People: Mercia appoints new investment manager; Begbies Traynor welcomes partner to advisory team; and more

Mercia Fund Managers, part of Mercia Technologies, has appointed Will Schaffer as Investment Manager.  

He will be supporting businesses across Yorkshire, with a particular focus on the Sheffield City Region.

Schaffer has six years’ experience in finance, most recently as a mergers and acquisitions specialist with KPMG in Leeds and previously with The McLean Group in Washington D.C.

He has worked on deals including the private equity-backed merger of Pharmacy2U and ChemistDirect.co.uk and the Pressure Technologies Plc divestment of its Hydratron subsidiary to Pryme Group.

For the past 12 months Schaffer has been seconded to NorthInvest, where he developed an angel investor network and support ecosystem for tech startups across the North.

At Mercia, Schaffer will be responsible for providing businesses with investment of £100,000 to £2.0m from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, which is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and is managed by Mercia Fund Managers.

He will be working with the Sheffield Local Enterprise Partnership.

Schaffer said: “Mercia has a strong track record for supporting SMEs and investing in early-stage firms. There is a huge amount of potential in Yorkshire – my role will be to identify the most promising businesses and help them to scale and grow.”

Will Clark, Fund Manager for NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, added: “Having invested £15.7m in 57 businesses in Yorkshire last year, Mercia is one of the most active investors in the region. His appointment will allow us to further strengthen our team in Yorkshire and help more regional businesses in the future.”

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Begbies Traynor, the business recovery, financial advisory and property services consultancy, has appointed restructuring and corporate finance specialist Martin Barron as a Partner in its BTG Advisory team in Leeds.

Joining Begbies Traynor Group from Grant Thornton where he was a partner and led the firm’s restructuring team across Yorkshire and the North East, Barron is a qualified accountant with more than 20 years’ experience advising businesses and stakeholders.

Previously, he spent 16 years with Deloitte LLP working within the firm’s restructuring services teams in Leeds and Newcastle.

Barron has worked across a wide range of sectors and organisations from small owner managed businesses to large corporates and public sector bodies. His areas of expertise include cash and working performance improvement, capital optimisation, turnaround planning, distressed debt advisory, financial and operational restructuring.

In his new role, Barron will strengthen Begbies Traynor Group’s advisory offering in the North, working under the BTG Advisory brand and supporting organisations, their owners and funders, through periods of strategic, operational or organisational change.

Julian Pitts, Regional Managing Partner for Begbies Traynor in Yorkshire, said: “Having such an experienced advisory partner join the team will help us further grow our advisory offering, particularly within the North.

“Martin is a highly -respected figure with a wide network of contacts and will be able to provide vital insight into funding and refinancing options for a whole range of organisations and stakeholders.”

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Beacon, a York-based purchasing company, has announced the appointment of Keith Hinchcliffe as Managing Director.

The appointment will see Beacon further develop its range of central services to benefit new and existing customers.

Hinchcliffe previously worked for Capita as Head of Procurement for Central London NHS Community Trust.

In his new role at Beacon, Hinchcliffe will have full responsibility for all aspects of the business, including non-pay spend, marketing strategy, supplier relationship management and client relations.

Hinchcliffe has a wealth of experience in the purchasing industry in a range of roles spanning healthcare, foodservice, business consultancy and procurement.

With expertise that includes running his own consultancy company, Hinchcliffe is ideally placed to drive and shape the future for Beacon with new, competitive opportunities for its customer base.

Hinchcliffe said: “I am thrilled to be joining the team at Beacon and am really looking forward to inspiring a transition plan that will guide the business to further commercial growth. There is massive potential for Beacon to grow through some simple, yet impactful changes that I believe will create market leading propositions for our client base.

“I’m a firm believer in investing in people and am confident that with the team we have at Beacon, we will ultimately be in a position to win in key markets as we provide a range of competitive value propositions.

“I want innovation to be Beacon’s priority, and will strive to launch new commercial products at a pace that will provide compelling solutions to customer needs that will deliver sustainable cash releasing savings.”

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