NWDC branches out

NatWest Development Capital (NWDC), part of The Royal Bank of Scotland’s private equity group, is extending its regional focus in the UK with two new offices in Birmingham

and Manchester. The new offices will strengthen NWDC’s network, which spans the Edinburgh, Leeds, London and Nottingham regions.

The move is being led by Steve Currie who will transfer from the Nottingham office. Currie joined the firm in 1998 from Coopers & Lybrand Corporate Finance.

The opening of the Manchester office follows the appointment of Andy Gregory. Gregory trained with Arthur Andersen, which initiated a move into corporate finance, latterly with NatWest Equity Partners (NWEP). He then joined the NWEP-backed management buyout of Pennine Computers as finance director; an investment that exited delivering a strong return for investors.

NWDC is focused on private equity transactions in the GBP2 million to GBP20 million range. Over the past year, the firm has invested over GBP25 million in eight deals.