Sam Woodward, a Partner at EY’s Manchester office, has been appointed National Markets Leader to the company's Transactions Advisory Services (TAS) business as the firm also continues to grow its transactions and restructuring team in the North West.

Sam Woodward has succeeded Adrian Bowne as National Markets Leader for TAS and also joined the firm’s UK TAS leadership team.

Sam joined EY in 2008 and was promoted to Partner in 2011. He will continue to work from EY’s Manchester office, servicing restructuring clients in the local market, as well as taking on this new responsibility.

Sam has extensive experience in advising corporate clients, debt providers and financial sponsors. His experience includes restructuring advisory, accelerated M&A and formal insolvency assignments, ranging from privately owned businesses to multinational public listed companies.

The new role coincides with continued investment in EY’s TAS team in the North West, as activity levels remain high for the team.

Last month, Alex Williams and Richard Barnes - both members of the North West TAS team - were promoted to Associate Partner.

Alex works in the restructuring team based in Manchester and has more than 20 years’ experience at EY, working with underperforming businesses and their stakeholders across a range of sectors including real estate, manufacturing, retail and healthcare, both in the UK and abroad. A former deputy leader of Trafford Council and a fellow of the British American Project, Alex also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

Richard leads EY’s corporate finance infrastructure team in the North and focuses on advising public and private clients on complex infrastructure programmes including structuring business cases, funding and financing, and advising on all stages of the procurement process. He has been with the EY since the late 1990s and started his career in Manchester before working in London and across the Middle East and finally returning to Manchester in 2016.

Sam Woodward said:

“EY sees a large part of its future growth coming from the regions and that’s why we are investing in our regional teams. In the North West we’ve benefited from senior hires and promotions across our TAS team in transactions, corporate finance, valuations and restructuring, which not only signal the volume of activity within this region but also underline our commitment to further growing our footprint in the North West market.

“My recent National Markets appointment also demonstrates EY’s recognition that the senior leadership team needs to include those who can give insight and perspective on what’s happening across regional markets to ensure EY remains responsive to the business landscape across the whole of the UK.”