Savant recruitment recently hosted a seminar focused on how senior leaders in the finance world engage with, and work alongside, Private Equity. 

Our work with Private Equity-backed businesses is extremely important to us and we are very proud of the relationships that we have forged. As such, it was refreshing to read the article below from Pitchbook.com on how the market has developed over the last few quarters.

https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/PE-UK-recovery-sustained

The article states that The UK is Europe's largest PE market, accounting for 30% of European deal value and UK PE fundraising is on course for a record year in terms of overall capital raised.

At a time of change in the macro-economy, and with a general election scheduled for 2024, we predict that activity will continue to increase. Next year's general election, and the tax policy of a new government, may have an impact on the number of exits we see over the next 12 months.  This is a positive thing for those who are already engaged in the PE world, or who have ambitions to develop their careers in that direction.

As recruiters who operate at the FD and CFO level, the question we are often asked is - How do senior finance professionals get involved in the Private Equity sector?

In short, there are many avenues to entry. We see FDs who are established in owner-managed businesses who are called upon to sell to Private Equity, partnering the owner in the transaction and therefore gaining invaluable experience. We also see PE-backed companies who are in the ‘growth’ phase and recruit people into the finance team who may not have PE exposure, but who have experience of the sector. Once you have PE experience, you are always looked on favourably by investment companies.

Now is the time for candidates and clients to engage with the market and we stand ready to help and support both.