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Grant Thornton UK’s Northern corporate finance team has completed a “record” 2024, having advised on deals worth more than £620m.
Led by partners Peter Terry, Matt Bryden-Smith and Jim Whittaker, the team believes the results are “a testament to the firm’s combined regional and sector-led approach”.
Among the biggest deals of 2024 were global heating, cooling and ventilation group Daikin’s acquisition of Robert Heath Heating; the sale of Blackpool-based aggregates and earthworks hauler Fox Brothers to Stellex Capital; the sale of Next Energy to Certas Energy; and two high profile strategic transactions with listed client, Renew Holdings.
The firm also made a “significant” investment in its team during the year, welcoming a number of new hires – including life science sector specialist, Abi Godfrey, who was previously at Deloitte.
Terry said: “As reflected in many of our deals, demand from private equity and acquisitive corporates for high quality businesses in the SaaS, healthcare, facilities management, energy transition and business services sectors remained robust during the year.
“The North’s business base is broad and diverse with many leading universities, a skilled talent pool, and long-established industries, which have proved resilient over the decades.”
Whittaker said: “The outlook is more positive than it was this time 12 months ago, and we are seeing opportunities across a broadening range of sectors including those you would expect such as health-tech and software, but there are also businesses in certain niche consumer-facing sectors, such as travel seeing renewed interest.”
Matt Bryden-Smith added: “Following our investment in the team during 2024, we believe we are very well placed to continue to perform well in the year ahead and out-perform the market.”
