Winning Pitch raises £2.5m to drive growth

WINNING Pitch, the business coaching and support firm, has received £2.5m in funding to boost its own growth.

The Salford company will expand its team and develop its sales-focused ‘Skills for Growth’ division after the investment from two funds managed by Enterprise Ventures.

The deal comprises  £1.5m investment by the Enterprise Ventures Growth Fund, and a £1m investment from The North West Fund for Mezzanine.

Founded in 2005 by John Leach, Winning Pitch also has offices in Liverpool, Leeds, Gateshead and Cardiff.

In addition to its private clients, Winning Pitch has secured a number of public sector business support contracts in England and Wales. It is a lead partner in delivering the government’s GrowthAccelerator programme to encourage business growth.

It also manages the government’s new Growth Vouchers scheme in the North West.

The company has recently created a new Skills for Growth division to address a skills gap in high performance selling. It has secured a first training contract from Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce to establish the Winning Sales Academy.

Managing director Jim Keane  said: “We are delighted with this investment as it secures the platform and resources to sustain our growth objectives, develop new business and individual growth products and build global recognition of the WP brand.”   

Wayne Thomas and Stewart McCombe negotiated the deal on behalf of the Funds.

Wayne Thomas said: “Winning Pitch has established a reputation for delivering high quality business growth services to ambitious entrepreneurs. The company has the opportunity to step up its existing activities and to expand into an important new area. The lack of skills training is a key challenge for the UK economy and will provide a strong growth area for the business.”

Ward Hadaway provided legal advice to the funds. Manchester commercial firm Turner Parkinson advised the management team. Frazer Hall provided corporate finance advice to Winning Pitch.
CLB Coopers provided tax advice and Deloitte advised on valuations. Financial due diligence for the funds was carried out by Mazars and management due diligence by Korn Ferry.