Wind power, Fergie's mate, aerial surveys and why VCs welcome pension fund plan
For browsers of the Rainmakers, insights from around the country by our team of reporters in each region
Hello Rainmakers,
This is your weekly freebie for browsers of the Rainmakers.
Paid subscribers have this week had an insight chairman of Daisy Group Matthew Riley, who spoke to Rainmakers after emerging blinking from the completion meeting to merger with the business part of Virgin Media O2.
We also did a deep dive with Horizon Capital’s Simon Hitchcock into their deal to invest £30m into FBC Manby Bowdler to form new legal services platform, Adeptio Law Group.
Rainmakers subscribers usually get two unique pieces a week (when it isn’t Easter) but 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 the likes of Endless, River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber, or sign up for a free trial...
The future of wind power has been in the headlines for depressing reasons lately, with Danish energy company, Ørsted, halting its plans for a massive North Sea windfarm off the East Yorkshire coast.
But this worrying indication for the renewables sector hasn't stopped GEV Wind Power, an East Yorkshire-based global specialist services provider to the wind energy industry, being acquired by Certek.
It means employee-owned Certek's group revenue will surpass £100m, with a pipeline of other deals in process. Certek has stressed it regards GEV as a significant growth opportunity and notes rising global demand for low-carbon energy is driving "huge" investment into wind energy production.
Fingers crossed this is a sign that the wider wind power industry is in no danger of being becalmed, despite the recent news about Ørsted.
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Specialist recruitment process outsourcing business Morson Group has acquired US recruiter, PTS Advance.
The move strengthens Morson’s presence across North America’s high growth sectors, including energy, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing.
PTS Advance, one of the largest specialist providers of technical talent in the US, brings a well established footprint across the southern US, with offices in California, Texas and Florida.
Ged Mason, CEO of Morson Group, a close friend of Sir Alex Ferguson, said: “We’re incredibly proud to welcome PTS Advance to the Morson family.
“Having known the founding Stein family for over two decades, it’s clear that our businesses are built on the same foundations – integrity, ambition, and a shared belief in the power of people. This is a strategic step that strengthens our US delivery, complements our offering to multinational clients, and reinforces our position as a global leader in talent solutions.”
Founded in California in 1995 by Ronald and June Stein, the business is now led by CEO Dustin House and provides a full suite of recruitment services across contract hire, direct hire, project staffing and more.
With a stronghold in oil, gas, renewables, infrastructure and manufacturing, the company supports critical projects across the US.
Dustin House, CEO at PTS Advance, said: “Joining Morson Group marks a defining moment in our journey.
“We’ve spent years building something special – a business where performance and people go hand-in-hand – and this partnership takes our shared vision to the next level.
“Together, we’re creating a global platform with even greater reach, capability and opportunity for our people, clients and partners.”
The deal is part of Morson’s wider strategy to grow its global footprint, with the group continuing to invest in both organic growth and strategic acquisitions to meet demand for specialist talent worldwide. The Trafford Park-based business is a specialist recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) company with strong presence in the defence industry.
In February 2024, Onex, one of the biggest private equity investors in Canada, took a majority stake in Morson.
A year after chief executive Ged Mason achieved a lifelong goal of hitting £1billion of annual revenue, Onex announced a majority investment in Morson Group through its $7.2billion fund Onex Partners V.
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US-based geospatial imagery firm Woolpert has taken its operations to new heights, acquiring Ashby-based Bluesky International, the UK’s largest aerial survey firm and the government’s go-to for bird’s-eye views and height data.
You could say the two have just mapped out their future.
Bluesky, with over 130 staff across the UK, Ireland, the United States, and India, brings serious altitude to Woolpert’s already sky-high ambitions.
“Bluesky was an obvious choice to join the Woolpert family of companies, not just for its dedication to geospatial excellence, but also for its commitment to client satisfaction and workplace culture,” said Woolpert president and CEO Neil Churman.
Bluesky CEO Rachel Tidmarsh said: “Woolpert’s extensive expertise in all things geospatial, as well as the addition of their architecture and engineering services, opens up a new realm of possibilities for our clients. We couldn’t be more excited about the ability to service our clients as a truly one-stop shop with this world-leading geospatial team.”
Between Woolpert’s reach and Bluesky’s vision, this partnership looks ready to take on the world one pixel at a time.
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Growth Fund 1 has filled its first prescription, investing in The Pharmacist Network Group in a dose of deal-making that’s anything but over-the-counter.
The private equity firm, founded by Toby Dixon, is kicking things off with a strategic roll-up of healthcare consultancies, consisting of The Pharmacist Network, MORPh Clinical Services, and MORPh Consultancy.
Dixon, who built and exited pan-European tech recruitment firm Marlin Green in an Inflexion-backed deal in 2021, clearly knows a thing or two about scaling and this time, he’s dispensing growth.
Headquartered in Newcastle, The Pharmacist Network supports GPs with on-site and remote pharmacy services, helping with prescription requests and out-of-hours support.
