Total recall - a debut year of strong and lively stories on Rainmakers
From court rooms to Padel courts, gardening leave to scrap yards, and aliens to alehouses, we've covered it all
Hello Rainmakers,
We’ve enjoyed bringing you Rainmakers this year, a steady stream of lively stories that seem to have struck a chord throughout the regional M&A community.
Here are the cream of the crop.
It’s been a tough year for getting deals done, but covering this market is never dull.
The incredible tale of the northern big hitters caught up in billion dollar fraud
The launch in March included a dramatic story which reads like the script for a highly implausible TV drama. Its cast list included the Lancashire knight, the Cheshire entrepreneur and the African tycoon who tried to buy Sheffield United Football Club.
The FBI has now triggered a manhunt for a fraudster Dozy Mmobuosi who recently tried to buy a Premier League football club with the proceeds from a New York-listed African fintech business based on an audacious billion dollar fraud. Just another trophy asset to add to his fleet of fast cars and London mansion.
But in the supporting cast of this extraordinary drama we revealed for the first time how it included Sir David Trippier, a well-connected former Conservative MP and senior Freemason who sat on the same board of directors of Tingo Inc, a supposed global agritech, mobile and fintech business that was in fact a fraud.
Also involved at a senior board level in the now bust business is Darren Mercer, its former CEO, a seasoned ‘rainmaker’ and once the owner of a popular Cheshire gastropub, who retired from the company to spend more time with his wife, Danish supermodel Heidi Albertson.
There’s more to come and this story in 2025…
Introducing, The Secret Investor
In September we introduced The Secret Investor. You may have read The Secret Barrister, which lifted the lid on what really goes on inside the criminal justice system, or even The Secret Footballer, who spilled the beans on the dark reality of life within Our (not so) Beautiful Game.
Some may even remember Roger Cashman, who at least three Cheshire business bad boys were convinced was based on them.
We have secured the trust - and the services - of The Secret Investor. Someone who we’re introducing in today’s Rainmakers post. These posts are from someone who wants to get a few issues of their chest, scotch a few myths and slay a few dragons.
It is someone who genuinely - and succesfully - walks amongst you. It is not a comedy sketch by a journalist, or a put up job.
Exile over - Jonathan Boyers is fired up and ready for work
We had another exclusive in July. The first sit down, anything goes, nothing off limits interview with Jonathan Boyers since he dramatically walked out on KPMG 18 months ago, and is now shaking up the M&A market with US disruptor Alvarez & Marsal as Head Of Corporate Finance for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
For two hours we talked through a range of issues, politics, the economy, sport and music, weight training, but mainly business and particularly corporate finance.
And why it’s all over for the Big Four in corporate finance.
How prolific lies and a missing £13.7m resulted in a 22 month jail sentence
It’s not always breezy lively updates and profiles with high performers in the M&A world, we also look at the dark side.
As three Manchester-based “entrepreneurs” were sentenced to jail terms for contempt of court, questions remain as to how their activities remained unchecked over a prolonged period.
In the High Court in London, on the 30th of October, Judge Rajah handed down a sentence of 22 months in jail to Scott Dylan, Dave Antrobus and Jack Mason after his earlier July ruling that they were in contempt of court when they moved business assets offshore in breach of a freezing order granted to Barclays Bank, which further alleges that they are the victims of a £13.7m theft.
In sentencing he said “all three have lied to the Court on a prolific scale”.
The three had been principals in a business called Inc & Co, which presents as a group structure and which had been provided with investment into distressed businesses through another of their businesses, Fresh Thinking Group.
Exclusive: High Court rules on Richard Hughes’ £400m claim against his prosecutors
Richard Hughes and Zeus Capital are in many ways the very essence of the animal spirit of a resurgent North. Over the years his deals have been ambitious, audacious and have contributed to his fortune and a strong reputation.
Yet he’s kept a relatively low profile in recent years after a case against him collapsed in 2017. Since then he’s turned prosecutor himself in a dramatic reversal as he sought damages against those at HMRC and the Crown who were behind the disastrous prosecution.
Strap yourself in and see for yourself where this case has got to, and where it might end up.
RECYCLING LIVES, refreshing a business
It’s a long way from the rolling rural hills of Italy to the scrapyards of Preston, Lancashire.
But the story of Recycling Lives is a fascinating one, with more ups and downs than the undulating Umbrian landscape.
