Corporate finance house Dow Schofield Watts has created a partnership with consultancy Diligencia “to create the broadest and deepest due diligence service to support the corporate finance market”.

The new operation will bring together 20 people in Daresbury with plans to increase headcount. “Our consultants are not just academics – we have all run businesses at the sharp end,” said James Dow, partner at Dow Schofield Watts.

“We bring real commercial expertise.” Bruce Scott, who acquired Diligencia from the Jefferson Smurfit Group in 1995, added: “We are offering a complete solution that no other company can currently match.”