As Insider recently celebrated 30 years of Dealmakers, the event is now going national for the first time as all the year's regional winners face off to crown grand champions.
Winners from across the English regions and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will come together at The International Convention Centre, Birmingham on 6 February. The headline sponsor for the event is Rathbones, incorporating Investec Wealth & Investment (UK).
Ahead of the event, Jack Roper (investment manager, Manchester) and Nick Jones (divisional director, Birmingham) from Investec-Rathbones visited the Insider offices to explain why it's so important that they back this event and give their outlook for dealmaking in the coming year.
Editor Simon Keegan sat down with the pair in the Insider studio and they also discussed how entrepreneurs can be supported throughout their journey.
Winners from across the English regions and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will come together at The International Convention Centre, Birmingham on 6 February. The headline sponsor for the event is Rathbones, incorporating Investec Wealth & Investment (UK).
Ahead of the event, Jack Roper (investment manager, Manchester) and Nick Jones (divisional director, Birmingham) from Investec-Rathbones visited the Insider offices to explain why it's so important that they back this event and give their outlook for dealmaking in the coming year.
Editor Simon Keegan sat down with the pair in the Insider studio and they also discussed how entrepreneurs can be supported throughout their journey.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, I'm Simon Keegan, I'm the editor of the North West Business Insider.
00:15And last year Insider celebrated 30 years of our DealMakers event.
00:21And now we're doing something very special with DealMakers, we're launching our first
00:26ever UK DealMakers.
00:28So on February the 6th at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, we have the
00:34first ever National DealMakers Awards.
00:37Now I'm very pleased to announce that our headline sponsors are going to be Investec,
00:43part of the Rathbones Group.
00:45So I'm joined today by Jack Roper, Investment Manager at Manchester, and Nick Jones, Divisional
00:52Director in Birmingham.
00:53So welcome gentlemen.
00:56So why was it so important for you to be involved in this, the first National DealMakers
01:01Awards?
01:02So the Investec Wealth and Investment will be completing, coming together with Rathbones
01:06Group during 2025.
01:09So it's kind of a deal of your own really isn't it?
01:11Yeah, very much so.
01:12Quite appropriate.
01:13Yeah, yeah.
01:14So, and we've worked regionally, I had a presence in the regions, in the North West Midlands
01:19in particular.
01:20But as the two companies come together, it enhances our national footprint and gives
01:24us a really strong position to work with individuals and businesses.
01:27The new combined entity will have 23 offices across the UK and the Channel Islands.
01:33So we thought it just presented a really great opportunity for us to get involved and share
01:37our alignment with the dealmaking community.
01:40So that's a lot of synergy really there with the event because it's important to us regionally,
01:44you know, I led on the North West DealMakers event, but then we've also got South East,
01:50South West, Midlands, and obviously Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland as well.
01:54And now we've got that national presence.
01:58So you've got that regional, national synergy as well.
02:02Yeah.
02:03And now you talk there about that alignment, just tell us a little bit more about that,
02:08you know how, because we've got quite a diverse crowd there because we've got the DealMaker
02:15of the Year, we've got the Law Firm of the Year, we've got the CF Team of the Year, you
02:20know, how do you align with these dealmakers?
02:24So we kind of have two touch points as it were within the business, I think on the one
02:27side with our bank, we have a corporate advisory team, so they advise on M&A deals themselves.
02:33And then from our side of the business, we then look to work with founders, significant
02:37shareholders to help them structure, financially plan, look after their wealth in the event
02:42of any exit.
02:44It's quite a nice fit, and there's been a number of deals, particularly in the north
02:46where I'm based, of it successfully working together with our corporate advisory team
02:51is advising a deal, and then we've then taken on the client afterwards and helping to structure
02:55that wealth and protect it.
02:56Right, okay, so that really is the two sides of the deal, because obviously we've got the
03:01advisors there, the corporate finance and so on, and then so you're actually involved
03:06in kind of funding some of these deals then, but then also as you say, if it's an exit,
03:16then there's that wealth management side, isn't there?
03:18So I mean, I kind of imagine that when you run in a business, you can be kind of laser
03:27focused on the day to day of running that business, can't you?
03:31And so then, you know, it's part of their identity, isn't it?
03:35So their business, often it's a family business, or it's something that they've grown, and
03:40so they're maybe not even thinking about life beyond that in some cases, are they?
03:45Absolutely, and this year we've done a bit of work in the tech sector in Manchester,
03:49looking at founders there.
03:51So arguably a bit earlier on in their journey than people would be at this stage of looking
03:54to do M&A activity, but it's the same principle that applies.
03:58So we're seeing time and time again with founders in the tech community, they put their business
04:04ahead of everything, it's their passion project, they put the business ahead of themselves,
04:09they often put their employees ahead of themselves, because they see that's where the value is.
04:16And the amount of conversations I've had with people that haven't had a chance to even look
04:18at their own finances and plan for the future, which reminds me of the saying, you know,
04:24the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is today.
04:29So that would be my message to anyone on that stage of the journey, it's really starting,
04:33it's not shameful to consider yourself and try and look out for your own finances in this.
04:38It's a very respectable and noble thing to do to build a company like that and create
04:43wealth for your employees and aid the economy, but you do need to protect yourself as well.
04:47Yeah, yeah, well, interesting what Jack's saying there, Nick.
04:51I mean, I suppose when you say wealth management, do you ever get that response where people
04:57will say, well, that's not me yet, you know, I'm not a billionaire, you know.
05:02It's a really good point, Simon, actually.
