YFM Equity Partners has appointed James Warburton as investment director in its North West team, bringing more than 15 years of investment and advisory experience to the firm’s Manchester office.
Warburton joins from Gresham House, having previously held roles at Endless and Deloitte. His background spans both advisory and direct investment.
The appointment comes alongside two promotions: Oli Wheatley to investment director, having led YFM’s recent £7m investment into StudentCrowd and supported transactions including TNP and Fuuse; and James Curtis to senior investment manager, having worked across investments including S4 Labour, Ohalo, inploi and TiPJAR since joining in 2023.
Both promotions reflect YFM’s commitment to developing talent from within and come at the close of a record first half of 2026, marked by more than £25m deployed, four exits and the completion of the firm’s own management buyout.
Among the highlights was the sale of Liverpool-based Protein Works to Lactalis, delivering a 10.8x return after the business scaled to £55m in annual revenue.
YFM also completed six new investments; StudentCrowd, TiPJAR, inploi, Swanky, TeamFeePay and Aura Life, spanning growth capital and buyout investments across software, FinTech, consumer services and specialist platforms, and provided additional capital to portfolio companies Spotless Water, GEEIQ and Summize.
“YFM has built an outstanding reputation for backing ambitious regional businesses through a collaborative, partnership-led approach,” said Warburton.
“I was particularly attracted by their strong track record of supporting management teams through key stages of growth and their long-standing commitment to investing in the regions.
“I’m excited to be joining at such a strong moment and look forward to working with founders and management teams across the North West to help them achieve their ambitions.”
Neil Inskip, partner and head of new investments at YFM in the North, said: “The North continues to be one of the most exciting regions in the UK for investment. We are seeing a strong pipeline of ambitious, high-quality businesses, and the first half of the year reflects that, both in the investments we’ve made and the exits we’ve delivered.
“The promotions reflect the depth of talent within the team, and James is a strong addition to our Manchester office at an important point in our continued growth in the region. We’ve had an exceptional six months, but the real story is the ambition and quality of the businesses we back, from fast-growing technology companies to market-leading consumer brands.
“With a strong portfolio, a growing team and a healthy pipeline, we’re looking forward to an equally active second half.”