, nuclear, utilities, and building services.

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A Leicestershire manufacturer has avoided being shown the door after a rescue deal helped save 56 jobs.

Benlowe Group, the long-established timber windows and doors business, has been given a fresh frame for the future after being acquired out of administration by DorWins Joinery, part of property renovation investor RightGuard Capital.

The deal was nailed down on the same day administrators Thomas Harris and Martin Buttriss of BTG were appointed, ensuring the business could keep the lights on and the workshop doors open.

Benlowe has supplied housing developers, contractors and architects for almost 60 years, and its new owners are hoping the acquisition will open a window of opportunity for further growth.

Jamie Ryan, chief executive and founder of RightGuard Capital, said the purchase would add “another avenue” to the group’s expanding offering, with plans now underway to fit Benlowe into the wider business.

BTG was supported on the transaction by HCR, while BTG Eddisons provided valuation support.

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A testing, inspection and certification services business with 2,300 staff and revenues of £240m in the UK and Ireland has swooped for a long-established East Yorkshire-based provider of engineering, design and asset inspection services. SOCOTEC UK & Ireland has acquired LSTC Group, which is based in Driffield. LSTC has been on the scene since 1954 and mainly operates in the UK’s regulated energy infrastructure sector.

The deal is designed to complement SOCOTEC’s established infrastructure and energy sector portfolio, which already includes geotechnical engineering services, construction testing, monitoring and surveying. SOCOTEC UK & Ireland has been on something of an acquisition spree in recent years - LSTC is its 16th takeover since 2017. SOCOTEC Group CEO, Herve Montjotin, said: “LSTC will play a central role within our UK platform, strengthening our position in a highly strategic market. This move is fully aligned with SOCOTEC Group’s global strategy to accelerate its development in critical infrastructure, particularly in power grids, which are essential to the energy transition.”

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Mulberry Waste Holdings has more than doubled its headcount with its acquisition of Ecobat Solutions in Darlaston, Walsall. The deal will supercharge Mulberry’s expansion into the fast-growing lithium-ion battery recycling market.

Ecobat, which employs 115 staff and generates annual revenues of over £20m, will continue to operate from its existing site following the deal. The acquisition brings together Lancashire-based Mulberry’s established hazardous waste expertise with Ecobat’s end-to-end lithium-ion battery recycling capabilities. It also aligns with the UK’s push towards on-shore recycling infrastructure, supported by initiatives such as Innovate UK.

Mulberry’s managing director and founder Hassan Isaji said: “Ecobat is a technically advanced business operating at the heart of the battery value chain. Its capabilities in collection, diagnostics and material recovery, combined with Mulberry’s established infrastructure and track record, create a compelling growth platform.

“This transaction reflects strong demand for businesses supporting the circular economy, particularly those enabling the recovery and reuse of critical materials.”

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IT services provider Kubus Group has strengthened its technical capabilities and presence in key sectors by acquiring a specialist audio-visual technology firm.

The takeover of TenTechnology Group means Cirencester-headquartered Kubus can better target high-growth verticals, including critical infrastructure and advanced networking.

TenTechnology, based in Leatherhead, Surrey, specialises in cutting-edge software, intuitive hardware and seamless AV installation services, creating what it falls smart office solutions tailored for modern workplaces.

The deal forms part of Kubus’s 2026 growth strategy and will create a centre of AV technology excellence within the business.

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The 2026 Rainmaker Awards

The North West, Yorkshire and West Midlands Rainmaker Awards are upon us, once again bringing together the region’s deals community to celebrate the standout deals, teams, and individuals of the past 12 months.

Voted for by the corporate finance community itself, the awards are decided on a one-firm, one-vote basis – making the Rainmaker a genuine peer-led recognition.

Voting forms start landing next week, after the shortlists have been agreed by a judging day involving all the region’s leading firms.

The Rainmaker Awards ditch black-tie formality and speeches in favour of a relaxed evening focused on what the deals and the people who made them happen.

The evening is also a great way to connect with leading firms and individuals shaping the regional deal landscape.

There is a new individual category this year, as we will recognise Lifetime Achievement of one of our Rainmakers for the first time.

The 2026 Yorkshire awards are on June the 11th at New Dock Hall in Leeds, the North West awards will take place on the 25th of June 2026 at the Kimpton Hotel in Manchester city centre, and the West Midlands at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham on the 2nd of July.

Last year sold out, so book early to secure your table.

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Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.

We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.

The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.

We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.

If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.

Rainmakers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

Just over a year after launching, Integritis has made its first acquisition, and the deal says as much about the changing shape of the professional services market as it does about the Midlands-based company itself.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including insights on hot sectors, like this one. We also offer insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

The acquisition of specialist governance consultancy JS Information Governance (JS-IG) doubles Integritis’ turnover overnight, adds regulatory depth in data protection and compliance, and increases headcount by 50%. Strategically, however, the transaction appears less about scale for scale’s sake and more about building a broader integrated business support platform at a time when SMEs and scale-ups are increasingly looking to consolidate suppliers.

For Integritis, the move reflects a wider structural shift in the market. Businesses operating in regulated, technology-led and fast-growth sectors are facing rising operational complexity while simultaneously trying to avoid the cost and fragmentation associated with multiple external advisers.

That is creating demand for integrated operators capable of combining governance, risk, cyber resilience, compliance and operational support under one roof.

Kieran Morgan-McGeehan, co-founder of Integritis, says the strategy is being shaped directly by that shift in client behaviour.

“M&A is absolutely part of our long-term growth strategy, although it has to be the right fit culturally and commercially,” he says.

“The market is also becoming increasingly interconnected. Clients no longer want fragmented advice across governance, compliance, cyber, risk and operational support. They want joined-up, commercially minded partners who can solve problems across multiple disciplines.”

In that context, the acquisition of JS-IG looks highly deliberate. Rather than entering an entirely new market, Integritis has acquired an adjacent specialist capability that strengthens an existing service line while deepening recurring client relationships.

JS-IG has spent more than a decade building expertise in data protection, Freedom of Information (FOIA), Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) and outsourced Data Protection Officer services. Those capabilities sit naturally alongside Integritis’ existing work across governance, cyber resilience and risk management.

The deal also reflects a broader trend across UK professional and advisory services, where firms are increasingly attempting to build multidisciplinary platforms capable of cross-selling services into retained client relationships.

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Importantly, Integritis is not positioning itself as a traditional consultancy. Instead, it describes itself as a long-term operational partner embedded within client businesses, effectively functioning as outsourced infrastructure for scaling companies that lack the internal resources to build large support functions themselves.

That distinction matters commercially. Embedded operational support tends to create stickier relationships, longer contract cycles and broader revenue opportunities than project-led consultancy work alone.

The acquisition strategy now emerging suggests Integritis is aiming to build a diversified support group capable of capturing a greater share of client operational spend.

Morgan-McGeehan says this is already shaping the group’s acquisition pipeline.

“Looking ahead, our strategy is centred around building a broader integrated business support group rather than remaining solely a compliance-focused consultancy,” he says.

“We are particularly interested in strengthening our operational support capabilities across areas such as HR, finance and back-office operations, fleet and premises management, and wider business support services.

“Alongside that, marketing, communications, PR and brand support are key areas of interest for us as clients increasingly want commercially aware partners who can help them not only manage risk, but also drive growth and strengthen market presence.”

He adds that capability in training and leadership development is also becoming increasingly important.

“Ultimately, the goal is to continue building a group that can operate as a genuine extension of a client’s business, combining strategic advice, operational delivery and people development under one roof.”

For a relatively young company, the pace is ambitious. Doubling turnover through a first acquisition inevitably raises questions around integration risk, operational discipline and valuation strategy, particularly at a time when many acquisitive businesses are facing pressure from elevated financing costs and softer deal markets.

However, Integritis appears to be pursuing a relatively disciplined integration model. No redundancies are planned, JS-IG clients retain continuity of service and existing account teams remain in place. The emphasis is on operational consolidation rather than aggressive cost extraction.

Morgan-McGeehan frames the approach as capability optimisation rather than financial engineering.

“Whenever you bring two businesses together, there will naturally be overlapping capabilities, duplicated processes or areas where efficiencies can be created,” he says. “The key for us is not simply cost reduction. It is understanding where people add the most value and creating an environment where they can focus on the areas they are strongest in.”

That philosophy is likely to be tested as the acquisition strategy expands. In fragmented professional services markets, integration risk is rarely technical. It is usually cultural, driven by misalignment between founders, teams and operating models.

Integritis is explicitly positioning cultural alignment as a core screening criterion.

“Cultural and ethical alignment is absolutely critical for us. Capability alone is not enough,” says Morgan-McGeehan.

“There are many good businesses in the market with strong technical expertise, but if the underlying culture, values or approach to people does not align with ours, then it simply is not the right fit.”

That emphasis becomes more significant when viewed alongside the company’s social impact agenda.

JS-IG founder Mark Povey, an 11-year British Army veteran, will lead the Integritis Foundation alongside his commercial role within the group. The Foundation is focused on supporting military veterans into consultancy careers through training, reskilling and structured career pathways.

Morgan-McGeehan sees this as integral to how Integritis differentiates itself in the market.

“We are building a business that is commercially ambitious, but also purpose-led,” he says.

“A major part of our identity is that we genuinely want to do good through business. That applies both to the work we deliver for clients and to the wider social impact we are trying to create through the Integritis Foundation.”

From a corporate finance perspective, the combination of acquisitive growth and embedded social infrastructure is notable. It strengthens positioning in ESG-sensitive procurement environments while also contributing to cultural cohesion, which is often a critical failure point in buy-and-build strategies.

The broader implication is that Integritis is attempting to move early in a market that is still highly fragmented. SMEs are increasingly demanding consolidated service providers that reduce operational friction and supplier complexity, while many specialist advisory firms are reaching natural succession points.

