The Financial Times once stated that the North West economy, led by the redevelopment of Manchester and Liverpool, is a genuine rival to ‘overheated London’. It’s a sentiment that’s hard to argue with.

Each distinct, but interconnecting sub region within the North West’s boundaries is brimming with industry – some traditional, some emerging to become sector leading. Whether it’s pharmaceutical, technology, automotive, retail, manufacturing, aerospace, utilities, chemical engineering, nuclear, or food manufacturing – not to mention the rich heritage in sport and culture, which contributes significantly to the regional economy – there is an abundance of talent and intent, combined with a strong identity and desire to put the North West on the global map.

While its chronically ‘wet and grey’ tag is well-known, the climate in the North West has never set the tone when it comes to the spirit and endeavour of the regional business community. “The business community remains close-knit, plain-speaking and has the energy and desire to make things happen, rather than waiting for others to do it for us,” explains Tom Hall, corporate partner at Pannone. “I don’t see that changing.”

In every corner of the North West there’s a fascinating story to tell about the businesses that contribute significantly to the wider UK economy; there are inspiring business leaders who are making their mark, not just on the region, but nationally and internationally; and there is a working population striving for change and good – all proud of the region, what is means and what it does.

It was these drivers that inspired our report Ambition 2025. We wanted to listen to those voices – hear their stories about growth and ambition, while understand the key motivations that will bring success over the course of the next 12 months. Through a combination of research and in-depth interviews, our aim was to paint a picture of the people and businesses that make up the North West business community and what aspirations they have for the future.

Survey highlights

As part of Ambition 2025, we conducted a survey of 200 North West businesses to understand the key drivers of growth. The research focused on five core areas: people, finance, impact, innovation and ambition. The results shine a spotlight on the motivations, priorities, and challenges for regional businesses, as they strive towards their goals in 2025. So, what does the survey tell us?

Legacy the ultimate ambition: Over 75% of respondents have selected at least one legacy building factor as their ultimate business objective. This compares to just 62% who selected at least one financial motivation.

External investment as a priority: Attracting external investment is the most important goal for businesses aiming to achieve their ambitions, surpassing even brand-building. This focus is especially strong among younger decision-makers (16-34 years old), where 56% identify external investment as key to their strategy.

Half of those aiming to sell their business to fund retirement also prioritise external investment as essential to achieving this goal.

Flexible work: The top people priority for businesses over the next 12 months is offering more flexible work options for employees. This focus on flexibility tops other people-related factors such as improving pay and recruitment. Arguably, it reflects a broader trend toward workplace cultural transformation.

Business leaders aged 45-54, however, prioritise investing in wellbeing and improving pay and rewards. This potentially highlights that people in these age groups are slightly more focused on more traditional, office-based perks compared to younger business leaders?

The role of AI: No businesses surveyed doubt AI’s potential impact, with the majority viewing it as a tool for enhancing efficiency and reducing administrative burden. This trend is particularly strong in HR and non-tech sectors, where AI is seen as a means to streamline operations.

In finance and retail sectors, AI is seen as an enabler for recruitment, training, and development.

Growing demand for funding: More than 80% of businesses in the North West, particularly in education (93%) and hospitality (92%), are actively seeking funding over the next 12 months. Angel investment and growth capital are the most favoured types of funding (21% each). Private Equity and Venture Capital are less attractive options (less than 6%).

M&A on the rise: M&A activity is a significant focus, with over three-quarters of businesses in the North West planning to explore opportunities within the next year. This trend is particularly prevalent in leisure (88%), with tech following closely behind (84%). Younger decision-makers appear less enthusiastic about M&A, with an even split between those who are considering it and those who are not.

Sustainability initiatives: Sustainability is on the radar of all businesses surveyed. The most common sustainability initiative is upgrading fleets to cleaner, greener options, reflecting a growing awareness of environmental impact across industries.

Generational differences: Throughout the survey, some clear generational differences emerged in terms of priorities and strategies. In particular, younger business leaders (16-34) are more focused on external investment, flexible working conditions, and growth, while those over 45 tend to prioritise wellbeing, pay improvements, and legacy creation.

Younger people are also more likely to prioritise external investment for meeting ambitions and be less likely to feel their business will embark on M&A in the next 12 months.

To complement our survey findings, we also interviewed 15 businesses based in the North West about what aspirations they have for the future, focusing on the same five core areas. Participants included: The Lowry, Direct Access Group, Serotonin, Duo UK, LOFT UK and One + All – businesses that are all passionate and driven by people who have a crystal vision, a real sense of purpose, and a desire to enact change – whether on a local, regional, national, or international scale.

