Grant Thornton UK LLP’s East team has made two senior promotions on the back of a strong year of deal activity.
Stuart Davies has been promoted to Partner, with Toby Hare being promoted to Director. Stuart will continue to focus on the East of England, leading the team alongside fellow Partners Mike Tillson and Doug Bentley.
The team is already the largest dedicated Corporate Finance team in the region with 15 transaction specialists, with Stuart and Toby’s news following recent promotions of Huyen Nong and Zach Rose to Manager roles, alongside the recent recruitment of Usman Khattak since the start of the year, demonstrating the team’s investment to drive further growth following a successful 2023.
Grant Thornton’s M&A team specialise in working with entrepreneurs in the region with stand-out deals during the past year including the sale of nursery school provider Orchard Day Nurseries to Kindred Education, the corporate carve out of manufacturing business Strata Products in a sale to Chiltern Capital, the Management Buy-Out of pharma services business MAP Patient Access, backed by Kester Capital and two acquisitions for the UK’s fastest growing retail group, AK Retail.
Stuart Davies, Corporate Finance Partner at Grant Thornton UK LLP, said: “Despite a slowdown in global M&A activity from the highs of 2021, there remains a high level of liquidity in both the UK and overseas market, and appetite for strategically important acquisitions remains strong. We remain optimistic as we progress through 2024 with a strong pipeline for good quality deals.”
Mike Tillson, fellow Partner in the Grant Thornton UK LLP team, said: “The recent promotions and appointments within the team demonstrate our confidence in the local market across the East of England and our confidence in the market going forwards.”