Connections: private equity appointments and promotions

Leigh Thomas has been promoted to investment director at Beech Tree Private Equity in Manchester. He joined the firm in 2021 from the leveraged finance team at Barclays, where he spent seven years.

YFM Equity Partners has recruited Adam Milner (1) as portfolio director in its Leeds office from Endless, where he spent six years. Prior to that, he spent three years as FD of SMH, having started his career with KPMG in Leeds, where he trained as a chartered accountant. Ross Simpson (2) has joined as an investment manager in Leeds from Interpath Advisory, where he spent four years and trained as an ACA.

Niall Choat has joined Maven Capital Partners in Newcastle upon Tyne as an investment manager from FRP Advisory. He started his career with Deloitte, where he trained as an ACA and spent three years. He then spent three years with RSM and a year with Aspire Technology Solutions, before joining WilliamsAli Corporate Finance in Newcastle upon Tyne. He was promoted to manager in May 2024; in September 2024, FRP took over WilliamsAli.

Northern Gritstone, the investor in science and technology-enabled businesses in the North, has recruited Eve Howarth as co-investor and capital manager from Lazard, where she spent two years in its real estate and venture teams.

Emily Bourne has been promoted to investment manager at Puma Growth Partners. She joined the firm’s London office as an investment executive three years ago from Praetura Ventures in Manchester. 

Max Woodhouse has joined FW Capital in Newcastle upon Tyne as an investment executive from Ryecroft Glenton, where he spent eight years and was a corporate finance manager.