Professional services provider Leonard Curtis, in Birmingham, is celebrating an important milestone this month – marking 15 years of support to SMEs and their advisers across the city and the wider Midlands region.
The firm specialises in corporate restructuring and insolvency, personal debt advice, equity and debt finance raising for SMEs, cashflow optimisation, property solutions and legal services.
Established in 2006 with just four people in a small attic office on Newhall Street, Leonard Curtis Birmingham now employs 17 professionals and support staff – including two highly experienced insolvency practitioners. The growing team recently moved into stylish new offices in Cavendish House on Waterloo Street.
The office is led locally by Director and Insolvency Practitioner Conrad Beighton, in partnership with the highly-respected Paul Masters – one of the original founders. Tom Madden and Kirsty Swan make up the rest of the senior team.
They are supported by David Griffiths in Wolverhampton and Joph Young in Worcester, which means their expertise covers the whole of the Midlands. All three offices work closely with Senior Business Development Manager Chloe Beare from the firm’s locally based in-house brokerage, Reach Commercial Finance.
Relationships with accountants and other advisers across the city brings in SME work from all sectors and means the office is well placed to offer the right experience and approach – especially in the current climate. In-house funding and legal teams complement restructuring professionals and work collaboratively to solve problems for clients.
“It is a proven formula for success,” said Conrad. “and will help us play our part as Birmingham and the wider regional economy starts to recover from the pandemic. Our people are back in our city centre offices – observing all the right protocols – and are ready to support businesses with the challenge ahead.”
He continued: “Lots of key staff have been with us for many years which is quite unusual – we actively encourage their training and development and, as a result, we have a great team here. There are no egos, everyone will muck in to help everyone else. We think like entrepreneurs – if we see an opportunity we like, we are quick to adopt it.”
Co-director Paul Masters said the firm’s success in Birmingham was due to the way Leonard Curtis looks after people, its entrepreneurial spirit and its relentless pursuit of solutions to avoid insolvency. “Our approach to business and referrers has not changed one bit in 15 years. We continue to look after both the referrer and the client to the best of our ability.”
Stephen George, Partner at Irwin Mitchell, added: “Paul and Conrad have built a first-rate practice with real strength in depth. It is recognised for its commerciality – finding and delivering practical solutions to complex problems – as well as empathy when having to advise clients in what are often very difficult times for them personally. I am excited to see the team continue to grow and thrive over the coming years.”
Leonard Curtis Group Director Daniel Booth said: “We believe that the best relationships are made locally with people you know and trust – whether that’s a professional advisory and financial network or end customer SME. Our people here share a passion for Birmingham and the wider Midlands region and want to help every business within it to succeed.”
In its 15th anniversary year, Leonard Curtis Birmingham will be supporting the Group’s charitable scheme, The Leonard Curtis Foundation, which provides a focal point and framework to increase the firm’s ‘giving’. It encourages its employees in the Midlands to support the causes they care about.