Corporate Finance Advice

With most of our advisors coming from a ‘big four’ or investment banking background, Dow Schofield Watts combines high-quality advice with a hands-on service. We work with business owners, management teams and investors in the UK and internationally, and advise many of the leading private equity firms.

Whether you are looking to buy or sell a business, raise capital or planning your next strategic move, the Dow Schofield Watts team is well placed to provide the best possible advice.

Corporate Finance Team

James Dow Chief Executive Officer
Jon Schofield Non-Executive Director
Mark Watts Owner / Co-Founder
Andy Dodd
Philip Price
Roger Esler
Dave Graham
Craig Richardson
Gregg Pendlington
Keith Benson
Gerard Lucas
David Smith
William Baxter
Payam Keyghobadi
Callum Sellar
Paul Herriott
Thomas Dutton
Daniel Walker
Ross Thomas

James Dow

Chief Executive Officer

Date of appointment Established Dow Schofield Watts in 2002 Experience James is qualified as both a Chartered Accountant and Cost and Management Accountant. James joined KPMG in 1983 and after qualifying, focused for over 13 years on corporate finance, approximately eight years as a partner leading Corporate Finance in the North West. James was nominated … Continued

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Jon Schofield

Non-Executive Director

Date of appointment Co-founded Dow Schofield Watts LLP in 2002 Experience Jon is a chartered accountant and spent 12 years with KPMG before joining an MBO in 1994. After exiting from the buyout, Jon became a partner at Grant Thornton. In 1999 he joined Cammell Laird Holdings Plc as Finance Director and subsequently was appointed … Continued

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Mark Watts

Owner / Co-Founder

Following graduation from Birmingham University, Mark qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG. Mark has over 20 years of corporate finance experience gained at Hill Samuel Bank, NatWest Markets, Old Mutual Securities where he lead and completed transactions in both the public and private markets. Mark is a founding Partner of Dow Schofield Watts. Disposals … Continued

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Andy Dodd

Andy joined Dow Schofield Watts as a Partner in May 2003. Previously, he had spent five years in KPMG’s Corporate Finance team in Manchester advising across a wide variety of transactions and sectors. Following graduation from Durham University and qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Andy joined KPMG Corporate Finance in 1998. In addition … Continued

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Philip Price

Philip joined Dow Schofield Watts as a Partner in June 2003. Previously, he had spent seven years in KPMG’s Corporate Finance team in Liverpool and Manchester advising across a wide variety of transactions and sectors. Philip joined KPMG in Liverpool in 1993 from Liverpool John Moores University; he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1996 … Continued

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Roger Esler

Roger joined Dow Schofield Watts in 2012 with specific responsibility for the Yorkshire & the North East office and team. Following graduation from Sheffield University and qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, Roger then gained over 20 years corporate finance experience at SG Hambros, KPMG and latterly Deloitte where he was a partner for over a … Continued

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Dave Graham

Dave is a Director in the Corporate Finance Team. He joined Dow Schofield Watts eight years ago having previously worked for KPMG and telecoms group Caudwell. He is a Chartered Accountant with a Degree in Finance and Economics from The University of Liverpool. Dave’s experience covers a broad range of transaction and advisory roles including … Continued

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Craig Richardson

Craig joined Dow Schofield Watts as a Partner in 2006. Prior to this he spent 14 years at KPMG, undertaking corporate finance and due diligence assignments in the UK and overseas after qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1992. In the inaugural North West Insider awards, Craig was voted Corporate Finance Advisor of the Year … Continued

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Gregg Pendlington

Gregg joined Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance in 2013 having spent the previous 8 years with a national firm of Chartered Accountants (in their Corporate Finance team). He is FCA qualified and holds the Corporate Finance Qualification from ICAEW. He previously obtained his degree in Accounting and Financial Management at the University of Sheffield, graduating … Continued

