E&Y boosts debt advisory team with Yorkshire’s Kilpatrick

ERNST & Young has made a heavyweight appointment to its expanding capital and debt advisory business in Manchester.

The Big Four firm has hired former corporate banker Roddy Kilpatrick as a director. Mr Kilpatrick, who trained as an accountant with E&Y in his native Scotland, joins from the Manchester office of Yorkshire Bank where he led its acquisition finance team in the North West.

The E&Y capital and debt advisory team is led by partner Gary Davison. It has now appointed six key staff – two partners, two director and two exectutives across Manchester and London in the last few months, though it lost Mark Taylor to corporate finance firm Clearwater last month.

Partner Gary Davison said: “In such a stagnant market, corporates are looking for innovative ways to raise, invest, optimise and preserve capital, which has sparked greater demand for professional advice.

“We expect benign market conditions to continue with nominal GDP growth over the next two years, which means corporates need to reorganise and restructure their capital and debt for the longer term in order to protect shareholder value.”

The team has advised on 60 transactions in the last 12 months, raising more than £2bn worth of finance for corporates, including FTSE 100 businesses.

Welcoming the new recruit he said: “Roddy has an exceptionally strong skill set, backed with considerable market experience. His appointment is part of a wider investment strategy to strengthen the team with quality talent to satisfy growing demand.  

“He has a corporate finance background, which when blended with extensive banking experience, creates the ideal platform to strengthen a debt advisory brand.”

Mr Kilpatrick added: “During this period of bank credit scarcity, I’m keen to support regional corporates, working within a fast growing and ambitious team.

“Alternatives to traditional bank funding are becoming more prevalent; whether to fund private equity backed buyouts, corporate re-financing, or funding corporate growth aspirations.”