The corporate finance team at Dow Schofield Watts has taken home two awards for deals they advised on at the Yorkshire Rainmakers Awards last Friday.
The team were recognised in the Deal under £20m category for their work on the sale of Sheffield Forgemasters to the UK Ministry of Defence, and M&A Deal of the Year for their involvement in the succession and growth capital deal for Carnaby Caravans Ltd funded by Shawbrook Bank and Frontier Development Capital.
Sheffield Forgemasters‘ Board of Directors sold the company’s entire share capital to the UK Ministry of Defence. Sheffield Forgemasters, which was founded over 200 years ago, provides casting and forging solutions for the world’s most complex engineering challenges. It specialises in the design and manufacture of high integrity forgings and castings, providing end-to-end steel production from a single UK location.
The transaction secured Sheffield Forgemasters’ role as a key supplier to the MOD, which will now support a £400 million recapitalisation of Sheffield Forgemasters’ defence-critical plant, equipment, and infrastructure required to secure component delivery into future MOD programmes. This will include plans for a replacement heavy forge line and building, a flood mitigation scheme, and major machine tool replacements.
Carnaby Caravans, founded in 1976 in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, is one of the UK’s most well-established manufacturers of high-quality holiday homes for the leisure parks market. The growth capital deal is funded by Shawbrook Bank, the specialist lender, which provided an undisclosed funding package, alongside backing from debt funder Frontier Development Capital.
The transaction, which was initiated by its shareholders Nigel Smailes, Chief Executive, and Tim Meadley, Operations Director, enables the company to pursue its ambitious growth plans, which have been fueled by a significant increase in the popularity of UK stay-cations and holiday homes.
DSW Capital, the business advisory platform behind Dow Schofield Watts and DR Solicitors, has delivered resilient results for its half year ending 30th September 2025, reflecting the scalability of its pioneering model.
