Five Minutes with… Rob Dawes
We recently caught up with our newly appointed transactional services partner Rob Dawes to learn a little more about his influences and what he will bring to the firm within his role.
We first ask him what he is looking forward too about the challenge ahead? Rob says: “It’s an exciting time for the firm which is growing rapidly with a number of new partners being brought into Manchester and across the firm.
“From my own personal perspective I’m looking forward to putting together a team that can work alongside our successful corporate finance team to offer a specialised due diligence service to our clients.”
On the subject of Manchester, where Rob is primarily based, we want to know what he likes most about working in the city? He says: “Manchester is the North’s major commercial hub. There is a vibrant and close-knit deals community with a lot of high quality, investable businesses.”
And how about transactional services, what does Rob enjoy most about working in this field? “Within Transaction Services we get to see entrepreneurial high growth businesses across a range of sectors.
I like looking into the detail and meeting with dynamic management teams to really understand what makes them successful.”
Looking at some of Rob’s inspirations we next ask him which industry leader he would like to meet and why? He replies: “Dame Kate Bingham. Kate was a venture capitalist who was appointed head of the UK Government’s Vaccine Taskforce.
“The UK’s procurement and rollout of vaccinations was possibly the only area where the UK led the world in its response to the pandemic.
“With venture capitalists and private equity often receiving negative press it is refreshing to see the skills from this sector being highlighted for their positive impact on society.”
Looking a little broader at some of Rob’s inspirations, we ask him who he would invite to a fantasy dinner party and why? Rob continues: “There are three people that I would absolutely have to invite to a fantasy dinner party.
“First up Ben Stokes. As a big cricket fan I would love to have there, but outside of the world of cricket, I’m also a big admirer of his leadership style and the way he has taken on the England captaincy and turned things around so quickly by backing his methods, challenging the conventional approach to tactics and giving his team the freedom to ‘run towards the danger’ and take risks.
“Next would be Matthew Syed. Not so much for his ping pong, but because I do enjoy reading his newspaper column which is often thought provoking and challenges my perspective on a range of topics.
“Finally I would love to invite Billy Beane, more commonly known as the guy played by Brad Pitt in Moneyball.
“As someone who works in due diligence, I’m interested by the analytical approach that he used to challenge the collective wisdom around the statistical analysis of baseball players and how he used this to gain a competitive advantage.”
Finally as our conversation concludes we ask Rob what he feels that clients should be focused on at present? He concludes: “I expect the key focuses of effective due diligence to be the impact of inflation on the cost base of target businesses and the sustainability of revenues and margins, particularly in sectors that are exposed to consumer discretionary spend.”
View Rob Dawes latest blog: The deal’s been agreed – so why the need for financial due diligence?
