The deal by the management team, which has acquired 100% equity of the turnaround and finance recruitment adviser, will see the business rebrand to trade as Headstar.

Managing partner James Roach and chairman Neil Muffitt led the MBO and were joined in the deal by commercial director Natalie McGregor and operations director David Clark who join the board as shareholders.

Originally known as Finance Directors Yorkshire (FDYL), the business was established over 30 years ago and has grown since its merger with Woodrow Mercer in 2016. The team has now 12 consultants, and has expanded its client and contractor base across the UK.

“After an uncertain start to 2020, we’ve seen the market stabilise,” said Roach. “Our revenues have remained strong and are now growing again, and we decided the time was right to go ahead with the deal we had originally planned for last March. The 2016 merger achieved its goal of enabling us to scale rapidly and grow our team and client base, but for both parties, the time was right to be independent again in order to focus on our own distinct markets.”

Advisers in the deal included Dan Bisby and Lucy Holroyd of Schofield Sweeney; George Goodman of Buckle Barton; and Lyndsey Shaw of Brown Butler.

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