Morgan-McGeehan believes that convergence creates a window of opportunity.

“The goal is to continue building a group that can operate as a genuine extension of a client’s business,” he says. “We are not interested in opportunistic acquisitions. The right deal should create opportunity and stability for both parties.”

The acquisition of JS-IG therefore functions less as a standalone transaction and more as a signal of intent. It marks the start of a wider consolidation strategy aimed at building an integrated business support platform before the market itself fully consolidates.

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The 2026 Rainmaker Awards

The North West, Yorkshire and West Midlands Rainmaker Awards are upon us, once again bringing together the region’s deals community to celebrate the standout deals, teams, and individuals of the past 12 months.

Voted for by the corporate finance community itself, the awards are decided on a one-firm, one-vote basis – making the Rainmaker a genuine peer-led recognition.

The Rainmaker Awards ditch black-tie formality and speeches in favour of a relaxed evening focused on what the deals and the people who made them happen.

The evening is also a great way to connect with leading firms and individuals shaping the regional deal landscape.

There is a new individual category this year, as we will recognise Lifetime Achievement of one of our Rainmakers for the first time.

The 2026 Yorkshire awards are on June the 11th at New Dock Hall in Leeds, the North West awards will take place on the 25th of June 2026 at the Kimpton Hotel in Manchester city centre, and the West Midlands at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham on the 2nd of July.

Last year sold out, so book early to secure your table.

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Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.

We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.

The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.

We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.

If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.

Rainmakers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

When Paul Billingham first sat down with me to plan a round table, the obvious theme – particularly for a firm like Knight Corporate Finance – would have been private equity trends or tech investment opportunities. Instead, Paul chose wellness.

By the end of the session, that call looked less like a left‑field idea and more like an astute reading of where business culture is heading. He pointed out that this was not only the best‑attended of their round tables so far, but also the kind of topic that clearly resonates beyond the room.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including insights on key issues around doing deals, like this one. We also offer insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

Corporate entertaining, staff development events, and networking is changing.

Beer and pizza is out. Wellness as a relationship strategy, is in.

It’s not a soft add‑on, but in the transactional world of corporate finance, relationships matter more than ever, oddly.

Partly, the reason the old formula of late‑night drinks, pizza and the odd day at the races no longer works is that the workforce is drinking less and asking more from employers. The growth of Knight’s MediaCity run‑throughs, padel tournaments and mixed‑format days with breathwork, yoga and cold‑water sessions reflects a simple shift: people want to meet, connect and build trust in ways that are healthy, purposeful and – crucially – memorable.

His takeaway was that wellness now sits at the intersection of talent, culture and business development. If firms want to recruit and retain the next generation, they need to offer more than a bar tab; if they want deeper client relationships, they need to create shared experiences that feel authentic rather than performative. In that sense, the Knight / K3 wellness round table wasn’t a detour from the usual private equity narrative – it was a reminder that the real value in any deal still depends on the wellbeing, connections and longevity of the people behind it.

I’ve chaired a lot of round tables over the years – on private equity, regional funding gaps, real estate, professional services, tech, you name it. They can be lively, combative, occasionally revealing. But this one, held in K3’s offices under the banner of “wellness”, was the most quietly provocative I’ve done.

Partly that’s because wellness is one of those slippery words that can mean everything and nothing. On the one hand: cryo chambers, red‑light therapy and breathwork. On the other: getting up a hill with a few mates. We had both ends of that spectrum – and most things in between – around the table.

What struck me first was how personal the answers were when I asked everyone to introduce themselves and say what wellness meant to them.

There was Grace Matthews, a solicitor at JMW and health and wellbeing director for the Manchester Young Solicitors Group, who has essentially turned her own love of fitness into part of her job. She talked about hosting Barry’s Bootcamp sessions and padel mornings where young lawyers and other professionals swap suits for shorts.

“The buzz in the rooms that we’ve seen has been just like a Thursday night pre‑lockdown in a bar,” she said, “because everyone’s got a shared experience to talk about. Everyone’s endorphins are flowing.”

For Heather Walsh, senior executive assistant at Palatine Private Equity, the change has been both cultural and deliberate. Palatine, she said, remains a high‑performance firm in a high‑pressure sector – but its internal temperature has cooled.

“Pre‑Covid it was all pub quizzes and drinks,” she admitted. “Post‑Covid we started asking our people what they actually wanted. The staff engagement surveys were clear – they wanted walks.”

Palatine started small, with informal lunchtime and after‑work walks. It has since evolved into a twice‑yearly staff walking programme and an annual adviser walk:

“We’ll map a route somewhere nice, invite our advisers and contacts, and just go and walk together. We’re still networking, we’re still doing business, but we’re also prioritising wellness. The conversation is very different at the top of a hill than at the end of a bar.”

That idea of shared effort before shared drinks ran through many of the contributions.

Those events, she added, are “just as effective, if not more,” for networking than a big bar tab.

Louise Emmott, who runs a residential consultancy Kingdene, and chairs Women in Property in the North West, has watched that shift play out in real time. Property, as she put it, “is obviously renowned for drinking.” Yet the next‑gen committee she helps run has effectively turned its back on that model.

“I don’t think we’ve actually ever put on an event that involves drinking,” she said. “It’s all Pilates, site tours, paddle. We held our International Women’s Day event on the courts – 70 women, most of whom had never picked up a racket, including me. The buzz was phenomenal.”

There was a recurring phrase that cropped up, from very different people in very different sectors: shared experience. Whether it was a brutal bootcamp, a 10k through MediaCity, a cold‑water plunge or a walk along the canal, the common theme was that people are finding one another – and doing business – in settings that don’t require them to shout over a DJ or pretend they’re having fun at midnight in a chain bar.

At the more structured end of the wellness market, padel loomed large. James Wigglesworth, co‑founder of Club de Padel and formerly of Deloitte, Rothschild and Inflexion, was disarmingly honest about how he came to it.

He didn’t have an epiphany on a sun‑drenched court in Barcelona. He went to check out a rival facility on a freezing Tuesday in February.

“The ground was frozen over, and the courts were fully booked,” he recalled. “On the court next door there were four octogenarians playing. All courts full, different abilities, different ages. At that point the penny dropped.”

For him, the opportunity isn’t just the growth curve of a fashionable sport. It’s about who feels welcome.

“Accessibility isn’t just price,” he argued. “It’s: ‘Is this sport for me?’ ‘Do I know anyone?’ ‘Do I understand the rules?’ Our job is to remove those points of friction and get people down.”

David Thomas, who walked away from a career at PwC and Grant Thornton to play padel “all day” and open Manchester Padel Club, was more philosophical. He talked less about court utilisation and more about community – the kind you see in so‑called Blue Zones, where people live longer because they are embedded in close‑knit groups that look out for one another.

“I don’t think padel is the reason why wellness is an opportunity,” he said. “People crave connection and community.”

In some ways, that was the most important line of the morning. Because once you hear it, you can see the same urge everywhere.

You can see it in Guy Littlejohn, founder of Function, a health‑centred business networking group born out of his frustration with “beer and pizza” events.

“There was no real purpose for why people were there,” he said. “The event organisers didn’t curate the group at all. You’d never know who was going to be in the room, and if you’d actually get to meet the people you needed to.”

Function builds the wellness in – a hit class, an ice and sauna session, a healthy three‑course meal – but the real product is curated connection. At their Dakota “Christmas do”, where he told guests that Function would pick up the food but said nothing about drinks, nobody ordered alcohol. That wasn’t a manifesto; it was a glimpse of positive peer pressure at work.

You can see it in Steve Hughes of Five Wealth, on a mission to make every client meeting outdoors because, as he put it, “I’ve got a memory, I’ve got a brain, I can record stuff.” He described walking meetings as a kind of quiet rebellion against the old corporate intensity.

“When we do this with clients, you walk side by side,” he said. “You’re not staring at each other, it’s not intense, it’s not confrontational. You don’t need the alcohol to get over that intensity.”

For him, Freshwalks – a series I’ve been involved in since we first trudged over Bleaklow more than a decade ago – isn’t about deal‑hunting either. It’s “digital detox” and “mental therapy”. The business benefit arrived later, almost by accident, in the form of friendships, clients and travel companions forged over many miles and a lot of wet socks.

And you can see it in stories that have nothing to do with sport. Suzy Glaskie, a former PR boss who burned out and retrained as a health coach, cut through the upbeat tone of the room with a reminder of what many people are carrying: the cost‑of‑living crisis, school‑refusing children, depressed partners, parents with dementia.

“It does all sound very jolly in this room,” she said, “but the reality is, people are really struggling.”

Her answer, though, was still rooted in connection and meaning: getting people into flow through something absorbing.

When chef Aiden Byrne described moving from the “dog‑eat‑dog” kitchens of his early career to a four‑day week, five weeks’ collective holiday and team foraging trips, it was notable how quickly he pivoted from rota mechanics to how his staff feel.

“It gives them that real sense of confidence and belonging,” he said of taking them out to forage and visit farms. “We love seeing these youngsters develop as time goes on.”

For a hospitality business to build that into its model – when margins are thin and the old “20‑hour day” mentality still lurks – is not some fluffy indulgence. It’s a bet that happier, healthier people produce better food, better service and more resilient businesses.

By the time Paul drew things to a close, thanking everyone and inviting them to join the monthly MediaCity run‑throughs, it felt obvious that we hadn’t really been talking about “wellness” as a lifestyle accessory at all.

We’d been talking about how business gets done now: On hills, on courts, on towpaths and in cryo chambers; in bookshops and community kitchens; in workplaces where “high performance” is measured as much by trust, compassion and fun as it is by billings or IRR.

