Hello Rainmakers,
It feels like barely a week goes by without another headline announcing a merger or acquisition in the regional professional services world. Accountants, lawyers, even property advisers, are reshaping themselves at speed - and the regional landscape is beginning to look very different.
It’s with catching our breath and taking all of this on.
Maybe even chewing a tasty steak from any number of carefully branded restaurants that are popping up around our cities.
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Here’s a question. Does all of this M&A activity in professional services actually give businesses a better suite of advisers?
As usual, it depends.
Take Dains, the accountancy firm with a big footprint in our patch. Its acquisition of TBAT Innovation this summer signalled not just ambition but also a clear desire to broaden its service lines into R&D tax and innovation support. That’s a statement of intent: the traditional boundaries of what a “regional firm” does are being redrawn.
Then there’s Gateley, the listed legal and professional services group. It splashed out £9m on trademark specialist Groom Wilkes & Wright. A chunky price tag, perhaps, but one that gives Gateley a serious platform in the IP world.
Meanwhile, Streets Chartered Accountants continues its rolling programme of mergers, adding new offices and partners to its brand with metronomic regularity. If you’re a smaller independent practice, it feels like only a matter of time before Streets comes knocking with a growth story you can join.
Fast-growing accountancy firm DJH was also in the news again this week, this time with its acquisition of Haines Watts in the North West. As a result of the deal the Stoke-on-Trent-based accountancy firm will grow its turnover to £61.5m, with revenues in the North West surpassing £24m.
Flint Bishop also snapped up Lupton Fawcett, the Yorkshire practice. Quite the coup for Flints in Derby while our Tuesday Rainmakers deep dive was an attempt to digest the efforts by challenger bank Shawbrook to bulk up by swallowing ThinCats, the specialist lender.
So what’s driving it? Clients are demanding more breadth, more expertise and, bluntly, more resilience from their advisers. Technology is expensive, regulation is ever more complex and bigger balance sheets spread the risk. For many, joining forces is less about survival and more about keeping pace.
For regional businesses, does this mean fewer small names but stronger regional champions capable of competing nationally? Or just a slow consolidation into brands who are increasingly using automation? Maybe a bit of both.
Read on, there’s more on Dains and Graham + Sibbald below.
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Graham + Sibbald is stepping up its property game in a ground-breaking move, joining forces with Aitchison Raffety to create a 370-strong team across 26 locations.
Backed by private equity from Foresight Group, this deal cements the firm’s position from the Highlands to the Home Counties and everywhere in between.
The acquisition brings Aitchison Raffety’s 100-strong crew and nine offices, including key outposts in Birmingham, Manchester, and London, into the Graham + Sibbald family.
Together, they’re laying strong foundations for a broader service offering, adding muscle in healthcare, business rates, and town planning, while reinforcing strengths in valuations, agency, and property management.
Les McAndrew, Senior Partner at Graham + Sibbald, said: “This acquisition builds on our recent expansion into Manchester and London. We’ve been responding to client demand for a fully serviced UK business, and Aitchison Raffety’s expertise and shared values make this a great fit. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues and offering an even broader range of services to our clients.”
The firms will trade separately for now, but by early 2026, they’ll fully unite under the Graham + Sibbald name, ready to build the future, brick by brick.
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Dains Group has added extra charge to its growth strategy by acquiring Castle Donington-based TBAT Innovation, its third acquisition since securing private equity backing from IK Partners.
TBAT, the brains behind R&D tax incentives and grant funding support, will keep its leadership trio at the helm while joining forces with Dains to supercharge client services.
Richard McNeilly, CEO of Dains Group, said: “TBAT’s leadership team shares our client-centric mindset and commitment to delivering valuable advice. Its expertise in R&D tax incentives, grant funding, and innovation support will not only strengthen our specialist tax and advisory services, but also open new opportunities for clients to access funding that fuels growth.”
He added that TBAT’s track record and sector knowledge offered “an exciting platform for expansion across the UK.”
