People: New director boosts Grant Thornton’s corporate finance team; Bank makes director hires; and more

Business and finance adviser Grant Thornton’s Birmingham office has appointed corporate finance and private equity specialist Gary Hyem as director to its growing corporate finance team.

With 25 years’ deal-making experience, Hyem joins Grant Thornton from Cattaneo Corporate Finance, which he joined in 2012.

Previous senior roles include setting up the Birmingham office of M3 Corporate Finance, as a director of Clearwater International and a partner at private equity investor, Baring English Growth Fund, where he originated and negotiated investments and played a key role in their ongoing management. Hyem’s early corporate finance career was spent at PwC and EY.

Hyem has been closely involved with many notable recent regionally-advised deals, including the £22.5m management buy-out of Precision Micro, backed by private equity investor LDC, and the secondary buy-out of £40m-turnover specialist healthcare equipment manufacturer, Prism Medical UK, from LDC in a deal funded by Limerston Capital.

He also led on the recent disposal of UK and US-based Dartex Coatings to global group Trelleborg AB and advised on the £30m sale of Palletforce, a leading UK pallet network to EmergeVest, a Hong Kong-based private equity house and has since advised the business on various acquisitions.

Grant Thornton partner Nick Gillott, head of the firm’s corporate finance team in the West Midlands, said: “Gary is a highly-experienced and well-connected advisor,  having spent in excess of 25 years in the region’s corporate finance market. His experience of working on private equity transactions, particularly his direct role on the investment side of the deal making table, will be of particular value to our clients and highly complementary to the skills of our broader team. Our Birmingham corporate finance team has doubled in size in the recent past and we will continue to invest in talented people with the skills to advise our clients on their growth ambitions.”

Gary Hyem added: “It’s fantastic to be joining Grant Thornton at a time when, despite Brexit, there are so many opportunities for successful, well-managed businesses. Being part of a multi-disciplinary firm working with clients on every aspect of their growth plans will be very rewarding, and I’m looking forward to working closely with both existing and new members of the Birmingham corporate finance team.”

:::

Jason Hallam

Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking has appointed two business development directors to support customers in the Midlands.

Jason Hallam has joined as Mid Corporates business development director in Lloyds Bank’s flagship Colmore Row office in Birmingham.

He is an experienced corporate banker and has spent the past 14 years of his career with Lloyds Bank. His previous roles include business development in the social housing sector and asset-based lending, as well as Mid Corporates relationship manager where he specialised in manufacturing.

Hallam will be part of Lloyds Bank’s four-strong Mid Corporates business development team in the Midlands, supporting local businesses with turnovers between £25m and £100m by providing funding, structuring transactions and advising on liabilities.

Matthew McDonnell has been appointed Large Corporates business development director and has almost 10 years’ experience in business development and commercial banking. He joined Lex Autolease, the banking group’s car leasing company in 2014 as a business development manager, before progressing to associate director in the Financial Markets Operations team, which supports the bank’s financial institution clients.

As part of the Large Corporates business development team, he will support Midlands businesses with annual turnovers of £100m and above and will be based at Lloyds Bank’s Birmingham office.

Dene Jones, Mid Corporates regional managing director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “Lloyds Bank stands firmly by the side of businesses in the West Midlands and Jason’s significant experience will enable us to further enhance our services and support for local firms. These organisations are major contributors to both the local and national economy and supporting them is a fundamental part of our strategy to help Britain prosper.”

Andrew Connors, large corporates regional managing director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “Matthew’s appointment comes during an important period of growth for Lloyds Bank’s Midlands team as we look to bolster our support for local businesses and lend £2.5 billion this year. His extensive commercial banking experience and expertise will be an invaluable addition to the business development team as we look to increase our customer base, whilst further developing our services for existing clients.”

:::

Housebuilder Hayfield has appointed Lottie Crossley as its national PR manager.

She will be responsible for the Solihull-headquartered developer’s corporate and technical PR, all regional PR to promote its live residential sites and its social media activity.

Founded in 2016 by managing director Mark Booth, Hayfield specialises in luxury family houses and has six live sites located in locations in Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

It is part-funded via investment from global investors and a recent cash injection has enabled Hayfield to acquire a significant land bank.

Crossley has joined Hayfield from Innovation Birmingham, where she was head of external relations and head of communications. Prior to that, she spent 12 years at Birmingham-based property marketing specialist Core, where she was a director and shareholder. During her time at Core, her clients included Bloor Homes, Crest Nicholson, Knight Frank, Lovell Homes, Spitfire Homes and St. Modwen Homes.

Crossley said: “I am so excited to be back working in residential property PR, but this time in-house and for a developer that is looking to disrupt the marketplace.

“I was out of the industry for seven years while at Innovation Birmingham. During that time so many business sectors have changed and progressed at a very rapid pace, but the housebuilding industry hasn’t. As a well-funded newcomer to the marketplace, Hayfield is actively looking for ways to stand-out, innovate and introduce green and smart home technology. Meanwhile, at its core, the business has been founded on a desire to build an outstanding luxury product with exemplary customer service.”