Leeds insolvency specialist merges with FRP Advisory

BWC, the Leeds-headquartered independent, corporate recovery and insolvency specialist, has merged with business advisory firm, FRP Advisory.

BWC, which also has offices in Harrogate, Durham and Teesside, is bringing all of its 16 staff to the London-based group.

Led by founding partners Gary Blackburn and Paul Whitwam, David Willis, Martyn Pullin and Peter Scriven, BWC’s team deepens FRP Advisory’s Leeds presence with the regional business and banking communities.

They join the existing FRP Advisory Yorkshire team led by partner Phil Pierce and two directors.

The arrival of BWC adds a new office for FRP Advisory in Teesside, where it will continue with BWC’s presence serving the North-East regional business and lending communities.

The merger will also see a continuation of activity in the local county Durham market and operations in North Yorkshire via an on the-ground-presence in Harrogate.

Jeremy French, managing partner at FRP Advisory, said: “We are delighted to see the group strengthened by the arrival of the entire BWC team.

“Led by Gary, Paul and David as partners and Martyn and Pete as directors, the team’s joining FRP Advisory provides added impetus to staff at all levels, whilst ensuring that the strength and depth of our combined advice can benefit all the management teams, equity partners, other investors, lenders and key institutions we serve.

“This is a strategic move for FRP Advisory to extend our north of England on-the-ground presence. The arrival of like-minded independent, professional advisors from BWC complements our existing presence in Leeds and across the north-west from offices in Manchester and Preston.

“Together as an enlarged FRP Advisory, we will now be able to offer the same depth and breadth of senior advisory led relationships across a wider area of Yorkshire and the North East, that all of our clients, independent accountancy practices and law firms, have all come to expect from both either side of the Pennines, south across England and further north in Scotland.”

FRP Advisory’s Leeds office, founded by partner Phil Pierce, is now bolstered with the arrival of fellow-partners Gary Blackburn and Paul Whitwam and new directors and managers.

Geoff Rowley, senior partner at FRP Advisory, added: “Over the past four years we have more than quadrupled the size of our northern England presence in response to demand for FRP Advisory’s services.

“The latest arrivals complements the firm’s key restructuring work, but we will also continue to grow our corporate finance, debt advisory, forensic and pension service lines in order to support businesses throughout the whole of the corporate life cycle.

“It is an exciting time at FRP Advisory and we are delighted to welcome Gary, Paul, David, Martyn and Pete and all other directors, managers and support staff to the team.”

Gary Blackburn, co-founder with Paul Whitwam of BWC, and now partner at FRP Advisory, also commented: “Our joining FRP Advisory is all about a continuation of what we set out to do 13 years ago – being the very best restructuring, insolvency and business recovery professionals in the north of England.

“Both Paul, David, Martyn, Pete and I and the rest of former BWC are excited about the future as part of the FRP Advisory partnership. We all share the ambition to devise innovative solutions at times of strategic business change, bringing the energy and enthusiasm all our clients have come to expect when we seek to create and recover value on their behalf.”

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