Bristol-based Shaw & Co, the specialist corporate finance advisory firm, has promoted both Alexei Garan and Rob Starr to Partner.

Their new roles will see Alexei and Rob become co-owners of the company, working alongside Founder & CEO Jim Shaw to develop and grow the business.

The move is part of the company’s five-year development strategy of investment in people, processes and systems that will see Shaw & Co evolve from being a niche regional player to a nationally disruptive operator. Underpinning the strategy is an innovative brand proposition based around the company’s core values of ‘Make it Happen’, ‘Strive For Better’ and ‘Do the Right Thing’.

Alexei, who was previously the company’s Head of Business Funding, joined the company in 2018, having built his corporate finance career over 20 years with companies such as PVE Capital, Credaris, Halifax (Bank of Scotland Treasury Services) and Lazard Brothers. Over the last 15 years he’s advised on over £2bn in restructured post crisis client portfolios and has arranged over £400m in client funding.

Rob, meanwhile, was previously the company’s Head of M&A, having joined the business last year after building his corporate finance career in plcs and advisory firms such as GKN, Care UK, PwC and UHY Hacker Young. Over the last 20 years, he has led and supported over 200 market transactions with an enterprise value of £200m across various sectors, as well as implementing successful growth strategies for FTSE 100, mid-cap, AIM, SMEs and early stage businesses.

With a clear objective of delivering a ‘smarter‘ means of financing, buying and selling businesses to a growing community of ambitious business owners, Shaw & Co also has four further strategic locations across the country - in Birmingham, London, Manchester and Glasgow.

Jim Shaw, Founder and CEO at Shaw & Co commented: “These are exciting times at Shaw & Co. We’ve managed the difficulties brought on by the global pandemic and have now entered into a new period of significant growth.

“Previously, we were one of those ‘best kept secrets’ in the corporate finance sector, but our new brand, website and business development capabilities have helped us to significantly grow our client base. There is strong demand for our unrivalled expertise in helping business owners to buy, sell or finance the growth of their companies, and Alexei and Rob’s new partner roles will enable them to take even greater advantage of those opportunities.”