I’ve moderated plenty of sessions where capital was the headline act. This one, ostensibly about wellness, was a reminder that without the right conditions for people to thrive, all the capital in the world won’t get you very far.

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The 2026 Rainmaker Awards

The North West, Yorkshire and West Midlands Rainmaker Awards are upon us, once again bringing together the region’s deals community to celebrate the standout deals, teams, and individuals of the past 12 months.

Voted for by the corporate finance community itself, the awards are decided on a one-firm, one-vote basis – making the Rainmaker a genuine peer-led recognition.

The Rainmaker Awards ditch black-tie formality and speeches in favour of a relaxed evening focused on what the deals and the people who made them happen.

The evening is also a great way to connect with leading firms and individuals shaping the regional deal landscape.

There is a new individual category this year, as we will recognise Lifetime Achievement of one of our Rainmakers for the first time.

The 2026 Yorkshire awards are on June the 11th at New Dock Hall in Leeds, the North West awards will take place on the 25th of June 2026 at the Kimpton Hotel in Manchester city centre, and the West Midlands at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham on the 2nd of July.

Last year sold out, so book early to secure your table.

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::

Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.

We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.

The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.

We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.

If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.

Rainmakers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

It’s been the shortlisting week for the Rainmaker awards in two of our regions this week.

Both went very, very well. We had a couple of subsequent claims for inclusion for advisers on shortlisted deals, which is an important part of the process.

And we will be asking each of the shortlisted to back their winning pitch with some information about their deal achievements over the year.

We also had a plea for a deal to be moved from the small to the medium category. The reason this happens is because no-one says what the deal value is any more, so we have to make an educated guess.

Maybe we should put them all in the small deal category and see what happens.

Here are a few eye-catching deals from our team of regional reporters and editors.

This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.

Subscribe now

An acquisitive PE-backed Hull-based occupational health group has demonstrated its continued hunger for expansion with its fifth takeover since July 2024. Latus Group, which is backed by NorthEdge, has acquired Cirrus Environmental Solutions, a North East-based occupational hygiene specialist. Latus says the deal not only strengthens its national footprint but is intended to establish it as one of the UK’s leading occupational hygiene providers.

Cirrus has technical expertise within key occupational hygiene services, including air quality and exposure monitoring, occupational noise surveys, Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) Testing and Whole Body and Hand Arm Vibration monitoring. The acquisition means Cirrus’s office in the North East will become Latus’s Northern Hub. From here it will provide Occupational Hygiene and extended Occupational Health services in the northern regions and Scotland, giving the group broader national coverage.

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More than 130 jobs have been saved after Formula One Autocentres snapped up 35 sites from ATS Euromaster, accelerating its nationwide expansion.

The deal takes the business to 170 locations, with systems switching over the Bank Holiday before a fresh coat of paint and rebrand rolls out across the new sites.

The expansion stretches across the UK and keeps the business firmly on track for its 250-site ambition, with around 1,100 staff now helping keep motorists moving through services including tyres, MOTs, servicing and diagnostics.

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Dublin-headquartered digital transformation consultancy Version 1 is set to acquire Edinburgh-based technology services firm CreateFuture.

While there was no price attached, the deal creates a combined organisation of 4,250 employees with annual revenues of more than €500m.

Founded in 2010, CreateFuture has 550 staff working with clients in sectors such as financial services, utilities and gaming.

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Specialist lender Praetura has secured a £150m back-to-back asset-based lending (ABL) facility with NatWest.

The facility gives a huge boost to Praetura’s funding capacity where its Sales Finance division backs businesses with invoice discounting, asset based lending and cash flow loans.

NatWest first backed Praetura when it launched as Praetura Commercial Finance in 2016.

Its grown a lot since then and the 150-strong team now has offices across the North West, with additional presence in London, the Midlands, the South and the North East.

The business is now completely seperate from the venture capital investor after Praetura Ventures merged with Par Equity in Scotland to form PXN.

Peadar O’Reilly, Chief Executive at Praetura, said: “Closing this facility with a renowned and respected institution reflects the quality of the whole Praetura business, and empowers us to offer more extensive funding support to UK SMEs as they continue to navigate both the challenges and opportunities created by the current economic outlook.

“The entire organisation remains committed to a common goal of supporting the sustainable growth of these businesses and we are grateful for NatWest’s backing to help us do exactly that.”

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The 2026 Rainmaker Awards

The North West, Yorkshire and West Midlands Rainmaker Awards are upon us, once again bringing together the region’s deals community to celebrate the standout deals, teams, and individuals of the past 12 months.

Voted for by the corporate finance community itself, the awards are decided on a one-firm, one-vote basis – making the Rainmaker a genuine peer-led recognition.

Voting forms start landing next week, after the shortlists have been agreed by a judging day involving all the region’s leading firms.

The Rainmaker Awards ditch black-tie formality and speeches in favour of a relaxed evening focused on what the deals and the people who made them happen.

The evening is also a great way to connect with leading firms and individuals shaping the regional deal landscape.

There is a new individual category this year, as we will recognise Lifetime Achievement of one of our Rainmakers for the first time.

The 2026 Yorkshire awards are on June the 11th at New Dock Hall in Leeds, the North West awards will take place on the 25th of June 2026 at the Kimpton Hotel in Manchester city centre, and the West Midlands at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham on the 2nd of July.

Last year sold out, so book early to secure your table.

::

::

Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.

We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.

The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.

We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.

If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.

Rainmakers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

OK, so most succession battles aren’t as high stakes, rancourous and dramatic as the fictional Roy family saga as depicted in Succession, but Peter Walker, our Scotland editor has a few warnings.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including insights on key issues around doing deals, like this one. We also offer insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

The UK’s 13.5 million baby boomers are currently driving an unprecedented transfer of wealth, but with so much of it tied up in the businesses they built, succession planning is becoming one of the most important issues for owners, staff, accountants and lawyers.

UBS’ recent Global Entrepreneur’s Report revealed that nearly a third (32%) of entrepreneurs are considering exiting their businesses within the next five years - rising to 57% among those aged 65 and over - with just under a quarter (23%) considering passing things on to the next generation.

Debjani Raffan, head of Scotland at UBS Global Wealth Management, explained that in the 20 years she’s been with the firm, this is the conversation that crops up the most with clients.

“People want to do right by their families and their employees, but talking about this is talking about death, so it can be difficult to get people to open up and engage,” said Raffan. “We see a lot of it, where the kids have a different career, but come back again and take over - the thing is, you must have a proper plan in place - wills, proper documentation, preferably a charter that stipulates what happens when someone passes away.

“There’s a huge level of responsibility on the likes of UBS to educate clients and their children,” she continued, explaining that real-world examples of the mess that unexpected death can create often help, while the wealth manager also tries to work with accountants and lawyers to build a “mini boardroom” around clients, setting up trusts or investment companies and understanding the tax perspectives.

“It’s interesting to see how different families work: some write detailed family charters, while others might have factions which don’t communicate,” added Raffan. “Often people find that nobody is there to take on the business - this happens quite a lot of the time - and it can be very bitter sweet.”

Ralph Riddiough, a director and head of corporate at Holmes Mackillop Solicitors, agreed that younger generations increasingly have no desire to follow in their parents’ footsteps and take on the family business.

“With no obvious successor, baby boomers often consider themselves too busy running their business and don’t give the issue much thought until they want to retire,” he said. “A prime example of this can be seen in the pharmacy industry in Scotland - 30 years ago, a large proportion of Scottish pharmacies were founded and run by baby boomers, but many of these are now being bought by private equity and larger conglomerates looking for companies where retirement looms - the outcome is a real consolidation of the market.”

Riddiough said his firm regularly deals with retirement exits from pharmacies, dentists, opticians, manufacturing and engineering firms, helping to ensure smooth handovers to buyers.

“Sellers and long-serving staff members know the business inside out, but this wealth of knowledge has to be documented,” he explained. “A crucial part of a successful transition is the creation of a contract that legally protects the seller - in the haste to get a business off your hands, it’s easy to be railroaded and omit terms which protect any warranty and indemnity claims after the sale.”

Seemingly every deal announcement touts the synergies in corporate culture and values, but when a long-term owner is passing the baton, this kind of legacy planning and concern for staff often genuinely trumps price.

“Employee share incentive plans, where employees gradually become the owners are becoming increasingly popular, partly because the seller knows the staff,” noted Riddiough. “There are also tax benefits involved.”

Rupert Murdoch’s recent failed attempt to give his eldest son control of his media empire brought into focus question of succession. The court case saw the 93 year-old media mogul reportedly blocked in his bid to change his family trust, which gave his four eldest children equal voting power after his death. A court commissioner ruled that Rupert and his son Lachlan had acted in ‘bad faith’ and called their efforts a ‘carefully crafted charade’ designed to ‘permanently cement’ Lachlan’s control.

The case reportedly began when the Murdoch children watched an episode of drama series Succession, which sees the patriarch - played by Scottish actor Brian Cox - leave the family and business in chaos after his death.

Read more

Ian Symes arrived at One Point earlier this year with a long track record of running people‑heavy, partnership‑driven businesses through periods of disruption.

The former CEO of ManPower and group managing director at K3 Advisory Group, he has seen first-hand how traditional partnership models in professional services have creaked under the strain of spiralling living costs, rising technology investment and shifting attitudes to risk among younger professionals.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from fellow Rainmakers like this one, insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

Subscribe now

Ian Symes doesn’t say it, but his investment model for professional firms is a ‘third way’.

Not a total sale, but a mode he says breaks with the status quo that is holding many firms back. Behind it all, is that a new generation just aren’t that interested in signing up for a partnership, taking out a loan they might not be able to afford to pay back, in order to pay for a healthy retirement of the generation that went before them. It’s meant an opportunity has opened up for private equity investors to come in and dominate the profession, and invest in the technology and systems required to stay competitive, it also blows wide open the share in the rewards.

