Introduction and Bio

Ryecroft Glenton’s (RG) expansion into Yorkshire was one of the most eye-catching changes in the professional advisory landscape in 2024. They opened their York office in the Summer, recruited several CF advisors and have already made a significant impact in the region. Seeing a firm with a 126-year history ‘make the move’ demonstrates the power of regional collaboration and the real value that can be created by investing in the North.

Carl Swansbury has been Partner and Head of Corporate Finance in RG since 2011, which is when he joined RG from RSM to establish, and scale RG’s CF business. We already knew Carl from his strong reputation in advising on M&A transactions across a range of sectors, however we were introduced to him last year, along with his fellow CF Partner, Nick Johnson (Corporate Finance Partner), and were delighted to catch up with Carl to get the back story of RG’s expansion into Yorkshire, the experiences of expanding from the North-East to Yorkshire, and an insight into his career.

Carl’s career history:

• Trained at PwC in Newcastle between 2001 & 2006
• RSM Tenon (East Midlands) – Corporate Finance between 2007 and 2011
• Ryecroft Glenton (Newcastle) 2011 – to date

Please tell us about Ryecroft Glenton’s move to Yorkshire last year.

RG has been an independent firm for over 126 years, based in the North East with a strong presence and level of influence in the region. We have seen our client base and our wider network expand nationally over the years – particularly on the back of our corporate finance service line. Opening our Yorkshire office was the most logical next step for the firm.

Nick Johnson and Peter Glenton are two of our partners who are already based in Yorkshire. Given the increasing number of clients we serve in the region, we saw a clear opportunity to establish a stronger presence here.  We made the strategic decision last year to invest more meaningfully in Yorkshire—not only to better support our existing clients but also to develop a more significant business in the region. Recruiting new talent was a core part of that.

York was a natural choice for us. It offers excellent connectivity for our clients and professional network. Our location on Micklegate is conveniently located centrally. We recognised a gap in the market—while York has several well-established accountancy firms providing audit, tax, and advisory services, there are only a few corporate finance firms of scale based in the area. This presents a fantastic opportunity for us to collaborate with existing accountants and tax professionals, offering their clients specialist corporate finance advice while strengthening our presence in Yorkshire.

The response to our move from the professional community in Yorkshire has been overwhelmingly positive. We have been warmly welcomed by a broad range of professionals, including law firms with whom we have already built strong relationships and mutual clients. Several of the smaller independent accountancy firms have recognised the need for corporate finance advice and see the value in introducing their clients to the right advisors.

Beyond that, we have also quickly developed strong connections with funders and sponsors, from Santander, Handelsbanken and NatWest to family offices and equity investors. From a standing start, the willingness of the market to engage with us has been fantastic. Because we focus on creating opportunities for those we collaborate with, we are already seeing positive partnerships forming.  

We did not take our decision to open in York lightly – one of the hardest things in business is to understand where your strengths lie. There is a clear line between ambition and trying to be all things to all people – if you get it wrong, you end up diluting your strengths. We asked ourselves if we could really sit in front of shareholders in Yorkshire and create notable value for them; evidently the answer we came up with was ‘Yes’.

Where are the opportunities for SMEs across the North East and Yorkshire for 2025? What is the current state of the market through the eyes of an advisor who is on the coal face every day?

There are a number of opportunities for SMEs across the North East and Yorkshire in 2025. Some of these are sectorally relevant and some are more broadly relevant to business.

Private Equity and Debt Finance – an abundance of dry powder to deploy

One of the biggest opportunities lies in the availability of capital. PE firms currently have substantial funds to deploy, and businesses with strong leadership, scalable operations, and a compelling growth story are well-positioned to attract investment.  

Beyond equity investment, the debt market has evolved significantly. We have never had such a competitive, and in turn mature debt market as we do today. There are so many options compared to 10 years ago when there were just the clearing banks, a few challenger banks and some ABLs. Debt providers such as Thincats, Shard Credit Partners, OakNorth, as examples are all able to fund organic growth or M&A. The gradual reduction in interest rates should increase the availability of debt options.