What this insight has shown us is that the North West has a strong heritage of ambitious, entrepreneurial companies that are intent on growth. Despite the economic, social and geo-political challenges that exist in the market, there is clearly an appetite to seize opportunities and navigate the obstacles and barriers that lie ahead.

It’s certainly the attitude, approach and sense of identity that differentiates the North West and its component parts from other areas of the UK. It’s this personality that drives ambition and a core feature of our report.

“I came to the conclusion that the inhabitants here are of a different spirit which makes them want to enjoy life a little more.” Johann George Büsch, 1777

To read the Ambition 2025 report in more detail click here https://pannonecorporate.com/reports/

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Pannone Corporate has appointed a new Head of Finance to its Manchester team, as part of ambitious growth plans.

Sarah-Jane Roper joins the law firm from the University of Manchester. As Head of Finance, she was responsible for three cultural institutions, Manchester Museum, Whitworth Art Gallery and Jodrell Bank Centre for Engagement, as well as Manchester University Press. Prior to that, she worked in internal audit across 12 universities for 10 years.

The chartered accountant, who’s been a ICAEW Fellow for more than 10 years, brings vast and varied experience to the role, including financial management, audit, compliance and taxation, as well as significant expertise in finance business partnering. At Pannone, she will work across the firm with responsibility for financial control, reporting and financial planning.

Paul Jonson, senior partner at Pannone, said: “Appointing someone of Sarah’s calibre is a major coup for Pannone. Her financial expertise and in-depth knowledge of the regional landscape will be hugely important to us as we enter the next phase of growth.

“We’re delighted to have her onboard and we are confident that with her vast experience she will bring a fresh perspective to the firm that will challenge us and help us to drive change.”

Sarah’s appointment follows a trio of hires earlier this month. Emma Haymes joined the law firm as a senior associate in the dispute resolution team. She was joined by Sophie Adshead, who was appointed as an associate in the corporate team. Burak Demir completed the trio of appointments, joining as a solicitor in the real estate litigation team.

Sarah said: “Pannone is at an exciting stage in its growth journey, attracting real talent to create a strong team ethos, which strongly resonated with me.

“After leaving a role within a large organisation, I was really attracted by the opportunity to take on responsibility for the full remit of Pannone’s finance department, while also continuing with the finance business partnering aspect of the role that I enjoy so much. I’m very much looking forward to getting stuck in!”

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I was one of the founding partners who set up Pannone Corporate in 2014. We effectively performed an MBO of the commercial part of Pannone LLP – a top 50 law firm at the time. I joined Pannone LLP in 2004 as a partner, having worked at a regional law firm and two international law firms prior to that. I am now the firm’s senior partner – a role that I really enjoy, having been the managing partner when we formed ten years ago.

When the opportunity arose for a new firm to be created from the commercial teams at Pannone LLP, I knew it could work. I saw it as the “ best of both”,  in the sense that we were creating something completely new but with people and clients who had worked together for many years, in some cases almost 30 years.

Reassuringly familiar, but refreshingly different was always how I saw it. I believed that if our clients could see we were going to support them in the same way they had come to expect, with the same team of people, then they would give us a chance!  Even with this conviction I was still nervous – setting up a new law firm isn’t usually what you do, at least not back in 2014. There was a huge amount of work to be done by everyone involved to get us to the starting line. From the autumn of 2013 to February 2014, it was pretty much a non-stop adrenaline rush.

The firm today is both similar and very different to where we started. We have retained the vast majority of the clients we started off with, and many of the people who took the leap of faith with us are happily still here. We have also added many more new clients and team members since 2014, so it looks and feels different to 2014, while still retaining the strong culture that we started with.

The best thing
The best thing about my job is the daily interaction with our clients and team. I consider myself a people person and l like few things better in life than meeting clients (new or long established) and discussing their business, challenges, and opportunities.

Standout moments
My favourite memory of the last ten years? That is a difficult question. The launch party is definitely up there! I would also include every new client win, every tender success, and every time someone chooses to join us to spend part of their career with us. The legal profession is ultimately a people business, and we genuinely have a great group of people at Pannone which comes across to clients on a daily basis.

The achievement I am most proud of is helping to create a sustainable, profitable law firm that is able to offer its staff a supportive, engaging, and collegiate working environment. We are a stronger firm now than when we started off 10 years ago and that is down to our people and clients.

What also makes me proud is that so many clients, including household names such as boohoo, DHL, Iceland, and New Balance to name only a few, have placed their trust in us.

The future

I see the North West business community going from strength to strength in the next ten years, building on the incredible achievements during the last ten. With a change of government looking very likely in the next six months and a genuine commitment to more devolved powers to the region (amongst others) as a consequence of a new administration, it looks a promising outlook for our region.