At One Point, supported by private equity investment firms Cow Corner and Summit Partners, he helps grow accountants and IFAs who want to preserve their independence as leading firms in their markets and to date has completed 15 acquisitions, taking its client assets to over £2 billion through partner firms such as Galloways, Mitchell Charlesworth, Pierce and Pembroke.

He’s putting that experience to work in a deliberately differentiated model of consolidation. Where many private equity-backed groups hoover up 65–100% of a firm and subsume it into a central brand, One Point buys a majority stake but leaves a meaningful equity slice with existing partners. Crucially, that equity stays at the level of the operating firm – Mitchell Charlesworth, Acumen, Pembroke, or others – not in some distant holding company.

In April, One Point invested in West Lancashire independent financial adviser (IFA), Acumen Financial, which gives the Burscough-based company, founded two decades ago, strategic investment but retains its partnership-led structure.

Every year, each firm is valued individually and an internal market allows partners to buy and sell shares among themselves. One Point will step in as a buyer of last resort if there’s more stock than demand. That, Symes argues, preserves the traditional partner ethos – local autonomy, local accountability, and a direct line of sight between effort and reward – while still unlocking capital for acquisitions and succession.

“They don’t get a share in OnePoint – they continue to have a share in Mitchell Charlesworth, or in Acumen, or in Pembroke. So they’re responsible for their own success, and they benefit from that,” he explains.

Alongside capital, Symes says One Point offers something many mid‑market firms lack: experienced mentorship and genuine peer support at senior level. He says what many practice leaders really need is “a friend” – someone outside the firm to talk to when the pressures of technology, regulation, recruitment and succession all collide.

That pressure is particularly acute in accountancy. With over 40,000 practices in the UK, it is one of the most fragmented professional markets – and therefore one of the ripest for consolidation. The old model, in which an ambitious thirty‑something borrows hundreds of thousands of pounds to buy out a retiring partner, has broken down. For a generation already stretched by housing costs and personal debt, layering on “an additional half‑million pound” loan is simply unappealing.

“If you go and ask a salaried partner in their 30s, ‘Would you like to borrow three‑quarters of a million pounds to buy out Bob’s equity?’ the answer is no. There’s a real resistance now – they just don’t want that additional debt.”

Read more

We’ve got news of more US buyers this week on top of the shock news that Clearwater UK had agreed a sale with KeyBank, and more professional services consolidation.

This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.

Subscribe now

Leicester-based Impact HR Consulting has made a staff acquisition of Cardiff firm EffectiveHRM as it looks to recruit a bigger UK footprint.

The deal gives Impact a new base in Wales, adding to its offices in Leicester, Leeds and Essex as it continues building a national HR advisory business for SMEs.

EffectiveHRM, founded in 2011 by employment lawyer Emma del Torto, supports more than 150 businesses and will continue trading under its current name.

Del Torto will join Impact’s leadership team, while all 12 employees will transfer across - making it a takeover where everyone kept their seat at the desk.

Chief executive Greg Guilford said the move strengthens the firm’s ability to deliver HR and health and safety services nationwide and supports further growth through acquisitions and organic expansion.

Del Torto said joining Impact would help accelerate growth while maintaining the practical, high-quality advice clients expect.

So while some deals cut jobs, this one simply added to the headcount.

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With the headlines depressingly full of stories about AI being used to steal people’s jobs, it is refreshing to hear about backing for a Yorkshire AI consultancy doing something more constructive. York-based Zest Consult originated in a vision to use AI to transform safety and security across public services. It has now secured £100,000 from NPIF II - BEF Smaller Loans, which is managed by Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.

Zest Consult has been working with partners including Transport for London and Cardiff City Council, focusing on using AI to detect antisocial and violent behaviour - particularly to protect vulnerable people. One of the firm’s current projects aims to use AI on buses to identify violent or threatening behaviour against women and girls. Company founder, Geoff Hoyle, says the NPIF II support means he can focus on accelerating product development, paying engineers, acquiring equipment and securing office space at York Science Park.

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Texas-based Shrieve Chemical Company has acquired Aberdeen’s FIS Chemicals.

Founded in 1980, FIS formulates, manufactures and distributes chemical solutions for sectors such as oil and gas, renewables, marine, hospitality and logistics.

The deal also provides an exit for Foresight Group and Maven Capital Partners, achieving a 4.2 times return on invested capital.

https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/scotland/news/3535-aberdeen-chemicals-firm-bought-by-us-group

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Accountancy group DJH has balanced the books on another acquisition, snapping up Loucas as it continues its South East expansion.

The Stoke-on-Trent firm, backed by Tenzing, has followed last year’s McBrides purchase with its second regional deal - proving it’s serious about making the numbers add up down south.

Founded in 1974, Loucas grew from a one-desk practice into a multi-site business and will now join the DJH fold.

It marks DJH’s 20th acquisition since 2020 and takes the total headcount across the UK and Ireland to more than 800 staff.

Chief executive Scott Heath said the move delivers the broad South East presence the group has been working towards.

Local leadership stays in place, with Athos Louca continuing as managing director - so it’s less audit shake-up, more smooth transition.

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Finally, another deal that seems to be unravelling is the supposed rescue of ailing fashion retail business In The Style fashion, where the buyer has now missed four months worth of payments.

Research by TheBusinessDesk.com has also revealed that the buyer, Alps Sourcing Ltd, is overdue in filing its accounts for the year to the end of June 2025.

The progress report by administrators FTS shows that Alps Sourcing agreed to buy In The Style Fashion for £220,000, based on £75,000 on completion, then £70,000 in 7 equal monthly payments of £10,000, and £75,000 to be in the form of credit against a fixed charge debt.

However, the purchaser has not paid the deferred consideration and there are now currently 4 months worth of payments outstanding.

Administrator Marco Piacquadio, from insolvency practitioner FTS, says in the report: “We will instruct legal firm JMW Solicitors to seek recovery of the sums due from the guarantor in the absence of payment from the purchasing entity.”

In March 2025 we reported that the fashion retailer, which markets heavily through influencers, had been sold in a pre-pack deal. Investor Baaj Capital rolled its investment into a new entity, after the Salford headquartered business briefly entered administration.

The acquiring company called “Alps Sourcing Limited” is controlled by Ajay Sidana and supplies fashion clothing to online and high street retailers and wholesalers.

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The 2026 Rainmaker Awards

The North West, Yorkshire and West Midlands Rainmaker Awards are upon us, once again bringing together the region’s deals community to celebrate the standout deals, teams, and individuals of the past 12 months.

Voted for by the corporate finance community itself, the awards are decided on a one-firm, one-vote basis – making the Rainmaker a genuine peer-led recognition.

The Rainmaker Awards ditch black-tie formality and speeches in favour of a relaxed evening focused on what the deals and the people who made them happen.

The evening is also a great way to connect with leading firms and individuals shaping the regional deal landscape.

There is a new individual category this year, as we will recognise Lifetime Achievement of one of our Rainmakers for the first time.

The 2026 Yorkshire awards are on June the 11th at New Dock Hall in Leeds, the North West awards will take place on the 25th of June 2026 at the Kimpton Hotel in Manchester city centre, and the West Midlands at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham on the 2nd of July.

Last year sold out, so book early to secure your table.

::

::

Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.

We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.

The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.

We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.

If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.

Rainmakers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

There’s no doubting what the biggest story has been in your world this week, the sale of Clearwater UK to US investment bank Key.

Here’s the reaction from two of the principals in the business, Mark Taylor and Michael Loudon, who we spoke to exclusively as the ink was drying on the game-changing deal.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from fellow Rainmakers like this one, insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

As you’d expect, the sale of Clearwater’s UK partnership to the American investment bank Key is a textbook example of how a sale process for a business at the top of its game works.

On the face of it all the building blocks are in place, the founders ready to crystallise, so are willing sellers; there’s a ten year trusted relationship that has grown closer; an active next generation management team; a strong brand; a good operating structure; and a strong arrangement of partnerships with European boutique practices.

As CEO Mark Taylor describes it, Clearwater is “a relationship business in a transactional world”, and observes first of all, that the deal feels more like an investment than an acquisition.

Clearwater has spent 23 years building to this moment. What started as a regional mid‑market adviser in Manchester, Nottingham and Birmingham, it has evolved into a multi‑office, sector‑driven firm with London clout and a debt advisory arm that smooths revenue volatility. Along the way, the leadership has made a series of timed bets – sector specialisation in 2008–09, building debt advisory, and then a deliberate push into international – that have largely paid off.

It’s also been enjoying a recent purple patch. Sweeping the board at the regional rainmaker Awards on the back of revenue of around £50m in its 2024-25 financial year, and its advice on 74 transactions with a combined value of over £6bn, comprising 41 M&A deals and 33 within its debt advisory practice.

Key’s acquisition of the UK partnership is best understood as the culmination of the last of those bets: a decade‑long courtship with the US bank that began not with a sell‑side teaser, but with relationship-building and a clear strategic gap on both sides.

A decade in the making

Taylor insists that the critical fact about this deal is that it is not a sudden pivot to America, but the extension of a 10‑year relationship with KeyBank. Founder‑chairman Michael Reeves (“Reevesy” internally) and his team spent years in the US searching for a partner with the right cultural and strategic fit. That process ultimately led to what he calls “an exclusive transatlantic collaboration” that formalised in 2020, with Clearwater and Key working together on mandates, sharing sector teams and cross‑fertilising deal flow.

Michael Loudon (currently on his last victory lap as Rainmaker of the Year for 2025), puts it like this - this was never about bolting a UK asset onto a US platform overnight. He says the two sides already understood how each other worked, what sort of clients they served and, crucially, how decisions got made. He says Key has been looking for a European foothold to help grow its corporate finance revenues from the high hundreds of millions to the billion‑dollar mark, Clearwater was the obvious platform.

