People: The latest West Midlands hires
idverde, the Coventry-based grounds maintenance and landscape specialists, has announced that Doug Graham will step down as CEO of the UK company.
He will be succeeded by Chris Pullen, an experienced business leader who has worked in senior roles across the support services sector, including Staffline and AWG.
Graham has led idverde through a strong growth phase, having joined the business in 2008. He played a key role in its development from what was then a £38m turnover organisation with 700-strong workforce to today where it has a turnover of £240m and nearly 4,000 staff across the UK.
“During Spring 2020 Doug Graham took a personal decision to stand down from his position of CEO at idverde UK during 2021,” said Hervé Lancon, idverde president.
“Doug led a significant growth of idverde in the UK and played a key part within the wider idverde Group that has grown from €250m turnover and 3,000 colleagues in 2014 to €850m turnover and 9,000 colleagues in 2020. We would like to thank Doug for his significant contribution to the business and we wish him well for the future.”
Reporting directly to Lancon, Pullen joins idverde with a wealth of experience in the support services sector, most recently at Staffline Plc, one of the largest recruitment companies in the UK, where he was CEO and previously group chief financial officer.
Pullen said: “idverde has been a great success story across Europe, and having watched the company grow in the UK and beyond I look forward to joining the leadership team, building on the great things that Doug has achieved and meeting my new colleagues. The opportunities across our core sectors and in new arenas are strong and our skills base is unparalleled within the market, and I am excited about being part of the development of this great business.”
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Private equity firm LDC has boosted its Midlands team with the appointment of Craig Hinde as origination director.
Hinde will be responsible for identifying potential investment opportunities in the region, leading transactions and supporting the management teams of LDC’s portfolio businesses as they pursue their growth ambitions.
Hinde, who will be based in LDC’s Birmingham and Nottingham offices, joins from private equity-backed technology-led marketing business Inspired Thinking Group, where he was business development director.
He has nine years’ experience in private equity and working with private equity-backed businesses and was previously an origination manager at LDC.
He played a key role in originating LDC’s investments in Zip World and Panther Logistics, along with originating two acquisitions for Midlands manufacturer Stuart Turner. Prior to this he held corporate finance analyst and research roles at AlphaSights and Grant Thornton.
Richard Whitwell, head of LDC in the Midlands, said: “We’re committed to backing ambitious management teams of growing Midlands businesses, and we’re extremely pleased to welcome Craig back to the team to help us do this. While we hold cautious optimism for lockdown measures easing, we’re poised to support management teams across the region that are looking to build scale as new opportunities begin to emerge. Craig has an extensive network in the region and has played an important role in supporting our investment pipeline in the past. He will be a valuable asset to the team.”
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Global investment bank GCA Altium has recruited Sabial Hanif and Luke Pedley as vice presidents to its Midlands M&A team.
Based in Birmingham, the team has grown consistently since the office opened in January 2020 and now numbers seven dedicated M&A professionals in the region.
Hanif brings a wealth of experience in business services and technology, including marketing services, live events and the social media agency sector. He joins GCA Altium from the Deloitte M&A team in the Midlands.
Pedley also joins the firm with seven years of experience in M&A advisory. He began his career at RSM where he became ACA qualified, before moving to Dow Schofield Watts in Leeds.
With extensive experience in buy-side and sell-side advisory for private equity and corporates, Pedley’s transactions have covered a range of technology and industrial sectors.
The news follows a strong pipeline of transactions and a number of deal completions led from the Birmingham office in recent weeks. This includes the sale of school software provider SchoolCloud to Tes Global and advising automotive technology provider Autofutura on its acquisition of West Midlands-based Chrysalis Loyalty.
GCA Altium has tripled the size of its Midlands team since it was established last year and has plans for further growth in coming months under the leadership of Managing Directors Jeremy Harrison and Jamie Hope.
Phil Adams, CEO of GCA Altium, said: “It’s an extremely active period for GCA Altium both in the UK and internationally, with more than 30 deals completed in the first few months of this year in Europe alone. We have experienced a great reception to opening in the Midlands since our launch last year. Following the strong start of our team there, we are committed and excited to be able to invest further in our people and infrastructure in the coming months.”
