Deals award win for CSF team

Yorkshire Bank’s Corporate & Structured Finance (CSF) team has been named Banking Team of the Year at the prestigious North West Dealmakers Awards.

Yorkshire Bank beat The Co-operative Bank, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland to win the award, which recognises banking talent in the region. Richard Kennerley, the former head of CSF who was instrumental in building the team since its launch in 2006, was presented with the award at the ceremony at Manchester Central last night.

Judges singled out Yorkshire Bank for its support for a number of high-profile deals, including the buyout of Oldham-based ANSA Holdings, the emergency property repairs division of Mavinwood plc, the £33m buyout of health software group Ascribe plc which saw it return to private ownership after five years on AIM, and the refinancing of marine services provider James Fisher and Sons.

Paul Shephard, the new head of Corporate & Structured Finance, said: “It’s widely acknowledged that Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank has remained open for business and played an important role in helping to plug the equity gap for mid-market deals. We are now firmly established as a key player in the deals market and are increasingly known for our role in providing funding for larger corporates.”

Paul Shephard is replacing Richard Kennerley following Richard’s imminent departure to take up a senior position in Queensland with the bank’s parent company National Australia Bank.