“They’ve got a very similar people‑based, relationship‑based, values‑based culture, and that’s why it works so well with us, because…the culture is almost our secret sauce at Clearwater,” Loudon says.

From Clearwater’s side, the choice was whether to carry on with a highly productive collaboration or crystallise that into deeper capital backing – without losing control of the model that made the firm attractive in the first place.

Investment, not takeover

Taylor is explicit that, while this was reported to the opening of the New York stock exchange yesterday (22 April) as an acquisition, the lived reality feels different. He stresses that the existing UK board and management structure remains intact, that Key will not be taking board seats, and that growth strategy – organic and inorganic – will continue to be devised and driven from the UK.

Further, he says there are no partner exits baked into this deal. Instead, partners receive bespoke packages reflecting past performance and future contribution, and all are committed to staying. That is not the language or structure of a “sell and sail off” transaction; it looks more like private‑equity‑style backing for management, just delivered by a listed US regional bank.

“They are a regional bank at their heart, at their core…they were formed in Albany, their head office is in Cleveland, they understand the value of regional coverage,” he says.

However, in time, the business will rebrand as Key.

From the other side of the Atlantic, this is a bank with a market cap north of $20bn and roots in Albany and Cleveland rather than Wall Street, it has an explicit ambition to scale its investment banking and corporate finance arm. Clearwater gives it a proven, profitable, regionally rooted UK platform that already knows how to serve entrepreneurs and mid‑market corporates – a segment where US buyers are increasingly dominant on the buy‑side.

Culture as the ‘secret sauce’

Both Taylor and Loudon come back repeatedly to culture. Clearwater’s self‑image is of a “relationship business in a transactional world” – a firm that has deliberately built a matrix of regional coverage and sector depth, and then guarded it. They are acutely aware that a mis‑step on ownership could corrode that balance.

That is why the decade‑long prelude matters. By the time the acquisition talks got serious, both sides had already tested each other’s tolerance for autonomy and approach to clients. Loudon talks about culture as Clearwater’s “secret sauce”, and the leadership has been clear that any deal had to protect that as much as the P&L.

Key, for its part, is not dropping a Wall Street operating manual on the table. It is effectively backing the existing Clearwater model: regional boots on the ground, strong mid‑market relationships, and sector teams that can talk credibly to strategic and financial buyers, particularly in North America.

Brand, rebrand – but not yet

One of the more telling aspects of the structure is the approach to branding. There will be no overnight Key logo slapped across the UK offices. The Clearwater name will go, but not immediately, which is a shame, because it’s quite a cool brand with real equity in the British mid‑market.

Taylor insists the rebrand will be positioned as a gradual evolution rather than a big‑bang event.

Doubling down on the regions

For anyone tempted to see this as a US bank buying a City foothold – Taylor and Loudon are keen to stress the opposite. Key’s own heritage is regional, and Clearwater’s model is built on strong local offices in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and beyond, with London providing sector firepower rather than dictating strategy.

There are no office closures as a result of the transaction. On the contrary, Taylor insists that Clearwater is actively looking for a new office in Leeds and larger space in Manchester, where supply is currently tight. The deal is being used as a platform to invest further in regional presence and sector teams, not to rationalise them away.

In a market where several UK mid‑market boutiques have ended up absorbed into global platforms with inevitable centralisation, this won’t go that way, they say.

Reevesy’s long game

Behind all of this sits Michael Reeves, the co-founder with Phil Burns, and current chairman, who has quietly spent years fending off approaches, or if you are being slightly unkind, unsuccessfully identifying a buyer. Clearwater has been an obvious target for international banks and larger independents for some time – profitable, differentiated and with a clear brand in the UK mid‑market.

What marks this deal out is not just that Reeves finally said yes, but when and to whom. The acceptance comes after Key has been tested over ten years of collaboration, and at a point where the firm has a clear next‑generation leadership team in place: Taylor as CEO, Loudon and others stepping into expanded roles, and a board structure that can absorb growth without importing external decision‑makers.

In other words, this is not a founder cashing out at the top of the cycle. It looks more like Reeves completing the final piece of a longer‑term succession plan: securing capital, international access and a long‑term partner, while locking in the people who will run the business for the next decade.

The issues to look out for are what has happened to Houlihan Lokey, which started out as a strong regional advisor to listed businesses and is now the highly successful Manchester office of a global investment bank doing tech deals, moving away from its roots.

Their competitors who spoke to Rainmakers are pleased for Reeves, who commands universal respect around the sector.

But many express the view too that they’ll move up the food chain and seek bigger fees from mega deals, and straying from their regional roots.

Others say that it’s a neat solution for all concerned, but wonder about the longer term incentives for the next generation within the business.

Either way, with the Big Four seemingly vacating the space, other American firms like A&M and Houlihan Lokey flexing their muscle, and turnaround firms like Interpath and FRP upping their advisory game, the plates are definitely shifting.

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The 2026 Rainmaker Awards

The North West, Yorkshire and West Midlands Rainmaker Awards are upon us, once again bringing together the region’s deals community to celebrate the standout deals, teams, and individuals of the past 12 months.

Voted for by the corporate finance community itself, the awards are decided on a one-firm, one-vote basis – making the Rainmaker a genuine peer-led recognition.

The Rainmaker Awards ditch black-tie formality and speeches in favour of a relaxed evening focused on what the deals and the people who made them happen.

The evening is also a great way to connect with leading firms and individuals shaping the regional deal landscape.

There is a new individual category this year, as we will recognise Lifetime Achievement of one of our Rainmakers for the first time.

The 2026 Yorkshire awards are on June the 11th at New Dock Hall in Leeds, the North West awards will take place on the 25th of June 2026 at the Kimpton Hotel in Manchester city centre, and the West Midlands at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham on the 2nd of July.

Last year sold out, so book early to secure your table.

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Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.

We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.

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We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.

If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.

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The global economy may be navigating stormy waters right now but one sector that continues to sail along nicely is the UK boatbuilding industry.

The mega rich, it seems, just can’t get enough of British-built superyachts – and that’s great news for PE firms looking for opportunities in a fragmented market, says our South West editor Robert Buckland.

This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.

Can anything be better than soaking up some sun on the deck of a luxury yacht? It seems investing in one of the UK firms that makes them would be a good start.

The British boatbuilding industry generates around £2.9bn in annual revenue and employs something like 30,000 highly skilled people.

That makes the UK a major player in the global market and, with key international operators such as Sunseeker, Princess Yachts and Fairline, we rank in the top three in Europe.

The growth enjoyed by these superyacht producers has attracted international investors, while the fact that many firms in the sector are still family-owned or small players also offer opportunities for efficiencies and consolidation.

Key recent deals include 2024’s £160m acquisition of Poole-based Sunseeker to Miami-based Lionheart Capital and Orienta Capital Partners of Italy.

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Just a quck reminder before we whisk you off around the country with the deals news that our team have been writing about this week.

The Rainmaker Awards are coming up soon in Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham.

The events ditch black-tie formality and speeches in favour of a relaxed evening focused on what the deals were and the people who made them happen.

The evening is also a great way to connect with leading firms and individuals shaping the regional deal landscape.

There is a new individual category this year, as we will recognise Lifetime Achievement of one of our Rainmakers for the first time.

So think on…

This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.

Sports Tours International has seriously improved its swing in recent years, and on top of fast growth, has made its second big acquisition in the golf holiday market in a bid for an above par performance.

The business owned by the family of Betfred chairman Fred Done has acquired Golfbreaks, a leading specialist travel operator.

The Golfbreaks brand will continue to operate from its existing headquarters in Windsor and its four founders – Andrew Stanley, Steve Hemsworth, Guy Proddow and Daniel Grave – will remain with the business.

The big change at Sports Tours appears to be the arrival in 2023 of chief executive, Tim Przybysz, who said: “The acquisition of Golfbreaks represents a landmark moment for Sports Tours International as we seek to transform the sports travel industry.”

Headquartered alongside the gambling company’s HQ near Warrington, Sports Tours International was founded in 1973 by pioneering Irish runner Vincent Regan.

In its last published accounts to the end of March 2025 Sports Tours made pre tax profits of £3.3m on turnover of £33.4m, a quadrupling of its turnover since 2021. The business is projected to deliver more than £200m of sales in the next financial year.

Its main focus is on organising cycling and running trips, but this acquisition further increases its presence in the golf holidays market following the acquisition in early 2025 of Golf Holidays Direct, which earned revenues of £19.9m.

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Nottingham-based Phenna Group is continuing to build momentum after landing another stateside acquisition.

The testing and compliance specialist acquired MLA Geotechnical in Austin, Texas - a business with deep roots in soil testing, engineering and inspection services.

It marks Phenna’s ninth deal of 2026, suggesting its M&A team barely has time to let the concrete set.

Founded in 1964, MLA works with developers, homebuilders, schools and public sector bodies across Central Texas, offering everything from materials testing to forensic investigations.

Phenna said the acquisition gives it firmer ground in the fast-growing US construction market and expands its reach into the South West.

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Global engineering group VINCI Energies has acquired Irvine-based telecoms infrastructure services firm Novo Technologies.

Established in 2016, Novo provides end-to-end telecoms infrastructure solutions for both carriers and enterprise clients, delivering mobile network projects across the UK. The deal brings 71 staff across to VINCI.

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Property group Lomond has acquired lettings and estate agency business Clyde Property – including Burgh Property and Cathedral Estates.

Clyde Property will now oversee work in the west of Scotland, while DJ Alexander will operate the remainder of the group’s property portfolio.

Clyde was co-founded in 1987 by Gary Thomson and Bill Cullen, who grew it from an office in Bearsden. Thomson who will continue to lead the business, post transaction.

