River Capital has provided a £500,000 funding package to Cortus Advisory Group, the multi-award-winning M&A advisory firm.
The money will be used to support its next phase of growth and the creation of a significant number of new roles.
Founded in the North West in 2020 by CEO Nicola Merritt – who was included in BusinessCloud’s 2025 Northern Leaders list – Cortus has grown to a team of 60+ in six years, with revenues climbing significantly over the same period.
The firm now operates from six offices across Manchester, Preston, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham and London, delivering transaction services, corporate finance, financial modelling, data analytics and value creation advice to mid-market businesses with enterprise values typically between £10m and £50m.
The funding, delivered through the North West Business Growth Loan Fund (NWBGL), will be drawn in two tranches to support Cortus as it accelerates senior recruitment and expands its service offering, particularly to private equity clients delivering buy-and-build strategies.
The investment will also support Cortus’ ambitious plans to invest in AI and automation to deliver deeper insights for its clients and enhance productivity.
The business became B Corp certified in 2025, the same year it surpassed 250 completed transactions with an aggregate deal value in excess of £2bn.
Chris Carter, investment manager at River Capital, said: “Nicola and her team have built something genuinely special in the mid-market advisory space, and it’s already making a real impact regionally and nationally.
“This funding will help Cortus keep scaling without losing the senior-led, relationship-driven approach that sets them apart. We’re proud to be backing a founder-led business with such strong ESG credentials and such clear potential to create high-quality jobs across the North West.”
Nicola Merritt, CEO and founder of Cortus Advisory, said: “This funding comes at exactly the right time for us. We’ve grown significantly over the last few years, and this facility gives us the confidence to continue investing in our people, our technology and our growth ambitions as we enter the next phase of our journey.
“We now have a national presence, giving our clients access to a breadth of expertise, experience and insight across the UK. At the same time, we’ve retained the entrepreneurial mindset that has always defined us. We’re agile, responsive and able to make decisions quickly, turning ideas into action without unnecessary layers of bureaucracy.
“Chris took the time to understand our business and how we operate, and it’s fantastic to have a regional funding partner in River Capital who backs that vision.”
The new funding will help Cortus accelerate its staged growth plan, including senior partner hires, the further build-out of its Deal 360 service line and continued investment in its INCOEX alliance, which extends the firm’s reach into private equity markets across Europe.