Pictured: Transaction Services partner Guy Thomas, partner
and head of the financial services transactions services team Simon
Thompson, Senior Practice Partner in the Midlands Chris Loughran
and Audit partner in the financial services team Matt
Perkins
Deloitte has appointed former KPMG partner, Simon Thompson, to
lead a new national financial services transaction services team
from its base in Birmingham. The new team has been formed to advise
on transactions across the breadth of the financial services sector
from all Deloitte regional locations outside London.
Initially qualifying as an auditor, Simon Thompson has spent
more than twelve years working exclusively with financial services
organisations in the UK and further afield across Europe, North
America, Africa and the Far East. Commenting on his appointment and
the formation of the new team, Thompson said:
"We have seen an increasing volume of transactional activity
within the financial services sector and this is set to continue.
We anticipate even more deal activity, particularly within the
building and friendly societies, non-standard lenders and other
insurers."
According to Thompson, transaction activity is being driven by a
number of key factors within the industry, primarily: balance sheet
consolidation as the availability of capital increasingly drives
decision-making; cost reduction through economies of scale to be
gained through a merger or acquisition and from the appetite of
private equity to acquire financial services assets.
He continues: "There is a widespread misperception that
financial services companies reside almost exclusively in the City
of London and the South East - this is simply not the case. We have
launched this team across the regions with teams in Birmingham,
Manchester and Leeds, which will work with existing Deloitte
financial services audit, tax and consulting teams, to provide a
more tailored and specialised service to financial service
organisations throughout the UK."
Commenting on the launch of the team and on Thompson's
appointment, Chris Loughran, Practice Senior Partner for Deloitte
in the Midlands, said: "This initiative is in response to an
increasing demand for our services in a sector that continues to be
an important part of both the national and local economy. In
particular, we are seeing great interest in Birmingham and the
surrounding area as a great place to locate financial services
businesses. The heightened deal activity in this sector is only set
to continue and there is a clear demand for local, on-the-ground
insight when advising on transactions around the UK."
"Simon's appointment brings a real depth of experience within
financial services which, coupled with our existing strengths
across the regions, means we now have a comprehensive local offer
tailored for this sector."