Committed to supporting growth in South Yorkshire

We are delighted to welcome John Whitney, a well-known and experienced dealmaker to the team in Sheffield. John, who has joined from Grant Thornton’s Yorkshire corporate finance team has been active in the Sheffield and South Yorkshire market for well over a decade and brings great knowledge and contacts to his new role with Foresight. 

So, alongside our strengthened team and new fund, there’s another big reason why I’m so positive about South Yorkshire – and that’s the scale of opportunity that exists here, in boardrooms and business parks, labs and industrial estates across Barnsley, Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster. 

We know the region has outstanding capabilities in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, health and technology - all critically important industries of the future. After our fund launch earlier this year, we now have a strong pipeline of deals across a number of sectors, which we look forward to announcing soon. 

Although we have a new fund, we have been active in South Yorkshire for many years, supporting companies like MRMK, a Sheffield based manufacturer, which has invested around £1 million in new equipment and infrastructure, which has helped it to re-shore manufacturing. 

We now have £20 million to invest in smaller companies in South Yorkshire.  

While we will look at some early-stage opportunities, the ‘bread and butter’ of our activity is supporting established, profitable companies to unlock growth, this may be supporting a management buyout, or supporting founders to exit if there is no clear succession plan.  

Having worked across the North throughout my career, it’s absolutely clear that spirit of enterprise, entrepreneurship, ambition and resilience is alive and kicking here.  

Supporting this too is a strong network of organisations, spanning the Mayoral Combined Authority, local councils and chambers of commerce, with a clear focus on growth and an understanding that more can be achieved collectively, than individually. 

Foresight’s approach is based on three core principles: Invest, Build and Grow, which combined with a flexible mindset to deals, has stood us in good stead over the years. We now look forward to accelerating our activity here in South Yorkshire in the coming months and helping the regional economy to thrive, delivering jobs and opportunities in all communities.