ECI has invested from Manchester for close to three decades – as we mark our 50th year, Stephen Roberts, who has spent much of his career doing deals across the North West, reflects on why the region remains one of Europe’s busiest deal markets and why it is still one of the best places in the UK to build and scale a business.
ECI’s Manchester office has led almost a third of ECI’s investments in its latest Fund. Why is the Manchester office so important?
“Because on some measures Manchester is the second most active private equity market in Europe, behind only London. It is a busy market, with a strong population of PE and VC funds based here, and that activity is particularly strong at the lower-cap end, with many deals which gives us sight of opportunities early. It also has a particular character: it is big, but small too. Everyone knows everyone, it is less transient than London, and that fosters a supportive and collaborative culture, which matters a lot when you’re building a business. And lastly, but most importantly, there’s a lot of innovative growth businesses here. We have been investing here for close to thirty years, and across every fund we have done two or three good deals out of the Manchester office.”
Does being on the ground change anything for the Founders and management teams you back?
“I like to think so. For a founder, having your investor around the corner is valuable. It means we can meet for a coffee at short notice to talk through a strategic issue, rather than everything being a formal, diarised set-piece. Those informal touchpoints often matter most.”
The North West is often labelled a tech region – is that how you see it?
“I would call it a growth hub rather than a tech hub. The perception that it’s all tech undersells the breadth we see. Partly that’s because some of the biggest success stories have been tech or tech-adjacent – the North West has produced a remarkable run of success stories, from Boohoo and THG to AO and On the Beach, and more recently Matillion. But that’s a real range; e-commerce has always been strong here, as have tech-enabled services. Our own track record reflects that breadth: we have backed businesses like Citation, Great Rail Journeys, Clarke Energy Services, TMG, CPOMS, Moneypenny, CMap and Mobysoft across the North, and what they have in common is that they’re strong, well-run, growing businesses, which is what we look for.”
What has changed in the market over the years you have been doing deals here?
“The biggest shift is how the advisory community has matured. It is no longer a case of regional teams covering regional deals – senior, nationally focused advisers at the major firms are now based in Manchester rather than London, across corporate finance but also legal and broader advisory. Manchester has become a national deal-doing centre in its own right, not just a regional one. That is true for us as well – personally, I lead the HRtech sector nationally, combining that sector expertise with genuine local presence. We also deliver national and international deals from here. A good example is our recent investment in Paragin Group, the Benelux leader in high-stakes assessment software, led out of Manchester, just as we support TAG on its international growth from here. Being based in the North West does not mean only doing North West deals.”
Do you think there’s a growing confidence in the region, is that translating to deals?
“There’s a huge amount of foreign direct investment in Manchester – it’s now in the top ten large European cities in the Regions of the Future rankings. You can see it on the ground (and in the amount of cranes across Manchester!) – real money going in from the Good Growth programme, innovation hubs, and a funding ecosystem built around the universities. VC investment in the North West was £2bn in 2024.”
What would you still like to see strengthened in the region?
“Connectivity remains top of the list. International travel out of Manchester is excellent, but it can be quicker to reach Amsterdam than Newcastle. We’ve said this for years and progress has been slow, but it’s still the biggest single thing that would help the North build on the past decade’s growth. One of the more dramatic changes that you could expect to strengthen the region is Andy Burnham becoming PM. This will help to shift the country’s centre of gravity away from London, with Burnham talking about a ‘Downing Street North’, a permanent government base here in Manchester. It is an interesting challenge to the London-centricity of the UK, and I’d expect a renewed focus on devolution with Manchester and the Northwest front and centre, which should be genuinely exciting for businesses and investors in the region.”
What’s your message to Founders?
“That we are very much open for business. We have backed growth businesses from this region for the better part of thirty years, and we intend to keep doing so for a long time yet. I’m passionate about the success of the North West and North West-based businesses”
