Deloitte is set to create up to 100 new jobs across the North of England with the launch of a specialised regional deals unit, in the latest sign that firms are eager to capitalise on the Prime Minister’s national growth agenda.
The Big Four firm said on Thursday it plans to create up to 100 new deal transformation jobs by 2030 across its Manchester and Leeds offices in an expansion of its M&A capability outside London.
The new roles will sit within Deloitte’s newly formed deal transformation North team, led by Adam Batson, Deloitte director and deal transformation North lead. The new unit will be part of the firm’s M&A-related offering and will provide services and company support for complex M&A transactions, including functional specialist support in HR, finance, and technology for companies in the North of England.
Batson said: “As value creation becomes harder and transactions are increasingly complex, clients want access to specialist expertise that understands their businesses and is close to where they operate.”
Deloitte said it already has 100 people working on M&A-related services in Manchester and Leeds, but this plan will double the headcount.
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SUBSCRIBE HEREThe new unit follows Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s July launch of No 10 North in Manchester, which is expected to serve as a central command hub to drive regional economic growth and devolve power away from Westminster.
Focus on growing advisory unit outside the City
Deloitte said this announcement is part of its broader UK places strategy, which includes plans to grow its advisory group, strategy, risk and transactions advisory (SRTA), outside London.
Dave Sharman, Deloitte’s managing partner for its SRTA group, said: “The pace of growth across the North in recent years has been phenomenal, and this investment underlines our commitment to our UK-wide strategy.”
“There are talented people all over the UK, and this is just the start of how we will further harness that talent to build market-leading teams across the country, creating opportunities for our people and delivering specialist expertise to clients wherever they are based,” he added.
In the Big Four giant’s recent UK results, its SRTA business rebounded 1 per cent over the last financial year, up from the 10 per cent decline the UK arm reported last year.