Worcester-based MORPh brings nearly 20 years of experience delivering pharmacist-led clinical services and training across the NHS.
With this first investment, Growth Fund 1 isn’t just entering the healthcare space, it’s doing so with a full-strength formula.
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NVM Private Equity has exited its investment in Ellesmere Port-based nZero Group, the specialist provider of decarbonisation and gas measurement solutions for the energy industry, in a strategic sale to German group Bilfinger.
The transaction marks a successful conclusion to a growth partnership that positioned nZero as a key player in the UK’s transition to a net zero economy, delivering a 2.6x return for the fund.
During NVM’s investment and under the leadership of nZero’s managing director, Matt Allen, the company has undergone a period of significant growth, broadening its capabilities from gas distribution and biogas to clean energy infrastructure, hydrogen and energy transition, both through organic growth and acquisition.
The group plays a critical role in enabling decarbonisation across multiple sectors by designing and delivering measurement and analytical systems vital for emissions monitoring, energy transition, and process optimisation.
Through its expertise in gas measurement, analysis and control systems, nZero offers proprietary solutions in clean energy, CO2 quality and quantity measurement as well as digital services and consulting through the whole value chain.
The exit, which has been led by Andy Leach and Karl Cockwill, reinforces NVM’s successful track record in scaling regional teams, it said, and follows the sale of Intuitive announced just last month.
Matt Allen said: ”The investment and support from NVM has been outstanding. We have been privileged to work with Karl Cockwill, Andy Leach and the NVM team.
“It is an outstanding private equity investor and has helped lead us to our next phase with international industrial services provider, Bilfinger.”
He added: “We look forward to the growth and success this will bring for all at nZero Group.”
Andy Leach, investment partner at NVM, said: “The acquisition by Bilfinger will provide a strong platform for continued innovation and expansion and we wish Matt and the team well in their future growth plans.”
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UK pension funds are making a default commitment to allocate 5% of their funds to private UK assets, which is being seen as a major boost for businesses seeking venture capital.
The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) has welcomed a new commitment made by several UK pension funds to target a default allocation target of 10% to “private assets” (with 5% in the UK) by 2030.
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the City of London Corporation have announced a new joint initiative, the Mansion House Accord. This will see 17 pension schemes and providers pledge to allocate at least 10% of defined contribution (DC) default funds to private markets and at least half of this to UK assets by 2030.
According to the Treasury, the agreement will see more than £50bn mobilised over the next five years, including £25bn for UK investments.
But the lobbying of fund managers is stepping up this week with the BVCA and other venture capital businesses making the case that their asset class can also deliver strong returns for investors.
Andy Bloxam, Managing Director of Foresight Ventures said: “As an international investment manager headquartered and listed in London, we welcome this boost to the UK venture capital market and the ambitious, smaller businesses within it.
“Our VC sector has tremendous growth potential, driven from the world class universities and entrepreneurship across the country. From Foresight’s 10 offices across the UK, we have seen this first hand over decades while delivering positive financial returns for our LGPS investors through our regional SME investment funds.
“The Foresight Ventures team looks forward to achieving more of the same at great scale with the wider pension industry, creating the sort of investment and growth opportunity only seen in the US in recent history.”
In February 2024, pension funds signed up to the so-called “Mansion House Compact” to improve on the £800m of unlisted equity assets in their funds, which BVCA research has claimed is the equivalent of 0.36% of the total value of their DC default funds (£219bn).
Michael Moore, chief executive of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), welcomed the commitment to and urged pension funds not to row back on commitments made under the previous Mansion House Compact.
“This agreement could be a huge step forward for the UK economy if the signatories follow through on their commitments,” he said.
“Right now, it is primarily overseas pension savers’ retirement funds that are benefitting from breakthroughs made by innovative British companies. UK venture and growth funds support the development of fast-growing British companies operating in sectors of the future such as life sciences, AI and net zero.
“That is why we value the assurances of the signatories that the Accord, whilst expanding their focus to new areas such as infrastructure, maintains the pension industry’s resolve to increase investment in UK venture and growth equity funds.
“It is an important statement that the new Accord does not dilute the commitments made under the previous Mansion House Compact.
“We also welcome the Government’s commitment to prioritising reforming the pensions system to increase investment into British scale-ups, while enabling savers to diversify their portfolios and access the strong returns generated by private capital.”
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TheBusinessDesk.com’s Rainmaker Awards return this summer and will showcase a wider cross-section of the region’s deals community.
The hotly-contested regional corporate finance awards will continue to recognise teams, individuals and deals, and the shortlist and winners will be decided on by the community, as always.
This year we have asked all firms to submit a short entry, along with the key deals they have advised on, to ensure our judges have the full information when making their selections.
Shortlists have now been drawn up at well-attended judging days. These shortlists have now been voted on by a wider group of people from across the community, on a strict one vote per firm basis, to decide our 2025 winners.
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