2022 Yorkshire Rainmaker Award winners revealed
Rothschild & Co’s Stephen Griffiths was named Rainmaker of the Year as Yorkshire’s corporate finance finest were recognised at a packed awards evening.
Griffiths said: “The deal flow last year has been phenomenal but doing the Morrisons and Turner and Townsend deals, which combined are worth c.£12bn, out of Yorkshire and showing Yorkshire as an absolute centre of excellence is a testament to my team and the wider community that is Yorkshire.”
The awards, sponsored by Hall Brown, Square One Law, and Oxygen, were judged on a “one firm, one vote” basis following a shortlisting process in May The winners were revealed at a special summer party hosted by comedian Jo Caulfield at Aspire in Leeds.
Ben Ormsby, Yorkshire editor at TheBusinessDesk.com said: “It was a fantastic evening to celebrate the success the sector has experienced over what has been strong year for deals against a tumultuous economic backdrop.
“Congratulations to all the shortlisted and obviously our winners, we look forward to bringing this summer party back in 2023 and being able to once again celebrate the fantastic work being done from this region by our corporate finance community. ”
The event also saw the community raising money for The Teenage Cancer Trust, with donations collected both physically and digitally during the evening to support the charity’s work to improve the cancer experience of young people aged 13–24.
The full list of winners are:
TEAMS
Legal
- Clarion
- Addleshaw Goddard
- Gordons
- Squire Patton Boggs
- Walker Morris
Corporate Finance
- Clearwater International
- Dow Schofield Watts
- KPMG
- Rothschild & Co
- Sentio Partners
VC/Private Equity
- BGF
- Endless
- LDC
- Mercia
- YFM
Funder
- HSBC
- OakNorth Bank
- Shawbrook Bank
- Thincats
- Virgin Money
DEALS
Deal under £20m
- Sheffield Forgemasters acquisition by the Ministry of Defence
- Bradford-based Barwick Bathroom Distribution acquired by TPA Capital
- MBO of Hull-based Hawthorn Timber backed by Nimbus
- MBO of West Yorkshire logistics business Expect Distribution
- Palatine’s Impact Fund took a significant minority stake in Sheffield environmental services group Cura Terrae
- Super-premium pet food company Pet Food UK acquisition from Piper by CapVest’s Inspired Pet Nutrition
Private Equity Exit
- Estio Training was acquired by BPP Education Group, resulting in the first exit for Palatine’s Impact Fund
- Holiday park operator Coppergreen Leisure Resorts was acquired by Away Resorts, resulting in an exit for BGF
- Multichannel communications provider Adare SEC was acquired by Opus Trust Marketing, resulting in an exit for Endless
- Offsite manufacturer Sigmat was acquired by Belgian group Etex, resulting in an exit for LDC
- Pelsis Group was acquired by Pamplona Capital Management, resulting in an exit for LDC
- Transport tech firm 365 Response was acquired by RLDatix, resulting in an exit for BGF
M&A Deal
- Succession and growth finance raising for Carnaby Caravans
- CBRE took a 60% stake in Turner & Townsend
- CD&R acquired Morrisons for £7.1bn
- US group IAA bought Doncaster-based salvage group Synetiq
- US private equity firm Further Global took a majority stake in Progeny
- Endless backed the MBO of Yorkshire Premier Meat
INDIVIDUALS
Rising Stars
Legal
- Mae Salem, Squire Patton Boggs
- Amy Pierechod, Gordons
- Megan Atack, Freeths
- Natalie Hager, Shoosmiths
- Russell Naglis, Eversheds
Corporate Finance
- Duncan Morpeth, Grant Thornton
- Ben Taylor, KPMG
- John O’Gara, Sentio Partners
- Jonny Sharp, Deloitte
- Rob Umpleby, Clearwater
Investment
- Paul Denvers, Enact
- Jon Duffy, Endless
- Linda Nguyenova, Endless
- Mani Minhas, NorthEdge
- Rob Johnson, BGF
Funder
- Rob Atkinson, Virgin Money
- Michelle Sung, HSBC
Changemaker
- Rebecca Rennison, EY
- Nicola McQuaid, NorthEdge
- Peter McCormack, Eversheds
- Sue Richardson, KPMG
- Victoria Davey, Gordons
Rainmaker
- Stephen Griffiths, Rothschild & Co
- Jonathan Simms, Clarion
- Paul Mann, Squire Patton Boggs
- Richard Goldsack, Clearwater International
- Roger Esler, Dow Schofield Watts
The celebrations continued with an after party hosted by The Alchemist on Greek Street.
