Sam Mills joins EY Manchester as Director

Former PwC deals and advisory specialist Sam Mills has joined Big Four rival EY, as it looks to expand its restructuring, refinancing and turnaround work for corporate clients. He will be based in EY’s Manchester office, as the city’s businesses look to benefit from an upsurge in investment, prompted by the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

With a “rich innovation culture” present throughout the North, the core cities of Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Newcastle, are currently seeing a cross-fertilisation of agendas around SME development, investments, and a more cohesive working approach across the board. With the Northern Powerhouse project seemingly picking up momentum, it was also recently announced that the North West would receive £281 million from the Government’s ‘Stronger Towns Fund’.

As businesses look to tap into this fast-changing market, EY’s Manchester wing announced it has appointed Sam Mills as a Director. Mills will specialise in restructuring, refinancing and turnaround work for corporate clients.

His arrival follows the appointment of Ben Wildsmith as a Partner for the Manchester transaction advisory services team in the fourth quarter of 2018, returning to EY from private equity firm NorthEdge Capital.

Mills joins from PwC, where he spent 10 years supporting private businesses and larger corporates in situations of change, transition and financial difficulty. Mills has undertaken several secondments, including as a Housing Investment Fund Transaction Manager with Manchester City Council, and has also held finance positions in industry.

Commenting on his move to EY, Mills said, “It was a very easy decision to make because EY has demonstrated consistent investment in the regional business and built a market leading restructuring practice. I am already seeing new and exciting client engagements and I look forward to meeting and working with clients and the team in the coming months.”

Wildsmith meanwhile added, “We are really proud of the restructuring and turnaround work that we are winning both nationally and locally, in the North West market. The work is increasingly varied, it requires a broader skill set and a more experienced team to deliver the work than it has historically. Sam brings a particular focus on corporate work and adds further strength and depth to our team as we continue to invest in our transactional business.”