Mattioli Woods, the specialist wealth and asset management business, has reported “strong” revenue growth in a new trading update released ahead of final results for the year ended 31 May 2022. Revenues are up over 70% on its prior year, which the firm says reflects the impact of recent acquisitions plus strong organic revenue growth of 10%. Meanwhile profit is in line with management’s expectations. Ian Mattioli MBE, Chief Executive, says: “The last financial year was another period of economic and market uncertainty, throughout which we remained true to our purpose of putting clients first. I am pleased to report this focus has delivered strong revenue and profit growth, representing meaningful progress towards our ambitious strategic goals. “Revenue was up over 70% on the prior year, reflecting the contribution of recent acquisitions and double-digit organic growth, with the increased levels of new business written and a strong pipeline of new business enquiries offsetting the impact of negative market movements on the value of client assets. “Acquisitions completed during the year, together with those completed in the prior year continue to trade ahead of our initial expectations, including the Group’s two largest acquisitions to date of Maven Capital Partners and Ludlow Wealth Management.” He continued: “We expect the challenging macroeconomic conditions to drive an increasing demand for advice from clients, which will underpin growth in pensions and advice business. Like the rest of the UK wealth management sector, we expect market movements in the first half of this calendar year to negatively impact the Group’s investment-related revenues relative to our expectations prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, partially mitigating some of the anticipated revenue gains in our pensions and advisory business. “However, the spectre of rising inflation typically creates an opportunity for further investment inflows as existing and prospective clients consider appropriately investing surplus cash to avoid suffering an erosion in value of savings in real terms. “Despite ongoing management actions to mitigate costs, we expect Inflationary pressures to continue to impact employment costs, professional costs and occupancy costs across our office network. The Board will continue to take a rigorous and proactive approach to the management of costs. “We expect further consolidation within the wealth and asset management sector, and continue to see many new acquisition opportunities coming to market. We will continue to assess and progress bolt-on opportunities as well as potentially more substantial opportunities in the longer term, with all potential transactions required to meet our strict investment criteria and due diligence procedures.” Ian Mattioli MBE added: “The Group’s trading outlook for the new financial year remains positive, with revenues slightly ahead of management expectations, notwithstanding the challenging macroeconomic conditions that we, our clients and the industry face. Inflationary pressures are therefore expected to impact on our margins in the short term. We remain confident in our ability to deliver double-digit revenue growth and long-term sustainable shareholder returns.”

With businesses across the economy struggling to access people and skills, the majority of FS firms are putting upskilling and retraining staff (73%) at the forefront of future business strategy and transformation plans, according to the latest CBI/PwC Financial Services Survey. Advances in technology & business transformation (69%) and achieving operational resilience (68%) were second and third most common priorities, respectively, for future strategy and transformation plans. The survey of 78 financial services firms – conducted between 30 May and 17 June – found that 74% of firms are looking to upskill their existing workforce in response to disruption. Regulation (71%), changes in customer preferences and behaviours (62%), acceleration in digital technologies (55%), and skills shortages (52%) were the top four trends said to be driving disruption in the year ahead. Meanwhile, sentiment across the sector remained poor in the quarter to June – falling at broadly the same quick pace as the previous three months – despite business conditions remaining relatively positive and profitability growth accelerating (although business volumes were flat). Furthermore, headcount grew at its fastest rate since December 2019. Looking ahead to the next quarter, FS firms expect business volumes to return to modest growth, while profitability growth is expected to slow. Numbers employed are expected to be broadly unchanged in the three months to September. There was a modest improvement in investment intentions for the next 12 months (compared to the previous 12). Land & buildings and vehicles, plant & machinery investment intentions both firmed on the previous three months, while IT capital expenditure plans remain strong. Uncertainty about demand was the most common factor cited as likely to limit future investment. Nearly half (48%) of all FS firms have initiatives to support consumer and/or commercial clients with the cost of living / cost of doing business. A further fifth (21%) of businesses said they were planning to set up initiatives in the future. Rain Newton-Smith, CBI chief economist, said: “The erosion of business confidence seen in the last financial services survey has pulled through to this quarter, likely reflecting concerns about the impact of high inflation on the economy. With pressure expected to persist throughout the year, there’s a real need for government to press ahead with confidence-boosting measures now. “Implementing a permanent successor to the highly successful super-deduction would help to crank-up investment levels and set the country on a path back to higher growth. “One of the bright spots from the survey was FS firms’ commitment to upskilling and retraining. It’s encouraging to see so many firms put staff development at the heart of their business strategies – and that is sure to reap rewards in terms of recruitment and retention later down the line. “It’s also welcome to see so many firms taking steps to support customers and business clients through the cost-of-living crisis. From improving access to finance and better financial education, FS firms have a range of tools to help households cope with rising costs.” Isabelle Jenkins, leader of Financial Services at PwC UK, said: “With a fierce war for talent impacting the financial services sector, it makes sense that firms are putting retaining experienced staff at the top of their to-do list. “That plus the 12 percent growth in employment, the fastest uptick since December 2019, proves that for CEO’s, building and maintaining their workforce is critical. “In fact, our research with the Financial Services Skills Council from earlier this year showed that, reskilling, once seen as perhaps a nice to have, can create cost savings of up to £49,100 per employee compared to recruiting or making a role redundant, a significant sum, especially in light of the increasing headwinds due to inflation. “So the business case is clear, however with half of the firms we spoke to admitting that time remains a barrier in delivering training, there remains a crucial shift that some businesses will need to embark on. “What we are seeing through today’s results show that financial services firms are aware that the fundamentals have been reset, and the breadth of competition for well trained staff means that firms will need to ensure that they can offer the kind of culture, environment and purpose that will attract and keep the very best.”

