Business advisory firm Quantuma has appointed Rob Parry as a partner to its Manchester office, as it expands its North West presence.

Rob has almost 30 years’ industry experience as a specialist forensic accountant, with a UK-wide, and international, remit. He joins from the Manchester office of a global accountancy firm, where he served for 24 years. Previously, he was an accountant and management consultant at KPMG.

Rob acts as an expert witness, providing evidence and advisory support on corporate transaction and shareholder disputes, company and share valuation, loss of profit from breach of contract, compulsory purchase and professional indemnity, alongside complex loss of earnings cases. He acts as an independent expert determiner, which also gives him valuable insight when preparing submissions for determinations on behalf of clients.

This appointment follows the opening of Quantuma’s new Manchester offering, bolstering the city’s booming financial and professional services sector. From its base at Number One, Spinningfields, the firm provides a full range of advisory services, including corporate finance, forensic accounting and restructuring.

Rob Parry said: “It’s widely-known in the market that Quantuma is breaking the mould of a traditional professional services firm. The team is of an exceptional calibre, and its boutique structure means it is able to take on some of the most exciting mandates across the UK. I look forward to continuing to work with the outstanding North West lawyers and their clients at this exciting time for Quantuma.”

Carl Jackson, Managing Partner at Quantuma, said:“Rob is highly-regarded in his field for his expertise, and a sought-after advisor for complex commercial disputes, so it’s a real pleasure to welcome him to the fold.

“The North West is a commercial hotspot, and a target area of growth for us. There is an influx of investment in Manchester, and with its strong connectivity links and breadth of talent, the city’s financial and professional services sector will continue to evolve.

“We will continue to grow our headcount in the region to service the strong pipeline of activity.”

Manchester has been chosen for the global launch of a fintech payments system, Fingopay.

From this Summer, merchants across the city will be the first in the world to let customers pay with just a scan of their finger, with the company already in advanced discussions with a number of leisure and hospitality venues across the city’s Spinningfields, Ancoats and King Street districts.

The award-winning technology, which uses Hitachi VeinID scanning, allows customers to link their vein signatures with their payment cards to pay using just their finger at a network of merchants. At tills, the unique pattern of the customer’s vein is scanned, verifying biometric signatures and payments in seconds through its cloud-based matching system.

The identity and authentication system has been hailed as a game changer for payments. Removing the need for cash, cards and mobile, it has been described as the fastest and safest payment method on the market with no need for PIN or passwords and no transaction limits.

Unlike other biometrics such as fingerprints, finger vein patterns leave no trace and cannot be stolen or copied, resulting in one of the most secure methods of payment or ID.

Simon Binns, CMO at Sthaler, the UK fintech company that developed Fingopay, commented: “We have already successfully completed pilots at Festival Number 6, Proud bar Camden, Brunel University and Copenhagen Business School over the past two years.”

“Manchester has a dynamic hospitality sector with some highly innovative operators, a large student population and positive environment for fintech businesses. This city-wide scheme will be a world-first, and we’ve had real encouragement from Greater Manchester Combined Authority to invest and create jobs in the City.  We look forward to adding to the city’s status as a centre for innovation.”

Fingopay has been working with partners including CityCo and MIDAS to identify the first venues to become Fingopay enabled merchants.

Tim Newns, Chief Executive of MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency, said: “Manchester was recently named one of the most innovative cities in the world and the city’s growing status as a test-bed for digital innovation and transformation has attracted a wealth of companies looking to capitalise on both the high-growth market, as well as the finance and tech talent available here.”

“We’re delighted to have helped Fingopay establish operations in the city and we are looking forward to embedding them in the city’s rapidly expanding fintech and payments scene.”

CityCo Chief Executive, Vaughan Allen, also commented: “Many of our members are already aware of Fingopay and like the idea of making payments simpler for customers and help move to cashless. The identity component also has the potential to keep venues and streets safer, which is the highest priority for all concerned.”

Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP) has hailed a “year of strong progress” with levels of investment and growth reflecting strong demand from new and existing customers.

Against a backdrop of technological change and uncertainty in the wider economy, the 12 months to the end of September 2018 saw a 35% increase in the consolidated net worth of MSP and its subsidiaries from £58.3m to £78.9m.

MSP’s city centre campuses, Manchester Science Park and Citylabs which are in the heart of Manchester’s Oxford Road Corridor innovation district, offer lab and office space for digital tech and life science businesses together with specialist programmes of business support, including a post-accelerator innovation centre, Mi-IDEA in partnership with Cisco.

Combined, the Oxford Road Corridor campuses tripled profits from £4.7m (2017) to £17.2m as occupancy levels increased and property valuations rose. The year also saw MSP launch a Tech Incubator at Manchester Technology Centre, designed for entrepreneurs and SMEs working in data science and technology innovation.

At Alderley Park, profits increased from £7.5m to £19.4m during the year, which also saw the announcement of £10m of investment in the development of new laboratories for smaller life science businesses and significant progress being made with the development of Glasshouse offering over 150,000 sq ft of offices for tech and forward-thinking, innovative businesses.

The period also saw the creation of Bruntwood SciTech – the UK’s largest property portfolio dedicated to driving the growth of the science and technology sector – in a landmark equity deal between MSP majority shareholder Bruntwood and Legal & General. Bruntwood SciTech announced pre-tax profits of £53m together with shareholders’ funds of £234m. Bruntwood SciTech has plans to grow the value of its portfolio from over £330m to in excess of £2bn in the next 10 years.

Tom Renn, Managing Director, MSP, said: “Against a backdrop of significant uncertainty in the wider economy, in particular for those working in the science sector, we are heartened by the extraordinary resilience of our customers and of the science community in the UK, who have continued to successfully raise investment and grow their businesses at pace both within our portfolio and across Greater Manchester.

“Construction of Citylabs 2.0 for QIAGEN, a world leading international molecular diagnostics company, who have taken a 100% pre-let, is a hallmark of that success and reinforces the quality of the Greater Manchester offer, partnerships and assets. Citylabs will be at the heart of a new globally-leading genomics and precision medicine campus which will create over 1,500 high value jobs and add over £150m to the Greater Manchester economy, and importantly benefit the 2.8 million people living here as new tests and treatments emerge.”

Manchester-based Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance has increased its lending balances by 54 per cent, with a total of £194.7m invested in businesses across the country over the course of the 2018 financial year.

Across the North, Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance provided £60m to business in the North West, North East, Yorkshire and Scotland in 2018.

Just last year, the alternative finance provider announced it had funded more than £2bn of client invoices since its inception in 2014. The firm has revealed in its annual financial report that the figure now stands at nearly £3bn, an increase of almost 50 per cent.

Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance is now the fifth largest independent operator in the invoice finance market. The firm provides a full suite of flexible asset based lending and invoice finance products to small and medium sized enterprises. The division operates nationwide with dedicated regional sales directors and client managers on the ground in each of the UK regions.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2011 and added to the main market in 2016, the wider Secure Trust Bank Group has also seen strong growth. Pre-tax profits rose to £34.7m in the last 12 months – an increase of 39 per cent on 2017 figures.

John Gribbon, Regional Managing Director at Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance, said: “Expanding our geographical reach has played a significant part in the exceptional growth we’ve achieved over the course of the year. It has enabled us to make connections with businesses and intermediaries in the local area, and the effort put into building our national footprint has certainly bore fruit.

“Our impressive performance is also down to the experience and expertise of our sales teams. We boast an impressive track record, having worked with some exciting and well-known brands across a multitude of sectors, and this strong reputation in the market has positioned us as a credible lender of choice.”