Grant Thornton UK LLP's South West and Wales Corporate Finance team has announced a number of promotions and new hires on the back of a strong year of deal activity for the team across their Bristol and Cardiff offices.

Jamie Roberts has been promoted to Partner, with Adam Hughes, James Smart and Tom Bew also being recently promoted.

The team is already one of the largest in the region and as part of the investment to drive continued growth, Eli Lubin and Jack Churchill both joined during 2023 with an Assistant Manager also recruited to start in April this year.

Stand-out deals during 2023 include LDC’s investment in tech-enabled legal services provider The Barrister Group, the sale of specialist infrastructure services provider Hornbill Engineering to OCU Group backed by Triton Partners, the sale of Partnership of Care to Mysa Care backed by Downing, and a multi-million pound investment in Cream Care.

Partner Jamie Roberts said:

“There is no doubt that the global M&A market has slowed significantly in comparison to its peak levels in 2021 and early 2022. Seemingly constantly shifting political and economic challenges have contributed to the stretching of deal timetables though there remain significant levels of liquidity in the market and domestic and overseas acquirers / investors continue to demonstrate their appetite for strategically important acquisitions that increase their capabilities, efficiencies, and market access.

“Despite the more challenging market conditions, there is a resilient market for high quality assets of scale. Whilst we anticipate that the market will continue to present ever evolving challenges, we are optimistic as we enter 2024 with a strong pipeline and expect recent momentum in deal activity to continue.

“The promotions and appointments within the team emphasise the continued importance of the South West and Wales to Grant Thornton’s national Corporate Finance practice and underlines our ability to add value for our clients in conjunction with our well invested sector teams and significant international network.”

Director Nick Jones added:

“The number and range of transactions we’ve completed during 2023, despite the challenging economic environment, is testament to the quality of our team and our continued commitment to the South West and Wales markets. This is supplemented by a deep-rooted sector focus in key areas including healthcare, technology and tech-enabled services, and infrastructure support services.”