We are delighted to talk to Patrick Lynch for our last CFO Network interview of the year. Patrick joined AAB in 2024, stepping into a business with deep regional heritage - strengthened AAB’s acquisition of the longstanding Leeds City Centre professional services firm Sagars in 2021. This acquisition coincided with the August Equity’s investment in AAB, creating a multi-disciplinary advisory group with significant momentum. In the last 4 years, the firm has experienced exceptional expansion under August Equity’s partnership, tripling in size in terms of annual revenue and people, completing 16 strategic acquisitions, broadening its footprint across the UK and Ireland while growing the team headcount to over 1,000 people.

Twelve months after launching AAB’s Corporate Finance offering in Leeds, AAB moved into its next phase of growth when  Goldman Sachs alternatives invested in the fast growing professional services group. The investment has provided additional scale, resources, and ambition to accelerate AAB through its next phase of growth. Since then, AAB has continued to grow its team and its influence extensively across the UK and Ireland, building on a platform that is increasingly shaping the advisory landscape across the UK.

Patrick has been a close contact of our business for many years and has led a number of significant corporate finance transactions across the region. Some of the flagship regional deals led by Patrick during a decade in corporate finance include:

• The Management Buy Out and Subsequent Exit (12 months later) for the shareholders of Rotherham based Harvest Healthcare to then Limerston Capital backed Prism Medical (HQ Wakefield).
• The sale of a majority equity stake in Chesterfield HQ Blue Ribbon Care to Queens Park Equity.
• The sale of a majority equity stake in Eden Mobility Limited (founded in Doncaster) to well known private equity firm Foresight.

We caught up with him to hear what life is like as a Corporate Finance Partner in a firm with the backing of Goldman Sachs, and to get his take on the dealmaking environment and business outlook for 2026.

Life as a Corporate Finance Partner at AAB

It has certainly been an interesting start to my time at AAB. The firm has continued to grow both locally and across other regions of the UK and Ireland. Locally we have added new partners and senior hires, such as Emma Swarbrick who moved into the VFF Director role and the recruitment of Abdullah Daji, who recently joined as an Audit Partner. The wider AAB Group has continued to expand too, through the acquisition of Barlow Andrews in late 2024, which provided AAB a presence in the North West of England, Ormsby & Rhodes acquired in the early part of 2025, giving us a footprint in Dublin and the acquisition of GS Verde was announced in November 2025, which delivered our expansion into Wales and the South West of England.

From a Corporate Finance perspective it has also been a busy time. Since setting up the service line at AAB’s Leeds office, covering the North of England, we have also completed some flag ship deals including acting on behalf of private equity backed Blue Ribbon Healthcare on the acquisition of Forevermore Care and acting on the sale of specialist high voltage electrification design company AS Design Limited to EMK Capital backed Aureous (formally trading as Keltbury Group).

What has changed since the Goldman Sachs investment?

The investment from Goldman Sachs is a huge milestone for our business. On a local level it has pretty much been business as usual. We continue our aim of delivering the highest level of service and support to our clients across the regions, which has been the firms approach for many years. We aim to create a market leading client centric professional services firm with presence across all regions of the UK and Ireland. The investment from Goldman Sachs Alternatives will help us achieve this as we look for further geographical expansion and through investment in our process and systems (for example developing our AI strategy and other cutting edge technologies) which will help increase efficiencies and enhance client experiences.‍

The post-Budget mood among shareholders heading into 2026

I think the general mood amongst business leader is “lets just get on with it”. The national minimum wage increase will certainly impact a number of our clients who operate in certain sectors such as hospitality and social care. However the great business leaders and entrepreneurs will always find a way to navigate through challenging cycles.

There has been more and more people exit the UK in recent years to move away from these shores often looking for more favourable tax jurisdictions. I don’t think the budget has done anything to change this so I expect this will continue as business leaders in the UK look to preserve wealth and a change in lifestyle.

Despite these challenges we haven’t seen a slow down corporate finance activity leading up to or since the autumn budget. We have had a busy 6 months for new engagements on both buy and sell side mandates for clients operating across a wide range of sectors from manufacturing to tech based businesses and professional services to healthcare service providers. 2026 is expected to be a busy year for our corporate finance team!

Universal advice on value creation across sectors and structures

When undertaking any corporate finance transaction, preparation is key. Many business owners are out their waiting for a knock on the door and to be handed a golden ticket. The reality is it is incredibly rare for this to happen. Therefore, preparing by getting your house in order and positioning your business for an event is the best way to help ensure business owners achieve their objectives. Some of the key things business owners can do in preparation for a transaction are:

1. Invest in people - By reducing the reliance (or perceived reliance) on the owner or any small number of individuals within a business. This will help deliver growth and ultimately add value in the long run.
2. Invest in processes systems and technology – Will help streamline the business whilst driving operational efficiencies and profitability.
3. Know your end game – Establish your goals and objectives and make smart business decisions with these goals and objectives in mind.
4. Appoint expert team of advisors – Preparing your team of advisors (covering corporate finance, tax and legal) who understand the objectives from the outset, will help ensure you are in the best possible position to achieve the objectives.

Lastly I believe timing is key. So the other key piece of advice is to execute your plan when markets are buoyant. Sadly, many business owners don’t and live to regret this.

Patricks objectives for the year ahead

Main objectives for the year ahead is to continue growing the AAB brand across Yorkshire and the North of England. Leveraging off the Goldman Sachs brand and the investment this brings into the business will help AAB continue to position ourselves as a leading go to provider of professional services. We are shaping up to have an incredibly busy start to 2026 across our Corporate Finance team and there are exciting times ahead for the firm and our clients.