It acted on more than 30 completed deals in 2017, with highlights including Inflexion’s minority investment into Crewe-based fuel card provider Radius; the listing of Ramsdens Financial Services on AIM back in February; and North Edge’s disposal of Utiligroup to ESG in April.

Other completed deals include Old Mutual Global Investors’ investment in The Hut Group in August, Graphite’s investment in YSC and Kohler’s acquisition of Clarke Energy.

EY’s Transactions Advisory Services has recently been strengthened by welcoming Rob Jones, who has relocated from London to lead and grow EY’s Debt Advisory business in the North.

The North West Transactions Advisory Services team continues to grow in 2018, with the appointment of Paul Stott as director. Paul joins EY from ENER-G, where he was group transaction finance manager for four years, and he has previously worked at Deloitte.

Richard Harding, Partner and Head of Transaction Services for EY in the regions, said: “2017 was a standout year for our North West transactions team and our current levels of activity and pipeline show that 2018 is looking just as strong, which is why we have invested in growing our team further with Paul’s appointment.

“Paul not only brings previous experience of working on complex deals but also extensive knowledge of the energy sector – a particular strength for the North and an area we expect will see deal activity in the future.”

Mark Clephan, Partner and Head of Corporate Finance at EY in the North added: “Brexit has certainly not resulted in a slowing of deal activity in the region, if anything it has resulted in greater opportunity as European businesses look to shore up their position within the UK market before any impending changes take effect, particularly given the benefit to overseas buyers of sterling depreciation.

“I’m excited by the breadth of opportunity that is already presenting itself this early into 2018 – the many private equity firms in the region remain active and the businesses we act for locally, which are based across the UK, remain an attractive proposition for trade buyers internationally. 2017 will be a tough year to beat but we are confident and up for the challenge!”

Specialist tax relief firm, Catax, has acquired Fast Track, a leading Research & Development tax credit consultancy, for £2.5million.

The deal boosts the size of Catax’s team by 17% to 92 and gives the company its first London base, from which it will mount a concerted push for more of the capital’s lucrative SME market.

Average first phase R&D tax credit claims in London are estimated to be 23% higher than the national average at £53,000.

Kensington-based Fast Track, under managing director Paul Foley, has acquired more than 1,200 clients over the past three years, across all business sectors. In that time the company has grown its revenue by 325%.

Many of these clients were generated for Catax, so this week’s deal brings the company’s capability and, crucially, Foley’s expertise in-house. Catax aims to capitalise on Foley’s deep industry knowledge by sharing best practice internally to maximise growth of the firm’s new business pipeline.

It’s the latest stage of Catax’s three-year plan to triple its revenue.

The firm’s reputation has been growing strongly. The team in Manchester have reduced the drop off rate for claims by 24%, increased average client benefit by 18% and, in turn, its own revenues have increased 71% in the past three years.

The company has also strengthened its board of directors recently.

The company hired Alex Lundy last month as Operations Director, joining from CVS, the market leader in business rates and rent reduction; Paul Johnson has been promoted to Group Managing Director; Mike Dixon has been appointed Chief Technical Officer and Dan Alcock is the firm’s new Chief Financial Officer.

Catax was represented by Gary Black of law firm Freeman Fisher and Fast Track was aided by Mike Jones of Hill Dickinson.

Catax CEO Mark Tighe commented: “The UK R&D market is still massively untapped and we are going after it tooth and nail.

“Paul and his team at Fast Track do such a great job generating clients that an acquisition was the only sensible option. While operating under their own steam, it was only a matter of time before one of our competitors figured out how good they were and made them an offer themselves.

“Now we have acquired them, we will be taking all that experience and all the lessons they have learned over the past four years, and replicating that knowledge across the company.

“We are aiming to treble the size of Catax in the next three years. Our pipeline of business is growing rapidly and that’s partly because of our efforts to educate SMEs about their entitlement to R&D tax credits.

“Fewer than 1% of SMEs claim these credits and, from our research, we believe that should be in excess of 45%. That means there are tens of thousands of businesses out there who could benefit and who don’t have to spend anything to find out how much they can claim.

“We are actively pursuing more acquisitions but our teams will also be focusing on growing our existing client base and attracting clients away from businesses that are failing to take full advantage of these schemes for their clients. They are short changing SMEs and we want the country’s entrepreneurs to get everything they deserve.”