We caught up with Adrian Murphy and Nick Gittings as they’re getting to grips with Recycling Lives Services, a private equity backed business that’s been through some trauma, but is bursting with potential.
They told me that they’re coming in to this opportunity with “all our experience, all our scars, all our war wounds,” but they know too that they can build something special.
BEING THE CHANGE - The Rainmaker Awards - 2024 was a landmark year
Congratulations to all the winners this year, especially to the individual award winners who spoke so warmly on receiving their awards.
The three fantastic women winners, Catriona Lang and Nicola Merritt (above), and Carly Gulliver (below) all had really poignant things to say about the community and the great changes they are all bringing in their own way.
Nicola, founder of Cortus, the first woman to lift a Rainmaker of the Year Award said: “We launched to market just over three years ago, and it was a blank sheet of paper. We could do what we wanted, how we wanted, and we just wanted to do everything in a genuine, authentic way. We just want to be normal people. I won a piece of work yesterday, and the guy said to me, you were the only person that just talked to me normally. And I thought, you know, that’s all we are. We’re just trying to do deal making an authentic way, being ourselves. And I think our clients really value that.”
Reflecting on her status as the first woman to win Rainmaker of the Year, she added: “There have been challenges along the way, but it doesn’t have to be like that. I think there’s a lot of diversity in the room with lots of people doing things differently than how we did things 20 years ago. There’s still a long way to go, but if you want to make the change, be the change.”
Carly Gulliver from Addleshaw Goddard won the Changemaker of the Year in Yorkshire said: “I love the intimacy of the community, in terms of actually being able to get deals done, and create deals and make things happen. In particular, one of my passions is tech and we’ve got an absolutely thriving tech community in Yorkshire.”
Catriona, from Dow Schofield Watts, the North West Changemaker, said: “I set the business up 15 and a half years ago, I know we don’t look old enough, but we decided that we wanted to disrupt the market in terms of big four big accountancy firms offering due diligence, and we did quite well.”
‘My balls are in the blender, but it’s the price I’ll pay for control’
Forgive the colourful language on this Rainmakers post, but plenty enjoyed the tale of John Whelan.
We get lots of press releases where someone does a deal and everyone is “thrilled” or “delighted”. This was no different, but the background is important.
It takes us from the playing fields of Stockport, to the world of Premier League football, to the dizzy heights of the stock market, and to the highest courts in the land.
It’s so much more than a management buyout of a tech company from Stockport and the performance of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
The rise and rise of Padel
If you've had a conversation with someone wearing a quarter zip sweater in the last year or two, you will almost certainly have talked about the phenomenon that is Padel.
The racquet sport has exploded in popularity across the UK, quickly capturing the attention of sports enthusiasts, celebrities and increasingly, investors.
It’s grown from just 6,000 players five years ago to an astounding 130,000 today, with more than 500 courts nationwide and potential demand for 6,000 more.
But who is leading this charge, and who might be left up the creek...
Not enough Mercias out there
In November Mark Payton the chief executive and founder of Mercia Asset Management opened up to us in his office in Henley-in-Arden in leafy Warwickshire, he was doing the rounds of investor roadshow presentations, interviews with media, and briefings to analysts, the staple diet of any leader of a listed business.
But this one is different. As a venture and private equity investor, it’s a rare beast. That it does so from the Heart of England, not London, makes it all the more unique.
“And I'm afraid today, just as it was 10 years ago, there is still a lack of other Mercia’s out there,” he said with customary zeal.
Growth credit - the quiet revolution in funding
This was a piece that was a few months in the making, as we tried to get our heads around the concept of Growth Credit.
Ryan Sorby of Palatine has been patient with us, and what started as a concept is now a reality as a flurry of deals got over the line in the last part of 2024.
What it amounts to is a quiet revolution in the corporate finance lending space is whirling through the UK.
The idea of Venture Debt, or Growth Credit, was considered a US thing. A tool of Silicon Valley venture funders looking to keep the lights on with additional rounds of non-equity funding, which won’t trigger a revaluation of an investment.
But according to Pitchbook, venture debt continues to grow in Europe as fast growing companies look for cheaper financing.
Hayley's comet, aliens, and what it took to build a challenger TS team at Saffery
As December drew to a close, we brought you a profile piece with the TS team at accountancy firm Saffery. Where we introduced you to a quirky, gifted and emotionally intelligent group with plenty to say - not least, whether there were aliens discovered at Roswell.
It provides a remarkable snapshot of the career choices people make, and the leadership qualities required to work in this world.