05:04And for years, I've been saying, you know, have conversations with people at any stage
05:07during the business cycle, because often I think entrepreneurs will start a business
05:11not necessarily always with an exit plan, they'll start a business to do something with
05:17a product that they really believe in.
05:19And we're really keen, you know, we have conversations with people all the way through.
05:24And by doing that, it just enables the point so that when there is some value realisation,
05:29the foundations are already in place for the planning, for the structure of how they
05:34want to look after their family.
05:35Yeah.
05:36And it's just as you keep on.
05:38So it's kind of, as he says, with the tree analogy, you know, it's kind of never too
05:45early, but it's also kind of never too late to start thinking about this future planning
05:50and this succession planning, isn't it?
05:52Yeah, absolutely.
05:53And also, I think within entrepreneurial families, you know, often they'll bring the children
06:00through or financially educate the children or talk about investments with the children.
06:04And we do that as well.
06:06How can we help generationally in a bit of education, which sometimes isn't always there
06:12for the kids coming through and the owner may want to protect them from the situation
06:17or from the wealth.
06:18Yeah.
06:19It's so, so important to include them in that and try to educate them at different levels,
06:22different degrees through the ages.
06:25And so it's every stage of the journey, really, isn't it?
06:27It's not just that kind of thinking, oh, well, when I'm 70, I'll think about my exit.
06:31Yeah, exactly.
06:32It's that journey.
06:33Yeah.
06:34And we are not a business that puts our hand up at the end when somebody's had the realization
06:38and go, can we help you?
06:39Yeah.
06:40Because that doesn't work.
06:41You've got to build a relationship from the start.
06:43Sure, sure.
06:44So, I mean, we're talking there about some of these, you know, exits and things like
06:50that.
06:52What about the activity you've seen?
06:53I mean, has there been plenty of that for the last couple of years?
06:55Yeah, it's obviously no great insight to say it's been a challenging couple of years for
06:59the deals market.
07:00Fueled by fears of inflation, interest rate rises, economic uncertainty, a lot of people
07:06have been sitting on cash and sort of reducing activity.
07:11There's a lot of expectation that we'll pick up a lot in 2024 and we have seen a bit of
07:14that, but it's been quite segmented by the market size and that's particularly driven
07:20by the budgets.
07:21So in the small to mid-market area, we saw quite a lot of activity, people trying to
07:25get deals over the line before the budgets with fears of tax increases, wanted to get
07:31things set on stone whilst there was a degree of certainty.
07:35What we didn't see was that in the sort of mid to upper level markets.
07:38So the activity for us didn't really pick up there in the same way.
07:42In hindsight, that was probably a fairly wise course of action.
07:45And I think from the people we speak to, a lot of the feeling has been, okay, it wasn't
07:49great, the budget, but it could have been a lot worse.
07:53I think that was it, wasn't it?
07:54That was the theme of the budget.
07:55It was kind of like budget 2024, it could have been worse.
07:59Yeah, absolutely.
08:00So that leads us into sort of our outlook going forward.
08:03And as a result of the uncertainty of the last couple of years, we feel there's probably
08:08going to be a bit of an uptick in activity.
08:10That's mainly going to be driven by the private equity partners that we speak to who tend
08:14to be sitting on a bit of dry powder and need to start deploying that capital.
08:18I mean, I'm Northwest biased, but we've got an amazing private equity community here in
08:24Manchester and in the Northwest, haven't we?
08:26We've got about 30 private equity houses.
08:29They've got a lot, they're sitting on a lot of money.
08:31They're going to want to deploy that money, aren't they?
08:34Yes, absolutely.
08:35And particularly with the course of interest rates, will be coming down most likely, maybe
08:40not as fast as the market first expected.
08:42However, that seems to be the trajectory which will then make deals more attractive and activity
08:46more attractive.
08:48And we've also seen a difference between the sectors as well.
08:50So again, it's no great surprise.
08:52The tech sector or anything AI related attracts quite a premium valuation at the moment.
08:58And we've seen that in public markets as well with sort of US mega cap names.
09:03However, aside from that, we've also seen some interesting activity in the professional
09:07services markets.
09:08A lot of consolidation there, isn't it?
09:10Yes, and also in the property services market, particularly tech related things with that.
09:15So there are certain areas of the market that are holding their previous valuations.
09:19And we would probably look to see that increase.
09:21And you're seeing that nationally, are you?
09:23Yes.
09:24Right, okay.
09:25Because I know that what you're saying has certainly been true here in the North West.
09:29So I'd be interested to know if that's the kind of flavor across the country.
09:33Yes, certainly.
09:34And it seems to be sort of when you read things online as well, it sort of seems to be the
09:38general consensus across the industry.
09:41Yes, well, look, it's an exciting time to be going into the UK dealmakers.
09:45I mean, I sat in on the judging for the North West dealmakers.
09:49And I think we've got some of our North West winners are going forward into this.
09:54But I'm quite familiar with some of the ones from around the country as well.
09:59And, you know, they're all winners who were shortlisted.
10:03So it's a really, really strong shortlist.
10:06I think it's going to be fantastic to crown our first national champions.
10:12I'm looking forward to seeing it.
10:13It's going to be good, isn't it?
10:14It's really high caliber companies and dealmakers getting in.
10:18Absolutely.
10:19And hopefully, you know, at Insider, we don't do things once.
10:23This tends to be the first of many.
10:26So, yeah, if you don't have your tickets for the UK dealmakers, it's February the 6th.
10:33It's at the International Convention Center in Birmingham.
10:36Secure your tickets for that.
10:38And I think all that we can say is good luck to everyone shortlisted.
10:43And we'll see you on the night.