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Birmingham-headquartered Robinson’s Catering is prepping for its next course with a juicy HSBC-funded management buyout.

The MBO provides an exit from the business for former chef and founder Dan Robinson, who now runs private jet catering company Niche & Bespoke.

Robinson’s provides meals to the nursery sector as well as catering for exhibitions, local businesses, and universities. The tasty transaction sees couple Dave and Clare Cowin take the business forward, having been key ingredients in the Robinson’s recipe since 2011.

Cattaneo Corporate Finance advised Robinson’s on structuring the transaction, and negotiating what HSBC described as a “robust funding package”.

Dave Cowin, who has over 25 years’ experience in the sector, said: “Robinson’s is a well-respected name in the Midlands and we aim to continue doing what Robinson’s does best, serving customers well while increasing the offering to achieve our growth potential.”

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A future as a private company lies ahead of York-headquartered Animalcare Group, which is currently an AIM-listed veterinary pharmaceutical and services business with a direct commercial presence in seven European countries. It has agreed the terms of a £235m takeover by private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners. Charterhouse says it believes this company will be able to better pursue long-term growth and accelerated R&D outside of public markets.

Earlier this year, Animalcare reported strong trading, with revenues for the 2025 financial year estimated to be £89.1m. Animalcare’s board has acknowledged that while it remains confident in its long-term strategy, delivering its targets as a standalone business would require sustained investment and involve risks - particularly against the backdrop of an increasingly volatile economic climate. Charterhouse has described Animalcare as an attractive business “with unique characteristics as a global animal health pharmaceuticals platform”.

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The 2026 Rainmaker Awards

The North West, Yorkshire and West Midlands Rainmaker Awards are upon us, once again bringing together the region’s deals community to celebrate the standout deals, teams, and individuals of the past 12 months.

Voted for by the corporate finance community itself, the awards are decided on a one-firm, one-vote basis – making the Rainmaker a genuine peer-led recognition.

The Rainmaker Awards ditch black-tie formality and speeches in favour of a relaxed evening focused on what the deals and the people who made them happen.

The evening is also a great way to connect with leading firms and individuals shaping the regional deal landscape.

There is a new individual category this year, as we will recognise Lifetime Achievement of one of our Rainmakers for the first time.

The 2026 Yorkshire awards are on June the 11th at New Dock Hall in Leeds, the North West awards will take place on the 25th of June 2026 at the Kimpton Hotel in Manchester city centre, and the West Midlands at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham on the 2nd of July.

Last year sold out, so book early to secure your table.

::

::

Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.

We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.

The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.

We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.

If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.

Rainmakers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

Hello Rainmakers,

Standard Life’s £2bn acquisition of Aegon UK this week is the biggest example yet of intensifying consolidation in the pensions market, as tight margins and regulatory complexity push providers to either specialise or bulk up.

Peter Walker takes a deep dive into what this might mean for financial services sector.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week (usually), but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from fellow Rainmakers like this one, insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

Phoenix had been weighing up Aegon for several months, following a strategic restructuring announced in December.

The Amsterdam-listed insurance and asset management giant said it was moving its legal seat to the United States, adopting the name of its largest subsidiary, Transamerica, which generates approximately 70% of revenue. Chief executive Lard Friese described the US life insurance market as the “next frontier” for his group. Since his appointment in 2020, Friese has made several strategic changes, including selling Aegon’s Dutch arm to ASR for €4.9bn.

In January, rumours around the UK arm were confirmed, as Aegon said it was considering options for a sale, set to be completed by the middle of this year. Aegon Asset Management’s UK operations were not part of the planned divestment.

Rivals like Lloyd’s Scottish Widows, Barclays, Royal London, Canada Life, alongside various private equity firms, were potentially in the market for a deal valued at around £1.5bn.

Aegon is the UK’s fourth biggest defined contribution (DC) pensions provider, with £63bn of bundled DC assets at the end of 2024 and more than 700,000 active DC savers across schemes with around 4,000 employers.

Standard Life’s accepted offer was confirmed on Wednesday, comprising £750m in cash - part-funded through debt - and the issuance of 181 million new shares to Aegon, which will own a 15.3% stake in FTSE 100-listed group and can appoint one non-executive director to the board.

Standard Life said the transaction, which is set to complete by the end of 2026, will move it to second place in Britain’s retail pensions and savings market and in the same position for workplace pensions, with Aegon UK’s 3.8 million customers and £160bn in assets under management.

It is looking to drive savings of £110m a year after the deal, with more than half delivered by the end of 2029 and the rest by the end of 2031, via cuts made across combined group and head office operations, and as their respective platforms integrate. Both Standard Life and Aegon UK are headquartered in Edinburgh.

A spokesperson for Standard Life told TheBusinessDesk that there is no fixed headcount target associated at this stage.

“Clearly there will be some overlap in terms of corporate and support functions but our priority as we integrate the businesses is to retain service and regulatory outcomes,” read the statement. “We recognise that change can raise questions, but for the foreseeable future it is very much business as usual for both organisations, with existing relationships, services and support continuing unchanged.”

Phoenix Group bought Standard Life’s insurance business from the then Standard Life Aberdeen in 2018 for £2.9bn. In 2021, Phoenix acquired the Standard Life brand, before officially renaming as Standard Life in March 2026. It also has brands including SunLife, Phoenix Life, ReAssure and Phoenix Wealth.

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Still fresh from the Rainmakers Summit, two overlapping panel discussions explored a shifting investment landscape - where UK capital remains active, international money is still engaged, but both are becoming significantly more selective about where they deploy.

The message still resonates two weeks later, as Ellie Hollinshead reports.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week (usually), but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from fellow Rainmakers like this one, insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

Investors are prioritising tangible signals of readiness, customers, referenceability, pipeline visibility and operational discipline, rather than narrative-led growth stories.

That was the overwhelming message from debates that raged around the Rainmakers Summit.

The first panel that touched on these issue featured Sarah Adams (UK Private Capital), Paddy Dowdall (Greater Manchester Pension Fund), Dean Heaney (Mercia) and Veronica Humble (NatWest).

The second brought together Andrew Avanessian (Halo), Hayley Roberts (Distology), Giles Chesher (Squire Patton Boggs) and Brian Muldoon (Build and Bridge Advisory Services).

Both sessions concluded that capital is available - but it is no longer being deployed on potential alone.

From the international capital perspective, the second panel highlighted that the UK continues to benefit from familiarity and perceived stability.

As discussed by all the speakers, there is “a familiarity for international investors… whether that’s coming from the US or Europe,” with the UK seen as a “well-regulated business environment” and therefore a “lower risk place to invest”.

However, the panel made clear this is only the starting point. As Andrew Avanessian (Halo) and others emphasised, investors are now looking for “proof, validation, and the ability to scale”, alongside “leading and lagging indicators in that business plan to prove you can scale and prove how you go into scale”.

The message was that ambition alone is no longer sufficient. The panel warned that too many founders still approach international investment with what was described as a “superficial business case”, particularly when targeting markets such as North America.

The second panel shifted focus to UK regional capital, pensions, private equity and banking relationships, with a strong emphasis on the strength of domestic investment ecosystems.

A recurring theme was the depth and energy of regional talent pipelines, particularly across the North of England.

One speaker referenced software craftsmanship communities originally formed in London, now active globally in cities including Madrid, Barcelona, São Paulo, London, Bristol and Cambridge, with particularly strong engagement in Leeds and Manchester.

What stood out was the intensity of participation in those northern hubs. Communities in Leeds and Manchester were described as running “way more often than the other groups simply because the appetite was there for it”.

The international panel also highlighted the breadth of experience within these ecosystems, with contributors noting that these groups bring together “people all through the different stages of their career... senior engineers” who are “really wanting to bring everybody up with them as well”.

This mix of early talent and seasoned professionals is increasingly viewed as a structural advantage for regional investment markets, strengthening both capability and deal flow outside London.

Across both panels, there was agreement that capital remains available across pensions, banks, private equity and international investors. However, expectations have tightened significantly.

Investment decisions are now more disciplined, with increased focus on governance, resilience and scalable business models. The consensus was that capital is still flowing, but it is being deployed with far greater scrutiny than in previous cycles.

A consistent warning across the discussion was that deals often fail not because the underlying opportunity is weak, but because preparation is insufficient. One speaker highlighted a “lack of preparation in terms of due diligence”, particularly when businesses move into international markets where expectations and interpretations of risk can differ.

In these cases, what is acceptable domestically can quickly become a concern internationally, shifting due diligence from validation into problem identification and slowing or derailing transactions.

Geography also featured prominently. While London remains the default entry point for international capital, regional hubs are increasingly being recognised as credible bases for UK expansion.

It was noted that Manchester is now widely seen as “a good place to base your UK expansion”, with growing recognition that scaling into the UK “doesn’t have to be London”. However, speakers acknowledged that this shift is still evolving, particularly among overseas investors who continue to default to London-centric routes.

Despite these differences in geography, capital type and investment stage, both panels converged on a single conclusion: investors ultimately back people, but only once the business has been properly tested.

As Giles Chesher from Squire Patton Boggs said, many deals fail not on opportunity but on preparation, especially when international investors begin “digging more and more and more” during due diligence.

The good news is the UK remains attractive. The wake up call is that due diligance and scrutiny and proff of concept is tougher than ever.

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Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.

We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.

The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.

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If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.

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It’s been a quieter working week, as well as a shorter one, but a few decent deals got away.

We were also first with the news of where the former Zeus CEO Nick Cowles has ended up. The man with the best kept garden in the North started at Alvarez and Marsal this week.

This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.

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Carve out specialist Inspirit Capital has acquired Converge UK, an IT reseller, from its former Canadian parent.

The deal has been backed by an asset based lending (ABL) facility from Shawbrook.