A business finance broker has helped fund a major deal in the specialist cleaning sector by providing a seven-figure structured finance package. PMD Business Finance’s structured finance division has provided part of the funding which has allowed React Group Plc to complete its £8.5m acquisition of LaddersFree Ltd – an established business specialising in commercial window, gutter and cladding cleaning. The deal enables Derbyshire-headquartered React Group to broaden its customer base and achieve further nationwide growth. The AIM-listed company provides a wide range of specialist nationwide services including deep cleaning, decontamination, and hazardous waste removal for sectors including prisons, emergency services, industrial, highways, transport, technology, and hospitality. Based in Exeter, LaddersFree has a network of over 300 service partners and counts established brands like Costa Coffee, Next, Lidl, Holiday Inn Express and Marriot hotels among its customers. PMD Business Finance provided a £2.5m structured finance package to support the cash and shares deal. The deal team at PMD was led by structured finance directors Callum Bull and John Platt. Commenting on the deal, Callum Bull, structured finance director at PMD Business Finance, said: “We’re proud to have supported this significant acquisition that will allow React Group to further diversify its service offering in the specialist cleaning market. “LaddersFree has a highly scalable business model and can look forward to further significant growth through the additional investment and resources provided by React Group.” Mark Braund, chairman of React Group, said: “This is our second major acquisition and one that represents our ambition to build a profitable, industry leading business through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. “LaddersFree has an established customer base and generates significant recurring business, which complements the highly specialist reactive cleaning service we already provide. We’re delighted to welcome the company and its excellent team to the group. “We’re also incredibly thankful to Callum and John in the structured finance team at PMD Business Finance for their invaluable support. It’s been refreshing to deal with an intermediary that has such a clear understanding of the market and was able to guide us carefully through the deal process.”

discoverIE Group, an international designer and manufacturer of customised electronics for industrial applications, has acquired Northamptonshire-based CDT group. CDT, which is a designer and manufacturer of customised plastic enclosures for circuit boards, membrane keypads and associated electronics components, has been acquired for a total cash consideration of £5m on a debt free, cash free basis, before expenses, funded from the group’s existing debt facilities. CDT will be integrated with the group’s Contour business cluster within the Sensing & Connectivity division, whilst retaining its distinct brand identity. The acquisition will enhance the cluster’s engineering capabilities, further integrating custom electronic designs with their enclosures, enabling more highly differentiated opportunities. Its main markets are medical, renewables, emergency vehicles and industrial companies. The business, which was resilient through COVID, reported revenues for the year ended 31 December 2021 of £2.9m generating an underlying operating profit of £0.8m and an underlying operating margin of 28%. Nick Jefferies, group Chief Executive of discoverIE, said: “The acquisition of the CDT group continues our strategy of building a high quality, higher margin international group that designs and manufactures customised electronics. “CDT will be integrated with our existing Contour business enabling more complex and integrated designs as well as providing CDT with access to our wider base of customers and with it, new sales opportunities. We are delighted to welcome CDT and its employees into the group. “With a clear strategy focused on long-term, high quality growth markets, a diversified customer base, a strong pipeline of acquisition opportunities, the group is well positioned to make further progress on its key priorities.”

Group sales are up at Topps Tiles, the Leicester-based tile specialist, according to a trading update for the 13-week period ended 2 July 2022. The business’s third quarter has seen group sales rise 9.2% year on year, which includes the benefit of a full quarter of trading from Pro Tiler Tools. The company said that it has continued to perform well in the third quarter, with like-for-like sales up 2.9% over the period. However, in the most recent eleven weeks, where the comparative period in FY21 was not impacted by trading restrictions, like-for-like sales were 0.9% lower when compared to a “very strong” period of trading last year. Sales, margins and operating costs remain in line with Topps Tiles’ expectations. Rob Parker, CEO, said: “Despite the continuing headwinds from lower consumer confidence, supply chain challenges and high inflation, trading remained encouraging and in line with our expectations in the third quarter, with Group sales up 9.2%. “Sales per store in Topps Tiles remain significantly ahead of our pre-pandemic performance, Commercial and Pro Tiler Tools are growing well year on year, and we have successfully launched our newest brand, Tile Warehouse. “Whilst we are mindful of the current economic pressures and their impact on the outlook for consumers, we are confident that our successful strategy, multiple growth drivers and strong balance sheet leave us well-positioned to deliver medium term growth and our 20% market share goal of ‘1 in 5 by 2025’.”