Some of the best-known faces from Birmingham’s corporate finance community are behind a new practice setting up in the city next week.

Dominic King, one of the founders of Arden Partners, will head up the new city office for corporate finance and brokering firm Zeus Capital.

He will work alongside Ross Andrews, Tim Metcalfe and Dr Kevin Wilson, who are well-known in the city having worked for Williams de Broe, N M Rothschild and Albert E Sharp respectively.

Mr King, who previously worked alongside investor David Grove OBE in the city, said he felt there was a gap in the market in the region, and believed the manufacturing sector would drive activity.

He said: “Birmingham has got very strong solicitors and accountants but outside of that it is relatively light compared to Manchester and Leeds. An awful lot of business tends to migrate to London and it should be staying here.

“It is partly that, but also for an awfully long time the engineers were under the cosh, but that has completely turned around.”

He added: “The management that is around now in industrials is very strong, whereas 10 years ago there were a lot of people that were not particularly professional. They have been shown up and dropped. The people there now are quality.”

The Zeus Midlands office opens on Monday, June 17, at Brindleyplace.

The firm was founded in Manchester a decade ago, and established a London office 18 months ago.

Mr King has been in stockbroking for over 20 years and after starting with Albert E Sharp in the city he was a founder member of Arden Partners – which subsequently became listed on the London Stock Exchange.

He worked with Mr Grove, who died in 2011, at private equity vehicle, GIL Investments, before returning to Arden Partners to head its corporate broking operation.

Zeus has advised on more than £3 billion worth of deals since it was established in 2003 and completed more than 100 transactions.

Director Ross Andrews told the Post Zeus had enjoyed success by offering a complete service, and had benefited from struggling rivals.

He said: “We thought the existing model for small cap advisory firms was broken.

“A lot were over-weighed with costs that they couldn’t reduce and there was consolidation in the marketplace and some were disappearing.

“We thought there was an opportunity for a new broker opening, and it has gone very well.”

Mr King said Zeus has access to a wide range of sources of capital from both institutional investors through to private equity and high-net worth offices and individuals.

The firm raised £4 million through the flotation of Healthcare Investment Opportunities on the alternative investment market earlier this year.

In a statement, joint chief executives John Goold and Tim Metcalfe said they were confident the Birmingham team would continue to build the brand in the West Midlands.

It states:“The Zeus team will be working closely together to identify and help businesses looking to take their business to the next level.

“We believe that being a locally-based adviser with London and regional operations will differentiate us from London-centric investment banks.

“With considerable collective experience with quoted and private companies both in and out of the region, we expect to be able to build a solid footprint from a standing start and it’s a great opportunity for us all.”

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