Founded in 1991, Stafford-based Converge UK sells IT equipment and software and also handles the disposal of old equipment for its customers across education, public and private sectors. According to Inspirit, the business has “revenues in excess of £150m” and its annual accounts to the end of 2024 show it made pre-tax profits of £8.5m.

Converge UK’s Canadian parent group was itself bought by HIG Capital last year, and changed its name from Converge to Pellera Technologies.

In the year to the end of 2024 the UK business made pre-tax profits of £8.5m.

Introduced by EY Capital & Debt Advisory, Shawbrook’s package includes invoice discounting and a cashflow loan.

London-based Inspirit specialises in acquiring businesses that are no longer core to their parent company’s strategic objectives and require a different ownership structure to achieve their full potential. Ed Beazley, Investment Manager said the sustainability angle was a key differentiating factor.

“Converge UK is a high-quality business with a strong market position, differentiated through its sustainable, end-to-end lifecycle offering and deep customer relationships,” he said.

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Ground engineering specialist Van Elle is on firm foundations for a takeover, with Strabag UK lining up a £58.8m all-cash deal to dig deeper into the UK market.

The offer lands at a hefty premium for shareholders and is expected to be completed by the end of June, paving the way for the Nottinghamshire firm to delist from AIM and slot into a bigger construction powerhouse.

Strabag said the move will cement its UK growth plans, adding Van Elle’s geotechnical expertise across key sectors including energy, water and transport - while creating a more vertically integrated operation.

With backing already secured from major shareholders, the deal is piling up momentum as both firms look to build on complementary strengths and drive future growth.

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Nick Cowles started work this week at consultancy firm Alvarez and Marsal, alongside corporate financier Jonathan Boyers.

As reported on TheBusinessDesk.com last week the former Zeus Capital CEO has now joined A&M as Managing Director in the EMEA Corporate Finance division, where he will lead the Public Company Advisory Group.

In September TheBusinessDesk.com also broke the exclusive news that Cowles had resigned from Zeus Capital, the corporate finance advisory business he joined as a graduate 22 years ago, but at the time he was tight lipped about his likely destination.

And last week we were the first to reveal that it was A&M.

Cowles said on LinkedIn: “Following a refreshing few months out, during which I spent valuable time with family and friends, I’m fully recharged and energised for this exciting new chapter.”

He revealed that he has been impressed by the leadership of Jonathan Boyers, to build “a market-leading international corporate finance practice”.

“I see a clear gap in the market for an independent, high-quality, and experienced PLC advisory team-one that can deliver hands-on, expert guidance to public company boards, as well as to founders, management teams, and private equity sponsors navigating public market situations. Combined with A&M’s impressive global platform, access to international buyers and investors, and deep sector expertise, this creates a distinctive, best-in-class proposition.

“The team is ambitious, driven, entrepreneurial, and highly focused on building a global, market-leading business. I’m looking forward to getting to know more colleagues and exploring how we can collaborate to add meaningful value to clients.

“I’m particularly excited about building a Public Company Advisory team that can establish a leading position both in the UK and internationally,” Cowles said.

Welcoming Cowles to the team, and launching this new group within the business, Boyers said: “The launch of our Public Company Advisory Group marks an important step in the continued growth of our Corporate Finance business. We have built strong momentum advising founders, entrepreneurs and private equity sponsors in the mid-market, and this enhances our ability to support a wider range of clients, including listed companies and those preparing to access the public markets.

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Sedulo Group has expanded into Scotland with the acquisition of Kilmarnock-based accountancy practice, Smith & Wallace, and the launch of a Glasgow office.

Manchester-based business consultancy, Sedulo, has not divulged the acquisition price.

Its expansion adds to its existing offices in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, London and Dubai.

Following the acquisition, the group employs almost 250 advisors.

The business recently reported record annual revenues, approaching £25m, and has set out plans to double in size over the next four years.

Expanding into new regions is a core part of that growth strategy, with Scotland representing a significant next step.

Smith & Wallace is an accountancy practice based out of Kilmarnock with growing revenues in excess of £1m, led by Andrew McMorland and Martin Farrell, who will continue leading the business.

They will be joined by Logan Rowan, who leads Sedulo’s Deal Advisory team, having joined two years ago from KPMG.

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Upholstery designer Mobus Fabrics has completed a management buyout (MBO) which sees its senior leadership team take full ownership of the business.

The deal hands control to managing director Lee Paxman, sales director Sam Thornber and finance director Elliot Moody, positioning the company for its next phase of growth while ensuring continuity across its operations and customer base.

The trio, who bring decades of combined experience within the business, said the transition marks a significant milestone for the company as it looks to build on its established market position.

Paxman said: “This is an exciting new chapter for Mobus Fabrics. The management buyout not only secures the company’s future but also reinforces our commitment to our employees, customers and partners. We are immensely proud of our heritage, and this transition allows us to continue building a strong, forward-looking business.”

Founded in 1994 by Michael Presley and Grant McConnell, Mobus Fabrics has developed into a well-established supplier to the furniture and upholstery sector, providing both bespoke and stock-supported fabric collections to wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers in the UK and overseas.

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Bristol-based Narwhal Labs has raised £20m from UK investors to launch a platform it says will replace “fragmented, human-led response models” with always-on, autonomous AI.

The DeepBlue OS pioneering autonomous communications platform manages the full lifecycle of communications across voice, SMS, email and WhatsApp through a unified intelligence layer.

Operating autonomously 24 hours a day, it handles inquiries, qualifying contacts, booking appointments, chasing documents, routing requests and executing follow-up workflows without human intervention.

The funding round included backing from Jonathan Swann, former director of CFC Underwriting.

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Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.

We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.

The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.

We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.

If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.

Rainmakers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

After more than 300 deals under his belt, leading Rainmaker Jonathan Jones is leaving the firm where he has spent almost three decades.

While his next chapter as an investor is “a step into the unknown,” he tells Sheryl Moore how he’s aiming to capitalise on the consolidation wave sweeping a sector he knows inside out.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week (usually), but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from fellow Rainmakers like this one, insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

In a few short weeks, Jonathan Jones will walk away from a 34-year legal career that culminated in European head of US law firm Squire Patton Boggs. He’s leaving behind billing targets and global management for what he calls, with disarming honesty, a move into uncharted territory.

“I can’t actually imagine what it’s going to feel like,” he says, after 28 years at the firm. “I don’t know whether I’ll feel sad, happy, or just a lifting of responsibility. It feels surreal.”

For many senior partners, such reflection signals a gradual glide into retirement. Jones, 58, has other ideas. Instead, he is choosing reinvention - targeting roles as an investor and non-executive director in private equity-backed professional services firms. It marks a shift from adviser to investor with skin in the game.

It is also a move that positions him at the heart of one of the busiest deal markets. The UK professional services sector is undergoing rapid consolidation, with a clear shift towards fewer, larger firms.

Data from the 2026 UK Legal Services Market Report shows the number of firms in England and Wales has fallen by more than 1,100 between 2020 and 2025, even as total revenues surpassed £55bn. Private equity is playing an increasing role, accounting for around 31% of legal sector M&A deals in 2025, up from roughly 20% in 2023.

In accountancy, consolidation is similarly advanced. The ICAEW 2025 Evolution of Mid-Tier Accountancy Firms study found that 25% of UK mid-tier accounting firms are now private equity-backed, reflecting a surge in acquisition-led growth strategies.

Across professional and business services more broadly, private equity is involved in as much as 70% to 75% of transactions in some segments, underlining its dominance as a consolidation driver.

Despite macroeconomic pressures and higher borrowing costs, deal values have remained resilient, pointing to a trend of fewer but larger transactions. Investors are increasingly focused on firms with strong recurring revenues, high margins and scalable operating models.

Structural pressures are accelerating this shift. Technology investment - particularly in AI and automation - requires significant capital, favouring larger firms. At the same time, succession challenges are intensifying, with many smaller firms facing retiring partners, further fuelling the pipeline of acquisition targets.

From niche legal boutiques to regional accounting firms and specialist consultancies, the sector remains highly fragmented. Consolidation is expected to continue - and for Jones, it represents a landscape he understands well and believes still has considerable room to run.

“It’s a very hot space,” he says. “There’s still a huge market of smaller and mid-sized firms out there, and for private equity, that combination of fragmentation, cost pressure and uneven tech adoption creates a clear investment opportunity.

“Increased regulation in the legal sector and the money you have to spend being compliant is significant,” he says. “It’s harder to do that as a smaller business.

“Also, as economies continue to trundle along, some firms have got themselves into financial difficulty and some firms have done well. That polarisation creates the opportunity to consolidate.

“Finally, I think AI will have an amazing effect on professional services,” he says. “Some are embracing it some are sticking their heads in the sand.”

But why now? Heading towards 60 was his time up as a partner at the firm?

“I am 58, however Squire Patton Boggs doesn’t have a compulsory retirement policy for partners. There are situations when there’s a tap on the shoulder and a polite cough indicating perhaps it’s time to go, but that didn’t happen to me. I didn’t get the tap on the shoulder,” laughs Jones.

“We’re in an interesting period of time,” he says. “I wanted to see if there was another chapter while I’m still young enough to enjoy it.”

After two three-year terms as European head, the role had become increasingly demanding. “It’s been a lot of travel, quite full-on,” he says. “I didn’t think I had it in me to do another three years.”

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Remember Huboo, which was sold to a specialist investor for £9? Yes, nine quid.

And Sorted, which ended up in a reverse takeover, backed by two veteran Rainmakers for £66.73. Yes, £66.73, no thousand or million left off the end. Sixty six pounds and seventy three pence.

Now the two businesses are likely to end up together in a consolidation of ecommerce logistics and fulfillment businesses that have had millions of investment pumped into them, but very little value to show for it.

Have a very Happy Easter, when it comes. We’ll be back next Wednesday.