For our firm, I see the next ten years as growth years. We have invested heavily in IT in the last 12 months and our new infrastructure puts us in a good place from which to grow – adding more people and more clients. We have never sought growth for the sake of it – we have always sought sustainable, profitable growth. I genuinely cannot see why more clients in the region and beyond would not want to see what we have to offer!

One word

If I had to describe us in one word – ambitious.

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Pannone Corporate has acted for the management team, Maven Capital Partners, and Mercia Fund Managers, on the proposed sale of Macclesfield-based fintech start-up, Mojo Mortgages, to RVU – the owner of multiple digital brands, including Uswitch, Confused.com and Money.co.uk.

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

Mark Winthorpe, corporate partner, who lead on the deal, commented: “Mojo is fantastic North West success story, demonstrating the significant potential that exists in the regional’s fintech community when you cleverly combine smart technology with market and consumer insight. This deal is testament to the considerable investment and ambition that the team has made in the last few years and is an exciting milestone in the growth journey of the tech start-up.”

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Pannone Corporate has advised Place Capital Group on the acquisition of Fourth Street Place Consultants.

The corporate team, led by partner Tim Hamilton, advised the housing estate regeneration specialist on its first acquisition as part of an ambitious buy and build strategy.

Fourth Street Place Consultants is a specialist place making consultancy which works with public and private sector clients involved in place making and destination-led developments. As part of the transaction, Fourth Street will retain its own brand and management structure and will continue to serve existing clients, while launching a new expansion plans with the support of Place Capital Group.

Commenting on the acquisition, Tim Hamilton said: “Place Capital Group is an exciting and highly motivated business that is well placed to achieve rapid growth in a vital regeneration sector that is underpinned by a comprehensive national strategy – one that is intended to improve and accelerate estate regeneration schemes to deliver more and better quality housing, drive local growth and improve outcomes for residents.

“Fourth Street lays the perfect foundations for growth and will undoubtedly help to unlock increased market potential, as their complementary expertise are combined to fulfil a growing portfolio of partnering contracts with local authorities and housing associations.”

Place Capital Group, which was formed by David Smith-Milne and Peter Martin in early 2021, works with large public organisations such as local authorities and housing associations through Strategic Development Partnering contracts, applying its expertise and capital solutions to the regeneration of housing estates to create much needed additional affordable and mixed tenure housing.

David Smith-Milne, Place Capital Group Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to be bringing Fourth Street into the Place Capital Group. The acquisition made perfect sense as the Fourth Street team is totally aligned to our vision to bring excellence and creativity to the regeneration of the UK’s forgotten housing estates.”

Dan Anderson, who formed Fourth Street alongside Jim Roberts in 2012, added: “We were immediately drawn to the Place Capital Group concept – both its commercial structure and its ambitious and transformative vision to bring much needed, imaginative place-making to housing estates across the UK. Through the deal, we retain all that is special and unique about Fourth Street but get the added benefit of being part of an ambitious, challenging and mission-led group structure that will introduce much needed new thinking to the UK’s housing problems.”

Pannone Corporate’s corporate team works with a wide range of clients, including private equity houses and businesses large and small across multiple sectors.

 

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Pannone Corporate has expanded its team with a triple appointment as it looks to strengthen the law firm across its specialisms.

Michael McNally and Adam Pavey have both joined as directors in the Employment and HR team. James Brandwood joins the firm as a Real Estate associate.

Michael and Adam will be responsible for advising clients on all aspects of employment law, including providing regular representation and advocacy in the Employment Tribunal.

Michael, who joins from Freeths LLP in Liverpool, has particular experience in acting for SMEs through to multi-nationals in the manufacturing, transport and logistics, hospitality and leisure and care sectors. Adam was formerly a solicitor at Poole Alcock, where he helped to develop the Cheshire firm’s employment department, with clients spanning a number of sectors. He has a particular specialist interest in healthcare.

Pannone Corporate’s employment team works with a wide range of clients, predominantly those with 400-500 employees across a number of sectors, including social housing, manufacturing, retail and hospitality.

James, who joins from Addleshaw Goddard, will work alongside a highly experienced Real Estate team, led by partner, James Wynne, which advises on a wide range of commercial real estate matters for major property groups, together with national retail and leisure operators. James will be responsible for property acquisitions and disposals, financings, as well as development, landlord and tenant transactions.

Paul Jonson, senior partner at Pannone Corporate, commented: “Both the Employment and Real Estate teams have built up an excellent reputation in recent years for their experience and expertise across their core specialisms. We’re committed to enhancing that offering and the appointment of Michael, Adam and James is testament to that drive and ambition.”

The Real Estate team recently advised Palmbest Limited, part of the Bestway Group of companies, on the acquisition of Staples Corner Shopping Park, leading the £28 million retail park transaction.

 

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