Dealmaker Gillespie set to retire from PwC
ONE of the region’s leading names in corporate finance, PwC partner Colin Gillespie, is to stand down at the end of this year.
Gillespie, whose stand-out deals include the take-private of discount retailer Matalan and the sale of Liverpool by the Moores family, plans to take a number of non-executive roles in what he describes as his “fourth career”.
He said today: “I have been proud to work across the North West and North from a base in Manchester, and to be part of a fantastic financial and professional community, where I have made many good friends.”
Before joinig PwC – just two weeks before the 1998 merger of Coopers and Lybrand with Pricewaterhouse – he worked as an investment banker BZW and before that as an accountant for Arthur Andersen.
He added: “The plan for my fourth career is to assemble a portfolio of advisory and non-executive roles… My intention is to remain an active part of this community through my portfolio of involvements with a range of businesses.”
Gillespie, who has been one of the judges on TheBusinessDesk.com’s Deal of the Month panel since ist formation last year, has already been appointed to the Council of the University of Nottingham – his alma mater.
Gillespie’s career in professional services began in 1976 whern he joined Arthur Andersen . After five years as an auditor he spent 6 years doing special work such as purchase investigations and public company circulars.
During this time he worked with North West manufacturer British Vita and current pro.manchester CEo John Ashcroft’s Coloroll.
His ‘second career’ was with BZW, whom he joined in 1988. There he worked on a number of major regional IPOs, including Redrow, John David Sports and Speedy Hire, which demerged from Allen plc, in the North West, and Pace Micro Technology in Yorkshire.