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from fellow Rainmakers like this one, insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

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This morning, a dense and technical update from the directors of parcel tracking platform Sorted PLC drew a line under the current phase of the business, and effectively said that committing further significant investment towards enhancing elements of the business is “not in the best interests of shareholders”.

Only in the small print and the footnotes was it revealed that sale of £1 was to a buyer, only named as “Brislington Holdco Limited” in the footnotes at the end of a lengthy announcement.

Yes, £1. A quid.

That entity, it has emerged, is owned by investor Mahmoud Atalla, and it is also listed on Companies House as the controlling entity of Bristol-based Huboo, which was bought as a distressed purchase in 2025 for £9. As reported by Rainmakers at the time that investor consortium was led by Baaj Capital and Atalla Capital, who took over a company employing 643 people in the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Spain.

To get to that stage, it had been funded by £118m of equity and £20m of secured debt, as our story examined in some detail.

Similarly, since it was founded by David Grimes in Manchester in 2010, Sorted has been through several funding rounds and benefited from approximately £71.07 million in equity investment and approximately £4.36 million (excluding accrued interest) in debt financing.

In 2024 Sorted reversed into AIM-listed Location Sciences in a deal to buy the business for just £66.73, which saw Boohoo co-founder Mahmud Kamani and Zeus Capital founder Richard Hughes among its shareholders.

Sorted was originally set up by Manchester-based founder David Grimes (above) to support retailers and enable customers to track deliveries of parcels.

More recently the business has benefited from a £2million equity raise and the ongoing loan facility agreement with Bidco 3 Limited, a printing business owned by Richard Hughes.

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Investing in tech used to be relatively straightforward. Find a solid SaaS business, admire the recurring revenue, nod at retention and let the multiple do the work. That playbook has now been quietly shown the door.

There were sparkling insights like this heard all day at our Rainmakers Summit, but how does all this impact behaviours from now on?

Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from fellow Rainmakers like this one, insights from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and WestBridge.

At our Rainmakers Summit, AI wasn’t just a talking point, it was the talking point. Two sessions focused on it, but it quickly took over conversations across the entire day. In dealmaking right now, if you’re not talking about AI, you’re probably being talked about.

As Tom Dunlop, CEO of Summize put it: “AI has disrupted our whole way of working,” which is hard to argue with.

Investing in tech used to be relatively straightforward. Find a solid SaaS business, admire the recurring revenue, nod at retention and let the multiple do the work. That playbook has now been quietly shown the door.

The question has shifted from: “Is this a good business?” to: “Will this still be a business in 18 months?”

On one of the panels, Mash Badar, CEO of Codurance and Mike Clarke partner at YFM Equity Partners, explored how AI is reshaping the landscape, while Steve Lydford, managing director at Codurance outlined its impact across three areas: optimisation, automation and differentiation. It sounds simple, but the last point is doing the heavy lifting. Stay relevant or risk being replaced.

They agreed that: “SaaS is not disappearing, but it is no longer the default answer.” As Charlie Bartle, Co-founder of Zygens, noted, businesses are increasingly looking at AI-led tools first. Neil Vose, CEO of EHE Venture Studio, offered a more reassuring view, suggesting SaaS and AI are likely to complement each other.

Where things get real is in execution. Take Moneypenny. Under CEO Jesper With-Fogstrup, the business has introduced AI voice agents to support growth and expand into new markets. But it did not work perfectly at the start. The technology lacked context, made errors, and did not sound particularly human.

In other words, typical early-stage AI.

The turning point came from putting controls in place, tailoring the system to specific use cases, and combining it with human input rather than replacing people entirely. This hybrid approach, using AI where it works and people where it matters, is emerging as a more investable model.

AI is also forcing founders to make bigger strategic decisions. As Jesper highlighted, businesses now have to decide whether to build or buy capabilities, whether to go all-in on AI or layer it into existing products, and which parts of their operations could become obsolete. These are not small product tweaks, they reshape the whole business.

There is also less room for bluff. As Alex Craven, CEO of The Data City, pointed out, companies need to properly understand the technology they are using. Simply labelling something as AI-powered is no longer enough. Investors are asking tougher questions, and vague answers are easier to spot.

Outside London, regions like the North West are gaining momentum. Strong talent, lower costs and a willingness to take risks are creating the conditions for tech businesses to grow without relocating. The opportunity is clear, but it requires backing ideas earlier and accepting more uncertainty.

One of the more surprising takeaways is that caution may now be the most expensive strategy. While some businesses focus on cutting costs, others are investing in AI, improving efficiency and accelerating development. Standing still is not a neutral position, it is a gradual step backwards.

All of this leaves the investment case in a different place. AI is no longer a differentiator on its own, it is becoming a baseline expectation. SaaS still has a role, but increasingly as part of a broader AI-enabled model. Execution matters more than ever, particularly the ability to turn AI into something that works in practice. Speed, both in decision making and deployment, is also becoming more visible in valuations.

There is still a clear sense of optimism. The opportunity is there. The real question is: who is ready to move quickly enough to take advantage of it?

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It remains a surprise that the TalkTalk Business part of Sir Charles Dunstone’s heavily indebted telecoms business hasn’t changed its name now that it has demerged from the rest of the group.

Nevertheless, their impressive CEO Ruth Kennedy has proved she’s prepared to pursue her own path by acquiring Oxfordshire-based Planet IT, as part of its plans to expand its managed services and cyber.

By the way, if you get the headline, then great. If you don’t, that’s fine too, but you are missing out on the most underrated band of the 1980s.

This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.

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Planet IT, which made pre-tax profits of £379k on £16.4m turnover last year delivering managed IT support, cybersecurity and Microsoft cloud services to business customers.

Neither party will confirm how much TallTalk has paid, but industry experts say acquiring businesses are typically paying a multiple of five times profits for businesses of this size and scale.

However, Planet IT’s founders, Gavin Jones and Sean Smith, will continue to lead the business, which employs 87 people, alongside the existing leadership team, ensuring continuity for customers, partners and employees, which appears to suggest they are on some kind of earn out.

The combined business will have about £100m in turnover and 250 full time employees.

The company offers managed and unmanaged services spanning connectivity, networking, cyber security, cloud, IOT and voice and collaboration. It works with strategic technology partners including Cisco, Zoom and Mite.

Gavin Jones, Co-CEO at Planet IT, said the business was continuing its sponsorship of a stand at Oxford United Football Club, and that he and co-founder Sean Smith were staying and were “excited about the synergy”.

He declined to disclose any further details on the purchase price or the earn out terms, but said the business will trade as Planet IT - Part of Talk Talk Business.

He also said: “Over the past two decades, we have built a strong reputation for delivering high quality IT support and services. Joining TalkTalk Business gives us the scale and investment to build on that success.

“My co-founder Sean Smith and I will remain with the business, along with our leadership team, directors and staff, so our customers and suppliers will continue working with the same people they know and trust.

“Demand for secure managed IT services continues to grow as organisations rely more heavily on cloud platforms and digital infrastructure. Joining TalkTalk Business means we’ll be able to offer our customers a wider range of services, and support their growth more effectively, while continuing to deliver the high-quality service our customers expect.”

Ruth Kennedy, CEO at TalkTalk Business, said: “Bringing Planet IT into TalkTalk Business is an important step in expanding our managed services capabilities.”

Last year Salford Quays based Talk Talk Business abandoned plans to completely rebrand and ditch its legacy Talk Talk identity.

Manchester-based advisory firm Cowgills acted for TalkTalk Business, while Planet IT’s broker was Ox Advisory, the legal team was Freeths, and their accountancy firm, Wellers.

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BGF has notched up a chunky exit from its investment in search firm Metric – it found a buyer willing to take it off their hands, after just 20 months.

The bank-backed investor headhunted a tidy exit banking a 4.1x return and a punchy 138% IRR following a $100m (£78m) acquisition by Southfield Capital. Not bad for what’s essentially a very successful “short-term contract”.

Founded in 2019 by Joe Jani, Metric has been anything but metric-ulous in its growth. The firm has scaled to 130+ consultants across seven global offices - proving its expansion strategy wasn’t just a shot in the dark, but a perfectly placed hire.

For BGF, it’s another placement to brag about, its third Midlands exit in four years to deliver returns north of 120% IRR. Clearly, they’ve got a knack for spotting talent… and exits.

Jani said: “In the last two years, we’ve accelerated our growth ambitions, expanded our global footprint and built a very high-performing business that has a strong and collaborative culture at its core.

“BGF has played a significant part in delivering our growth plan, working with us in partnership to achieve this fantastic result for Metric.”

BGF investor Adam Huckerby added: “This exit is a fantastic result for everyone involved. It’s remarkable what the business has achieved in such a short period of time, but that is a reflection on the strength of Joe and the entire Metric team.”

All in all, a deal that really measures up.

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Acquisitive financial advisory business Perspective Financial Group has acquired Freedom Advice, in Leeds, and Mackrill Financial Management, in Ripponden. In total, six financial planning firms have joined Perspective in the first quarter of 2026.

Collectively, these new additions have hauled in another £825m in assets under management and expand the group’s geographic reach with new offices in Nottingham, Shrewsbury and central London as well as Yorkshire.

Ian Wilkinson CEO of Perspective, indicates the group is not slowing down its rapid expansion drive, with further acquisitions expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.

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NatWest has sold its employment law, HR, health and safety and environmental management consultancy business Mentor to Empowering People Group.

Mentor was launched in 1997 and is based in Glasgow, with an office in London.

Backed by Limerston Capital, Empowering People has offices across the UK, providing HR and health and safety support alongside employment law expertise.

Robert Begbie, NatWest’s commercial and institutional chief executive, said: “This sale marks an important step in our strategy to simplify and focus on what matters most to our customers and colleagues.”

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