Accountancy firm Fortus secures growth funding from LDC
This article covers Fortus, a York-headquartered accountancy and business advisory firm, securing growth funding from LDC, part of Lloyds Banking Group, to support geographic and service expansion across Yorkshire and accelerate its buy-and-build strategy. The investment aims to help Fortus invest in people and systems and fund further acquisitions to scale advisory services for more than 4,500 SMEs across Yorkshire.
Fortus, the York-headquartered firm of accountants and business advisors, has secured an investment from LDC (part of Lloyds Banking Group) in a growth funding round to back geographic and service expansion across Yorkshire and to accelerate its buy-and-build strategy.
Why it matters
The deal underlines continued private capital interest in regional professional services businesses that combine advisory services with acquisitive growth plans. Fortus supports more than 4,500 SMEs across Yorkshire from offices in York, Leeds and Scarborough, and the backing from LDC aims to help the firm invest in people and systems at a time when SMEs face a complex regulatory landscape and greater demand for advisory-led services.
Inside the product
Founded in 2020, Fortus is an independent, founder-led firm with a 115-strong team covering accountancy, audit, tax and wider advisory services. Management points to a mixed strategy of organic growth plus M&A: the business has completed five acquisitions in five years to broaden its service lines and regional footprint.
The capital is earmarked for continued investment in staff and technology to scale service delivery and to fund further acquisitions that complement Fortus’s existing presence across the region. For clients, the firm presents itself as a one-stop adviser for SMEs seeking tax, compliance and strategic growth support; for the market it is an example of consolidation among regional accountancy practices.
Who are the investors?
The deal is led by LDC, the mid-market private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group. The transaction team included Investment Manager Anthony West, Investment Executive Connie Smith, Origination Manager Sophie Isaacs and Dan Smith, Partner and Head of Yorkshire. Anthony West and Dan Smith will join Fortus’s board as non-executive directors. Neil Cox will join as chair, bringing private equity and M&A experience in professional services.
Debt funding was provided by Triple Point, with the transaction led there by Paul Dolyniuk. LDC’s advisers included Alvarez & Marsal (corporate finance), Womble Bond Dickinson (legal), BDO (financial due diligence and tax) and GCS Insights (commercial diligence). Fortus was advised by legal advisers Andrew Jackson.
LDC said the investment builds on a decade of activity in Yorkshire, where its team has deployed more than £400m into businesses with a combined enterprise value of about £1.1bn. Recent regional examples cited by LDC include BCIS, a cost and carbon data provider that was carved out and exited; UniHomes, a student accommodation and advertising platform; Pagabo Group, a procurement and technology specialist; and Lomond, a national lettings and estate agency that expanded via buy-and-build. These illustrate LDC’s experience supporting both carve-outs and consolidating growth strategies in professional and tech-adjacent services.
In the announcement, Dan Smith, Partner and Head of Yorkshire at LDC, said:
Craig, Andy and Rich, along with the wider SLT, have built an exceptional business with genuine momentum and a clear strategy for the next phase. They’ve proved they can integrate acquisitions and drive organic growth – and we’re excited to be backing them to continue that journey whilst continuing to deliver high quality, advisory-led services to their client base.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Craig Herbert, Founder and CEO of Fortus, said:
This is an exciting new chapter for Fortus. We believe we have built something special here in Yorkshire – a firm that genuinely understands its clients’ needs and delivers real value through personal relationships and deep expertise, via a team full of passionate and dedicated professionals across an array of service line and sector specialisms. This partnership is a culmination of a relationship we have developed with LDC over a number of years.
The team at LDC understands what we’re trying to do and is backing our ambition to build the leading regional firm of accountants and business advisors rooted firmly here in Yorkshire.
Leadership continuity is notable: founder Craig Herbert stays as CEO and the executive team remain in place, signalling the deal is aimed at scaling the existing model rather than replacing management.
The bigger picture
The Fortus-LDC deal is part of a broader trend: private capital is increasingly active in regional professional services and fintech-adjacent businesses that offer predictable recurring revenue and cross-sell opportunities. Buy-and-build strategies remain attractive because they can rapidly expand geographic reach and service breadth, while investment in operational systems helps integrate acquisitions and improve unit economics.
For Yorkshire and the wider UK market, the transaction highlights how mid-market private equity is a key source of growth capital for firms serving SMEs. That matters for regional employment, adviser capacity and the competitiveness of local ecosystems as more firms look to consolidate and digitise professional services.
The transaction sits alongside other recent regional deals that show appetite among UK investors to back professional services platforms with clear M&A playbooks and strong client bases.
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