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Keith Benson

Keith joined Dow Schofield Watts in February 2012 from KPMG’s Preston office. He is a graduate in Mathematics and Economics from the London School of Economics and a qualified Chartered Accountant. Prior to joining KPMG, Keith spent 10 years working in the technology development industry with five years managing delivery of currency derivatives trading software … Continued

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Gerard Lucas

Gerard joined Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance in 2016 after spending 13 years as a Corporate Finance Director at RSM and 3 years as a Finance Director at Sheard Packaging delivering an investment and growth strategy. Gerard has strong cross-border experience and specialises in providing strategic commercial advice and deal structuring to entrepreneurs and growing … Continued

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David Smith

David joined Dow Schofield Watts as a director in June 2016. His previous role was as investment director with the North West Fund for Digital & Creative, which he oversaw from launch to full investment. The Fund was one of the most active VC investors in the UK technology and media sector, making over 40 … Continued

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William Baxter

Will is a founding Partner in the London office’s Corporate Finance Team. He joined Dow Schofield Watts to jointly lead the firm’s activities in the Consumer, Leisure and Hospitality sectors. He has previously led sector teams at both BDO and Grant Thornton in London. Will originally qualified as a Solicitor and practiced in the Corporate … Continued

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Payam Keyghobadi

Payam is a founding Partner in the London office’s Corporate Finance Team, specialising in the Consumer, Leisure and Hospitality sectors. Payam qualified as a Chartered Accountant at KPMG, before moving to a mid-market corporate finance boutique in London where he became a Partner in 2014. Payam’s experience includes business sales and fundraisings on behalf of … Continued

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Callum Sellar

Callum joined Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance in 2015, where he advises clients on mergers, acquisitions, disposals, buyouts, equity and debt fundraising, as well as strategic advice in relation to valuations, succession and exit planning. Since joining Dow Schofield Watts, he has worked on a variety of transactions across numerous sectors. Recent deals advised on … Continued

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Paul Herriott

Paul is a Director in the Corporate Finance team based in Leeds. He joined Dow Schofield Watts in September 2013. He has advised companies across the mid-market on transactions including trade sales, strategic acquisitions, MBOs, private equity and debt fundraising. He has broad sector experience across manufacturing, business support services, technology & software, transport & … Continued

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Thomas Dutton

Tom joined Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance in June 2017 after previously spending almost four years working in audit with KPMG, where he gained his ACA Chartered Accountant qualification, winning an award for his exam results. Tom studied at Lancaster University and has a degree in Accounting and Finance. Since joining DSW, Tom has worked … Continued

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Daniel Walker

Dan joined DSW’s Corporate Finance team in June 2017. Dan is an ACA chartered accountant with almost four years of experience working at KPMG, advising a wide variety of listed and private clients and winning a number of awards for his exam results. Prior to this, Dan graduated with a degree in Financial Mathematics from … Continued

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Ross Thomas

Ross joined Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance in May 2019. Ross joined from Kingspan Plc where he worked for nearly 3 years across a variety of projects and roles. Previously, Ross spent 3 years working in financial services audit with KPMG, advising a wide variety of listed and private clients and gaining his ACA Chartered … Continued

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Corporate Finance Advice Services

Company sales

Preparing your business for a sale, identifying potential buyers and negotiating and structuring the deal.
Acquisitions

Developing your growth strategy, identifying targets and managing the deal process through to completion.
MBOs & MBIs

Supporting management teams acquiring a business, and business owners selling to an MBO or MBI team.
Debt advisory

Selecting the right funding provider and achieving the best deal in terms of amount, flexibility and pricing.
International

Helping UK companies to find overseas buyers, and international companies seeking acquisitions in the UK.
Private equity

Advising private equity firms on deals of all types, and supporting businesses seeking PE investment.
Technology

Specialist advice from our dedicated tech team for firms seeking to buy or sell a business or secure funding.
Special situations

Creative solutions for companies seeking to overcome a particular challenge or tackle complex problems.

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