Our Story
James Dow, Jon Schofield, and Mark Watts, having worked at KPMG’s Corporate Finance practice in the Northwest of England, founded the business as a corporate finance boutique in 2002 and the licence model was conceived in 2008.
As the Dow Schofield Watts name became established, the management team identified a clear opportunity to tap into an unfulfilled and under-rewarded talent pool.
Awards
We are a multi-disciplinary network with 26 network members (as of 31 March 2025) with a proven track record of winning awards, particularly in northern England.
In 2025 our CFOO Pete Fendall won Young Accountant of the Year at the North West Young Professionals Awards and we won Transaction Services Team of the Year at the Yorkshire Rainmakers Awards.
In 2024, Catriona Lang, won Changemaker of the Year at the North West Rainmaker Awards, and our corporate finance team was awarded Medium Deal of the Year for their work on Waterland’s investment into Cumbria Waste Group.
In 2023, we were ranked 56th in Accountancy Age Top 50+ 50 UK Accountancy Firms.
Our corporate finance team has won North West Insider’s Corporate Finance Team of the Year a total of five times since 2012 and Niche Firm of the Year at the Yorkshire Accountancy Awards in both 2020 and 2021.
