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Recruitment News

Home / Recruitment News
07Jan

City & Capital Group targets significant growth with shake-up of industry norms and key hires

7th January 2021 Ruth Harrison-Davies Acquisitions News, Group News, News, Recruitment News
Victoria Hicks and Jonathan Barrow - The City & Capital Group

The City & Capital Group is preparing for significant growth in 2021, following the launch of a fixed fee recruitment proposition for financial planning and wealth management firms, a new M&A Partner service for vendors, and two key hires.

The Yorkshire-based financial services consultancy will make the hiring process within the profession more affordable and transparent via a new, fixed fee model.

In a bid to tackle the mounting advice gap within the sector, newly appointed head of recruitment Robert Marchini and recruiter Adam Massie will spearhead the new initiative – while also working closely with organisations to encourage new advisers into the industry.

The group’s mergers and acquisitions division, meanwhile, has reinvested heavily into re-shifting the balance of power to the seller – launching a new proposition, designed to better prepare firms for sale.

This vendor-focused service seeks to instil confidence in sellers and open a much wider portfolio of potential buyers – ensuring introductions are not just financially aligned, but culturally, too.

“In the world of financial advisory mergers and acquisitions, the traditional broker model often doesn’t reflect the interests of the vendors,” explained Victoria Hicks, group director at City & Capital Acquisitions. “There is too much emphasis placed on the number and value of deals completed, which is certainly no reflection on the success of such acquisitions.

“As a chartered financial planner – and having been party to both sides of an acquisition   — I’ve experienced first-hand what the process is like. It’s vital that our industry has a real sense of conscience and puts what’s best for those involved above all else.”

The City & Capital Group is steadfast in the belief that vendors are the most important party in the transaction, as Victoria continued: “Our clients are often selling their life’s work – and valued relationships – to someone new. Therefore, it’s vital they are accurately represented, and feel fully supported from start to finish.

“Ordinarily, brokers receive their fees from the acquirers, which means vendors often assume the service they are receiving is free, when in fact a broker fee will frequently be factored into any commercial offer made on the part of the acquirer.”

Explaining why an acquirer paying proposition may not be appropriate for some vendors, Victoria concluded: “This approach means vendors may only be introduced to acquirers who have signed a broker’s terms of business. This, in turn, could lead to suitable parties being overlooked for not agreeing terms.

“Our vendor proposition enables our clients to access any firm with an acquisitive appetite, providing the most extensive range of buyer options in the market – something which is particularly important in the middle-market space, as local vendors often prefer to be acquired by a strong local firm with a similar culture. I know these acquirers also often feel overlooked by the broker market in favour of larger national acquirers. While it may be right for some, this isn’t right for all.

 “That’s why we have created an alternative proposition, whereby sellers can elect to pay our fees for assisting them to prepare for sale, managing the full process and successfully selling their businesses. Our fees are fair and provide clear value, and we will never, ever receive a fee from both parties. Ultimately, where we represent our vendors our fees reflect that. There is no ambiguity.”

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02Sep

Senior and graduate appointments for The City & Capital Group

2nd September 2020 Ruth Harrison-Davies Acquisitions News, Group News, Headhunters News, News, Recruitment News

West Yorkshire-based financial consultancy organisation, The City & Capital Group, has made a pair of hires across its acquisitions, recruitment, and headhunting divisions, with the appointment of a group relationship director and a graduate relationship manager.

Paul Greveson has joined the team as group relationship director, bringing with him 35 years of industry experience – most recently as business development director for Regentia Lifestyle Planning and Regency Financial Planning.

Having also previously founded, grown and sold his own recruitment business – Independent Financial Appointments – Paul will work alongside Victoria Hicks, director of City & Capital Acquisitions, in relationship-building between those looking to buy or sell financial advice firms and client banks.

Keen to support those graduating in the wake of the pandemic, the second appointment is University of Leeds’ law degree alumni, Rebekah Waddington. Joining the team as a graduate relationship manager, Rebekah will work across all three Group divisions but with a focus on recruitment, and leading the initial fact-finding programme for candidates, as well as liaising with hiring firms during the interview process.

Stuart Hicks, managing director at The City & Capital Group, said: “It has been a tough start to 2020, but these appointments signify The City & Capital Group’s ambitions for sustained growth as we look towards the future.

“The addition of financial services, business development and recruitment experience will undoubtedly help us to further grow our portfolio in the UK, and we also thought it was important to give something back to the region, by creating a graduate role for Rebekah during this challenging period.”

Victoria Hicks, director of City & Capital Acquisitions added: “The pandemic has left a lot of people starting to think about succession planning – and not just in the financial services sector. But, when it comes to selling – or buying – a business, it’s important to look beyond pounds and pence. It’s about a true understanding to find the right match.

“I have known Paul [Greveson] for several years and seen first-hand how his passion for doing the right thing translates into helping firms grow through talent attraction and acquisition. His expertise means he can discuss wider growth and exit strategies with business owners, having a true understanding of the landscape in which they are operating. His values, combined with proven real-world experience, are what makes him stand out in a crowd where integrity is key.”

The recruitment follows the appointment of two new directors in April of this year, which saw Jonathan Barrow named as the firm’s director of City & Capital Acquisitions, while Mike Aitchison joined as director of City & Capital Headhunters.

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10Jan

Stuart Hicks looks forwards – and back – for Yorkshire Business Insider

10th January 2020 Ruth Harrison-Davies Acquisitions News, Group News, Headhunters News, News, Recruitment News

Our MD, Stuart Hicks, spoke to Yorkshire Business Insider this week about how 2019 looked for The City & Capital Group, as well as what 2020 has in store for the financial services industry. In case you missed the piece, catch up on our comments below.

2019. The year of the stop, start, revert and repeat. With political and economic uncertainty so prevalent for our financial services clients, it really has been a tough year for many to plan and progress with the confidence they would like – and have become accustomed to – in the latter half of this decade. 

In these moments there is a pattern as old as time. The consolidators will (continue) to rise in their quest for market share, leaving the necessary pockets for the innovators and market disruptors who bring real change and challenge to the status quo. The latter being to the ultimate benefit of the customers they serve.

It is in these pockets that The City & Capital Group intends to deliver in 2020, both in terms of innovation within our own industry, as well as consulting for those who strive to deliver positive and impactful change for service users in their specialist markets.

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22Jul

Meet Tom Bagley – The City & Capital Group’s Director of Operations

22nd July 2019 Paige Catton Acquisitions News, Group News, Recruitment News
The City & Capital Group may be specialists in all-things financial services, but our acquisitions and recruitment teams would be lost without our director of operations, Tom Bagley.
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