Appointments: Deal-maker Houghton joins LDC; Montpelier’s new operations director; Gouge leaves Eidos and more

PRIVATE equity firm Lloyds Development Capital has boosted its North West deals team by luring Catherine Houghton from Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance.

Catherine, who has joined as an investment director, led a number of key North West deals while at BoSIF, including the secondary buyout of Bolton-based Verna Group.

Her appointment creates a seven-strong team at LDC’s Manchester office headed by Carl Wormald and Ray Stenton. 

Despite the credit crunch hitting deal flow because of a lack of available debt funding, LDC says it expects to invest £250m this year, with the North West seen as being a key region for activity.

Darryl Eales, chief executive of LDC, said: “Despite the well publicised turbulence in the transaction arena, research shows that deals in the £5m to £50m range in the North West increased year on year. This clearly demonstrates the resilience of locally-sourced mid-market deals, which are the bedrock of LDC’s regional focus.”

Catherine Houghton said: “LDC has established a fantastic reputation and track record in the North West over the last 10 years. I’m looking forward to helping the team build on that and deliver new investment to quality businesses across the region.”

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MONTPELIER Chartered Accountants has named Kath Martin as operations director, as it continues its expansion programme.

Kath, 42, will oversee the growth of the Manchester office and focus on maintaining a high standard of service for clients who are predominantly family-owned and owner-managed businesses.

Montpelier was established more than three years ago and aims to double turnover to £25m by the end of this year through organic growth and by acquisition.

Robert Jackson, chief executive of Montpelier Chartered Accountants, said: “As we continue to grow our Manchester office and recruit a new team dedicated to advising large companies, Kath will ensure we continue to deliver an efficient, client-focused service.”

Kath qualified as a chartered certified accountant in 1990 with Thomson Morley Jackson & Co., which was acquired by Montpelier in 2005. She provides strategic advice for business growth, as well as restructuring, sale and exit planning.

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PAUL Gouge, the former managing director of Manchester-based Rockpool
Games, has left Eidos, the company which bought his business.

The departure of Mr Gouge, who built up Rockpool before selling it to SCI Entertainment, which later became Eidos, in 2007 for up to £7m, came a week after the company, famous for Tomb Raider, announced the closure of the Manchester studio with 14 job losses.

Rockpool was a pioneer of mobile phone gaming concepts. Eidos said the closure of the Manchester office was driven by the need to reduce costs.

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PHOTOLINK Creative Group has appointment of Rachel Mcquitty as head of digital.

She has joined the Manchester company after taking 18 months off after having a baby. Before that she spent three years in Australia in the online division of  JWT Sydney.

Rachel said she was attracted to Photolink because of the opportunity to work for a multi-channel agency covering all disciplines including digital, design, photography, events and PR as part of a team of 100 people.

She added: “I’m really enjoying the challenges of my role at Photolink. The team is really talented and I think we’re going to go from strength to strength in 2009. My main responsibilities are further defining and enhancing our digital services so that as a group Photolink are capable of providing profitable multi channel solutions.”

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PAUL Denny, previously national sales director at JLT UK is joining the Manchester office of insurance company Lockton as a partner.

Mr Denny has 25 years’ experience in the insurance industry, the last 14 of which have been with JLT, and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the corporate business environment.

Matt Davies, managing partner, Lockton North commented: “We are delighted to welcome Paul into the Northern Partnership. I have known Paul for many years and have great respect for his ability to develop and grow senior level client relationships.”

He is expected to start his new role in May.