One of the most respected names in the Northern tech scene has joined KPMG.
Ed Prior has left GP Bullhound after nearly eight years to join KPMG as associate director in the North West corporate finance team with a remit to lead on advising tech businesses.
Prior held a series of roles during his time at GP Bullhound, including as an investment banker and vice president.
Among Prior’s first roles at KPMG’s will be to speak at the Tech Barometer event on September 12th and TechBlast’s FUEL Manchester on September 20th.
Prior said: “Having witnessed first hand the growth of the technology sector in the UK outside of London over the past 10 years, I understand how critical it is for founders from all regions to be supported with specialist advice at every step of the journey.
“This has never been more important given the change in appetite from both investors and acquirors towards tech assets in the past 18 months.
“I am excited to be joining the KPMG team, given its excellent market reputation and broad range of services to support founders throughout the lifecycles of their businesses.”
Christian Mayo, head of corporate finance across the North, said Prior will be a huge asset to KPMG.
“We are delighted that Ed is joining us,” he said. “He has a strong market presence and brings with him a wealth of knowledge across a variety of established and emerging tech verticals as well as deal experience with local, national and international investors and acquirors.
“The technology sector will continue to have an increasing importance to the North West economy in the future and therefore we will continue to invest to ensure we are best positioned to provide our clients with world-class advice and support.”
One of Prior’s first roles will be to speak at TechBlast’s inaugural FUEL Manchester event on September 20th.
The two-part event takes place at KPMG’s Manchester office in St Peter’s Square and is aimed at startups and scaleups and begins with a business breakfast discussion.
Part two of FUEL Manchester is an exclusive masterclass where a select group of businesses will gain direct access to panels of experts.
Prior will join a funding panel alongside Patrick Molyneux, partner, KPMG Acceleris, and David Foreman, co-founder and managing partner, Praetura Ventures.
A week earlier he’ll be taking part in the 4th Tech Barometer event, which is organised by tech specialist Fairmont Recruitment and BusinessCloud and will also discuss the changing trends in tech and recruitment.
The event has been organised jointly by BusinessCloud and Fairmont Recruitment and will be hosted by journalist Chris Maguire.
The confirmed speakers include Martin Bryant, founder of UK startup newsletter PreSeed Now and technology and media consultancy Big Revolution.
He’ll be joined by Tom Eggleston, CEO of ProofID, which raised £15m in investment in May 2022 from Maven Capital Partners.
Others speakers include Jennifer Atkinson, former chief executive of Chester-based ITC Travel Group,
They’ll also be joined by David Levine, principal of Manchester Angels Network; Chelsea Slater, founder and CEO of InnovateHer and Jack Donohue, CEO and founder of Fairmont Recruitment.