A man who has helped seal some of Lancashire’s biggest deals is returning to the county – on a mission to seal some more. Craig Richardson was the finance advisor who oversaw the management buy-out of National Tyre Services, helped Ribble Valley conservatory manufacturer Ultraframe float on the stock market and secured two multi-million pound deals for local heating giant Baxi during his time at business advisors KPMG.
The 38-year-old, who was born and raised in Fulwood, Preston, and now lives in Penwortham, has returned to his home city to open an office of corporate finance firm Dow, Schofield and Watts.
In the past he has advised on more than £1bn of deals and was crowned this year’s Corporate Finance Advisor and Dealmaker of the Year. He said: “Not bad for local lad who got a D and two E grades at his A-levels due to playing too much football, because maths and football used to clash on a Wednesday!
“I worked for KPMG down at Preston docks for 10 years and then worked in their Manchester office for a further three years.”After that I went to work for PM&M accountants in Blackburn. “When the opportunity arose to work with Dow, Schofield and Watts I was very interested.”
The firm deals with transactions ranging from £10m to £700m from its main office in Warrington, Cheshire, but the new satellite office will only be dealing with deals below £10m. Craig said: “I think the development of UCLan in Preston and its new-found city status has been a big boost to firms; they now have a wealth of newly-qualified graduates looking to stay here rather than head to Manchester.” He begins his new job in the Warrington office on May 1 and expects to open the office in Preston by June.
Source: Business News – Preston Today