MarktoMarket Breakfast seminar

On the 24th of June, MarktoMarket hosted its fourth breakfast seminar of the year, this time in Leeds. Senior Account Executive at MarktoMarket, Kathryn Stevenson, was joined by Roger Esler, Corporate Finance Partner at Dow Schofield Watts.

Key themes

Kathryn’s presentation focused on corporate finance trends and activity in Yorkshire and North East. In 2024, there were 527 deals in the North East; an increase of 12% compared to 2023. Interestingly, deal value in the region increased exponentially by 324% between 2023 and 2024. This can be explained by multiple ‘mega deals’ by the likes of Virgin Money UK being acquired by NationWide Building Society, and Concert (trading as Evri) being acquired Apollo Global Management, just to name a few.

When analysing North East fundraising activity, MarktoMarket reports a decrease in deal volume in 2024 compared to 2023 by 15%.

Reflecting on 2024, some of the most active trade buyers were GoAhead, Street Charted Accountants, Paramount Retail Group and Origin Enterprises and more, while BGF, IK Partners, Apollo, Foresight and Connection Capital were the most acquisitive PE buyers.

Roger spoke about his journey with Dow Schofield Watts and how the firm had grown over the past 12–13 years into a leading advisory group. He reflected on DSW’s position in the market and the importance of independence in the sector.

Roger also shared views on market conditions in 2025, in terms of deal volumes and valuations. He talked about the resilience of the SME market in the light of recent global economic events and the appetite of both trade and PE buyers to deals.

Thank you to all those who attended. A special thanks to Roger Esler and those from Dow Schofield Watts for joining us in Leeds. For information on upcoming breakfast seminars, please email bradley.evans@marktomarket.io.

MARKTOMARKET

MarktoMarket collects rich data on private businesses, particularly in the small and mid-market. Our easily searchable database allows our advisory, private equity and corporate customers to identify, analyse and price investments and monitor market trends to create their own content.

MarktoMarket’s auditable data gives users the confidence that they are dealing with intelligence that can be trusted.

To continue the discussions about how data can support your business, contact Olga Melnyk at olga@marktomarket.io.