A very positive outlook for the year ahead 2024: a year in review
Real expertise. Real results. 2024: a year in review
2024 was a year of change with some major events politically and economically both in the UK and worldwide, but in spite of some uncertainty, appetite and interest in local deals remained strong and increased rapidly as the year progressed. Our team in the East completed 27 deals during 2024, an increase of 42% from the prior year. Like many advisors we were extremely busy in the approach to the budget in October 2024 as fears over a significant increase to Capital Gains Tax rates combined with concerns that Business Asset Disposal relief could be abolished created momentum and accelerated many completions. Locally we completed 10 deals in 10 days prior to the chancellor’s first budget. Whilst there were winners and losers from the budget, the outlook for transactions in the year ahead remains positive as increases to Capital Gains Tax and changes to Business Asset Disposal Relief were much more modest than many people feared. We do not expect the increases to materially impact deal volumes or the decision making of sellers who are well prepared and ready to exit, and our pipeline for 2025 completions is strong. Our mix of work was similar to last year with EOTs, 7 being the largest contributor by number of deals, however, 2 complex private equity deals contributed nearly £100m of value for our clients. Trade disposals and traditional management buyouts made up the balance of our sell-side work. Demand for acquisition support was stronger than 2024 with 4 buyside advisory completions and 5 successful due diligence projects. We also continued to provide expert advice on lending and refinancing projects, completing 3 debt advisory mandates alongside a range of other advisory projects.
Nationally our Corporate Finance practice continued to grow with the acquisition of 2 significant regional firms, Lexington Corporate Finance in Wales and Williams Ali in Newcastle. This coupled with a number of partner and other senior hires across the UK brings our UK Corporate Finance headcount to over 100. Finally, our local team has continued to grow this year, and we were delighted to welcome Dave Howes back into the partnership to lead our local Corporate Finance practice which will be followed by a number of further additions to be announced in the coming months.
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Contents
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Introduction
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Highlights from 2024
Chris Adlam Partner Corporate Finance
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Our services
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Meet the Corporate Finance team
+44 (0)7786 166 927 chris.adlam@frpadvisory.com
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Case studies
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East of England offices
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National coverage
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