People: Private equity firm poaches Deloitte manager; Schofield Sweeney expands litigation team; and more

Matt Tice has joined the expanding team at Leeds headquartered private equity house Key Capital Partners (KCP) as investment manager.

An experienced corporate finance adviser with a strong track record of advising businesses in the mid-market, Tice joins from Deloitte in Leeds where he worked as a manager in the corporate finance team.  Previously, he spent two years with BHP Corporate Finance in the role of corporate finance manager, having also been with Mazars for six years, latterly as a corporate finance executive.

Working alongside KCP partners Owen Trotter and James Hall in the firm’s Leeds office, Tice’s appointment will further strengthen the team as it builds on its strong performance in 2017 and looks to replicate this in the current year.

The PE house, which focuses on the smaller end of the buy-out market, is expanding its team to enable it to continue to invest and work with the leading SMEs and management teams across the North of England.

Hall said: “With his strong track record in corporate finance, advising SMEs and working closely with management teams, Matt will be a valuable addition to the team.  Like us, he believes in getting close to businesses and working with them to achieve their ambitions.

“2017 was a busy year for KCP in which we completed four deals – a record for the firm.  We continue to see a strong flow of attractive opportunities, and, with £140m of funds currently under management, we are actively looking to invest in dynamic growing businesses across the UK.”

Tice added: “KCP has established a fantastic reputation in the smaller end of the buy-out market.  I’m really excited to be joining an experienced, well respected team which focuses not only on providing much-needed expansion capital to profitable, dynamic businesses, but also in working with their management teams to find ways to add value and help them fulfil their growth potential.”

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Schofield Sweeney, which has offices in Bradford, Leeds and Huddersfield, has further strengthened its litigation team.

Alannah Crux has joined the firm’s Bradford office and Kate Knight will be based in Leeds.

Crux and Knight both joined from Leeds practices, Crux having trained at Michael Lewin Solicitors and Knight at LCF Law.

Jim Staton, head of litigation, said, “We are delighted to appoint both Alannah and Kate to the team which is now one of the largest in West Yorkshire following the recruitment of three new partners, Leo Jones-Rowe, Gary Ashton and Matt Fiddler during 2017.

“We are building on the team’s successful 2017 and with the recruitment of Alannah and Kate, we believe that 2018 will see our upward trend continue.”

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UBS Wealth Management has welcomed Richard Wood as a client advisor in its Leeds office, as it continues to grow its regional business.

He joins UBS following 10 years at Barclays Wealth. Having joined Barclays as a portfolio manager, Wood moved into a private banking role in 2010 where he focused on advising high net worth clients in Yorkshire.

Karan Sejpal, regional head, North West and Yorkshire at UBS Wealth Management said: “UBS continues to go from strength to strength in Yorkshire. Local entrepreneurship continues to flourish and there’s a positive mood among businesses in the region. Almost three quarters of UBS’s clients at a recent event told us they feel confident about economic growth in the region this year.

“We are constantly on the lookout for the best talent. Richard’s experience in the region makes him the perfect fit to join our growing team.”