Insider Media Limited

Corporate finance specialist Steve Thornhill has been recruited to the Birmingham office of RSM Tenon. Thornhill will direct the business adviser’s new corporate finance team.

Formerly with business and audit services provider BDO in Birmingham, Thornhill’s most recent deals include the multimillion-pound sales of Brandon Tool Hire and Brookes Heat Merchants – each part of the Wolseley Group – both to private equity.

At BDO, he completed about 20 deals in a variety of sectors and ranging in deal size from £1m to £50m.

Thornhill said: “Joining RSM Tenon is a great opportunity for me. It is a chance to make a real impact in a recovering marketplace with a quality brand and a team that people will know well. The West Midlands is a large area but the advisory community that serves it is tight knit. I am sure that the extension into Birmingham of a large national brand using local people will be readily accepted and welcomed.

“Few would argue that 2007 was the last really good year for corporate finance. 2010 is shaping up though and there is more of an air of optimism to be found generally. This renewed optimism, coupled with a pent-up desire amongst business owners to refinance, to sell or to acquire, leads me to believe that 2011 could be an interesting and busy year for me and my team.”

Paul Bevan, Midlands head of corporate finance at RSM Tenon, said that Thornhill’s appointment was “just the start”. He added that extra appointments would be announced over the next few months.