Sam Stephens, founder and commercial director of TBAT, said: “Joining the Dains Group marks an exciting new chapter for TBAT. We’ve always been passionate about helping businesses unlock funding and maximise the opportunities that come from innovation. Dains allows us to bring that expertise to even more clients, supported by the strength and reach of a respected national advisory firm.”
The deal adds extra voltage to Dains' expansion plans, powering growth one innovation at a time.
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A business founded in Sheffield, MOPO, which is helping to power up vast energy-starved swathes of Sub-Saharan Africa, is charging up in preparation for its next wave of expansion thanks to a £5m investment. This backing has come from Norfund, the Norwegian government's international climate related fund. MOPO says it is now firmly on the radar of respected impact investors who are lining up to support its rapid scale-up.
The company's pay-per-use battery rental system provides households and businesses with clean, reliable power via solar charging hubs operated by local agents. Its core products include the MOPO50 for lighting, phone charging and small appliances and MOPOMax for higher load devices, generators, small businesses and e-mobility. These are designed to replace expensive and polluting fossil fuel alternatives.
Right now, there seems to be no limit to the business's international ambitions and it is operating on the ground in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Chad and Uganda. More than 28 million rentals have so been completed, with further operations in the pipeline.
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OakNorth, the digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, has provided a senior debt facility to support the future expansion of steak restaurant concept Flat Iron, backed by funds from private equity firms McWin Capital Partners and TriSpan.
Founded in 2012, Flat Iron is one of a number of high-quality steak restaurants rolling out across the UK, with 18 sites across London, Manchester, Leeds, and Cambridge, and is now gearing up for its next phase of expansion across the UK.
Flat Iron is led by CEO Tom Byng, an experienced hospitality executive who joined as Non-Executive Director in 2017 and took over as CEO in 2021. Under his leadership and supported by Simon Boston (COO/CFO), the business has expanded its footprint, maintained site-level profitability across all locations, and professionalised its operations.
Stuart Blair, Debt Finance Director at OakNorth, commented: "Flat Iron is one of the UK’s most impressive growth stories - a brand with a clear identity, disciplined operating model, and an exceptional track record of site-level profitability. The business has proven resilient in a challenging market and continues to win with customers through quality, value, and operational excellence, delivering consistent like-for-like growth and sector-leading operating margins. We’re excited to support McWin and TriSpan in this next chapter of growth, building on our strong relationship with both sponsors, who have also backed some of our other customers in this space, including Mowgli and Sticks’n’Sushi."
Tom Byng, CEO of Flat Iron, added: "We’re incredibly proud of what the Flat Iron team has built over the last decade, and we’re thrilled to have the backing of McWin, TriSpan, and OakNorth as we look to take the brand to the next level. OakNorth has been a flexible and thoughtful partner throughout this process, and their support gives us the confidence and capital to continue delivering ‘Remarkable Steak’ to more guests across the UK.
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We are hosting Rainmakers Lunches soon, an opportunity to network with leaders from the corporate finance sector.
These events will bring together the region’s Rainmaker community to discuss the deals market in 2025 and celebrate your successes over the last 12 months.
We will be joined by our Rainmaker of the Year in each city.
Joining us in Leeds on the 23rd of September will be Rainmaker of the Year – Paul Mann, partner in the corporate team and head of the private equity team in the UK at Squire Patton Boggs.
Also attending is the Changemaker of Year, Alexandra Fogel, partner and head of private north at EY, who scooped the award at our Rainmakers awards in June.
Chris Handy, who is Partner and Head of West Midlands for LDC, alongside him we will have Richard Swann from Inflexion, who won our Changemaker of the Year award. on the 2nd of October.
Also on the 2nd of October in Manchester we have Rainmaker of the Year – Michael Loudon, partner and head of the North West at Clearwater.
Alongside him will be our Changemaker of Year, Greg Holmes, from Palatine, who scooped the award at our Rainmakers awards in June.
Also providing insights will be Claire Alvarez of private equity firm Foresight, who won the finance leader category at the Leadership Awards 2024 and shortlisted for Rainmaker of the year.
Laura Wiggins, our Rising Star, will be on maternity leave and we send her our very best wishes.
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