While traditional banks remain an option, there is now a broader ecosystem of alternative lenders, direct lending funds, and asset-based finance providers. With interest rates expected to reduce further, funding should become more accessible, meaning that a lack of capital should not be a barrier to growth, acquisitions, or shareholder cash out / change in ownership type transactions. The key is understanding the right funding structure and securing the right funding partner.  

Additionally, international interest in UK businesses—particularly from the US —presents opportunities for strategic partnerships and acquisitions. With the strength of the dollar, UK-based SMEs are attractive targets for global buyers, leading to increased M&A activity.  

We advised on the sale of Oxford based Rezatec to the Canadian listed Carina in December 2024 – a great example of North American interest in the UK tech sector.

Growth in Hot Sectors

The 5 hot sectors in the current market are:

• Technology
• Healthcare
• Professional Services
• TIC
• Renewables & Energy

Rezatec was a great example of the strong technology sector and there are many more to name. We sold Turnkey Group to Bowmark Capital in a c.£65m deal at the end of last year.

In the healthcare sector, we recently helped Medical Research Network (a clinical trials business in Milton Keynes) make the groups second acquisition.

Professional Services covers accountancy, legal, recruitment & search. In all of these subsectors, we are seeing growth with scale – this creates more barriers to entry and a climate for M&A to fuel market share growth ambitions.

Employees have left employment in the past to establish their own enterprises. In changing markets, this leads to the potential for consolidation and a lot of M&A activity.

Renewables & Energy gets a lot of the headlines and rightly so.

In summary, there are a lot of opportunities for Yorkshire and North East SMEs in 2025. As ever, it is all about knowing where the opportunities are, assessing them and taking the right advice to make the right decisions. I believe the key to success for SME’s in 2025 will be understanding where the opportunities lie and acting decisively. Whether securing investment, expanding through acquisition, or positioning for a sale, businesses that make strategic moves now will be well-placed for long-term success.

With all of the unexpected events over the past few years, it is more challenging for shareholders to make long-term plans. What is the best advice that you can offer them to overcome this?

This is a huge question!

Founders & CEOs have undoubtedly been dealt more cards over the past five years than they planned to have – the bandwidth of many of these leaders has understandably diminished. Long term planning is sometimes replaced by shorter-term priorities.

The volume of challenges continues – as of 1st April, how will businesses deal with the increased employer NIC cost and how will this impact profitability? Cash has to become more of a priority over EBITDA targets.

I can see why these CEOs (especially those in non-PE-owned businesses) have spent less time in their long-term planning.

The next point leads onto the Labour government.  Whatever your views, we now know how the commercial landscape is changing. The winners in this market are those who are at the front of the pack to capitalise on the changing opportunities. My job is to put my clients at the front of the pack.

I believe that we will see some norming in Q2. The response from the business sector to the government will evolve to one of “getting on with things” and starting to plan further ahead.

The best advice for CEOs looking to create more time for longer term planning? Put people behind you who are capable and can create value. There is value that the CEO cannot see in every business – a professional c-suite allows the CEO to act more as a Chair, to analyse and to be ready for when Rachel Reeves changes CGT beyond 24%! (Let's all be real, she is not done with her tax changes yet).

The two key questions for CEOs around fiscal change are (1) When will the 24% CGT rate go up? (2) What about Business Property Relief? There are significant changes to IHT that are not pleasant to consider – if you die with shares in your possession, then 20% of their value may be an IHT legacy that you are leaving behind now.

It is right for shareholders to flap about these changes, so long as the next stage is to plan for how to manage the changes.

As I am giving you my answers, I can feel the benefits that I have in running my own business in the advice that I give. My clients benefit from the advice that RG provides , but also from own experiences and hindsight as a business owner.

Many CF advisors advise on deals. What they don’t do is work with shareholders and board members to help them understand the value of what they have already created – that is where the real graft has to be put in. Getting both elements right is fundamental to my principles.

We first heard your name as the M&A specialist in our sector of search and recruitment. Tell us about your current views on the sector.

