‘Dealmaking machine’ commits to Nottingham
The boss of a Nottingham corporate advisory firm says his company is totally committed to the city and wider East Midlands as it prepares to celebrate its 15th anniversary.
Jon Hustler, parter at Clearwater International Corporate Finance, which is based on the Ropewalk in Nottingham, has been given the new role of heading up Clearwater’s East and West Midlands operations after spending much of his time in recent years based from the company’s Birmingham office.
Hustler, who lives in Nottinghamshire and was a corporate finance partner at BDO and director Tenon before founding Clearwater with seven colleagues in 2003, says his firm has the biggest corporate finance advisory team in the East Midlands, and wants to continue his firm’s reputation as a “dealmaking machine” to try and attract new staff – and keep business within the region.
Hustler told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We want business owners and intermediaries to realise they don’t have to go to London for the best advice. We’ve now got around 30 people working at Clearwater in the Midlands, which is probably the biggest team in the region.
“We feel passionate about the East Midlands, and it’s great to see operators like BGF and Foresight operating out of Nottingham. The region is full of younger owner-managed businesses and I’m very optimistic for the future of its economy.”
Clearwater, which generally advises on deals with a value of £30m-£70m, is still seeing strong activity, despite the shadow of Brexit.
Hustler said: “The market is still strong. I was nervous about where we’d be by now in the process, but I think that owner-managers are looking to get on with buying or selling a business now, before Brexit actually happens. There is also a possibility of a change of government in the near future, and that would bring about changes in capital gains tax.”
He is, however, not resting on his laurels.
“We want to do more deals in Nottingham. We’re completely committed to the city, and the last thing we want to do now is tread water, so we’re recruiting heavily across the businesss. We have to continue to be hungry – we’ve been a dealmaking machine for the last 15 years, and we’ll strive to carry on that way.”
Clearwater also has offices in Birmingham, London and Manchester – as well as nine other offices throughout Europe and strategic alliances across the US and Asia.