Human Capital has always been a sector that I have enjoyed working with. RG has just completed an article to overview M&A within the sector in 2024 and look ahead to 2025.

“Human Capital” is search, recruitment and training in our definition. Businesses in this sector bear the responsibility for ensuring that every business has strong human capital at the heart of their operations. Their success depends on there being enough supply of talent, demand and that they maintain a profitable margin.

We have continued to see a lot of consolidation in the sector. A lot has been led by PE but with some activity from listed businesses too. There are big opportunities to generating a return on capital by creating scale and reducing risk.

Recruitment businesses in the high volume, low margin, low-skilled temporary worker sector are finding things increasingly challenging. The increase in the national living wage, national insurance contributions and the departure of many Polish workers has led to a high number of blue-collar agencies going into administration. Closing some of the tax loopholes exploited by umbrella companies has increased the strain further. These challenges also create opportunities of course – Staffline has been looking to increase their scale, divesting some non-core assets to embark on a strategy to be the number one blue-collar agency in the UK.

Recruiters in nice sectors like education are growing and those who are investing in their technology platforms are attracting serious interest.

It struck me how strategic and how clever you have been in your career choices. Please share some of your story and especially about the decision to join RG.

I started my career as a Chartered Accountant, training with PwC before moving to RSM, where I really cut my teeth as a corporate finance practitioner.

I knew from a very early stage that I wanted to build and grow my own business. I strongly believed that corporate finance advisory services could be delivered in a better way, but I also wanted to experience firsthand what it means to run a business. I felt that it would allow me to empathise more effectively with my clients, do my job better, and provide me with the highest levels of job satisfaction.

I have always been ambitious and fully committed to my career - which is why when I first joined RSM, I spent 12 months commuting daily from the North-East to Nottingham almost every day! It would have been far easier to take a role closer to home. That level of commitment eventually led me to a major crossroads in my career.

When the time came to move on from RSM, I had several options: I could have relocated within RSM, joined a Big Four firm, or taken a role at a national firm like Grant Thornton. But I had an entrepreneurial itch that I knew I needed to scratch—I didn’t just want to be a CF advisor; I wanted to build something of my own. So, despite the uncertainty, I took the leap and resigned. A decision made even more monumental as I would have to leave the mentorship of Paul Bevan – my boss at RSM and now founder of Breeze Corporate Finance, who is not only a great CF advisor, but a good friend and all-round great guy.

That decision led me to RG, where I saw a real opportunity to create a corporate finance business from the ground up within a respected and well-established firm. Fourteen years later, that decision has proven to be the right one, and I’m proud of what we’ve built, and are building.

I joined RG for two key reasons. First, it’s a highly respected independent advisory firm with a strong client base and experienced partners who have navigated multiple economic cycles. The opportunity to learn from and collaborate with such a knowledgeable Partner team was a big draw. Second, I was given the autonomy to build a corporate finance business from the ground up while being fully accountable for its success. Many people chase opportunities without considering the responsibility that comes with them—I saw both and backed myself to deliver.

What does the future look like for Carl Swansbury?

The focus is on continuing to grow our business while supporting our clients as they scale theirs. Geographically, that means further developing our presence in York and expanding our client base in London, reinforcing our position as a Northern-based firm advising businesses nationally.

Beyond the firm, I’m deeply committed to helping founders build more sustainable, profitable businesses with purpose. This passion drives much of what I do outside of the day job. Last year, I launched the Confessions of a Founder / CEO podcast series, featuring high-profile guests such as Sara Davies, Geoff Ramm, Peter Kirkham, to name a few. The aim is to provide founders and CEOs with valuable insights from those who have been there and done it—because hindsight is a powerful tool.

I also host in-person and online events, roundtables, and seminars, all with the goal of educating, inspiring, and encouraging business leaders. For me, it’s never just about promoting our firm—it’s about fostering real conversations that help entrepreneurs navigate their journeys.

So, looking ahead, my focus remains on supporting and empowering entrepreneurs, both through my work at RG and through the wider initiatives I’m involved in.‍