Affinia

When Sovereign invested in Colchester-based LB Group in May 2023, the business had enjoyed market-leading organic growth for many years, supplemented by a number of acquisitions.

In the three years prior to our investment, LB Group increased staff numbers from 100 to around 140 to meet client demand, and it had invested heavily in its technology and office infrastructure, establishing itself as one of the leading accountancy and business services advisers in the East and South East of England.

LB's highly experienced management team wanted to build on this success and accelerate its growth strategy. In LB, Sovereign identified a well-managed business with a strong reputation for providing high-quality accountancy and business advice services, and one that was very well-positioned to consolidate the fragmented accountancy sector.

Between Sovereign's investment in 2023 and December 2024, Sovereign worked closely with the management team on an extensive Buy & Build programme, which saw LB Group complete six acquisitions and launch a new corporate brand, Affinia.

A new challenger in the accounting, tax and business advisory sector, Affinia consists of LB Group and the following businesses from across the East and South East of England, all integrated into a single group:

• Richard Edwards Group, an accountancy practice with offices in Halstead and Colchester in Essex
• Dyer & Co, an independent accounting and tax business based in Sidcup, Kent
• Giess Wallis Crisp, an accountancy firm covering Essex and Hertfordshire based in Old Harlow, Essex
• NSO Associates, an experienced firm of chartered accountants and statutory auditors based in Chelmsford, Essex
• Baxter & Co, an accountancy practice based in Orpington, Kent with a strong sector presence in providing audit assurance to schools & colleges; and
• Clarkson Hyde, a 100-year-old accountancy practice based in Sutton, Surrey with clients based across Surrey and Greater London.

Together the new group has more than 7,000 clients, and more than 400 colleagues across nine regional offices in Colchester, Chelmsford, Halstead, Harlow, Ipswich, Orpington, Sidcup, Stratford and Sutton.

The management team has also been strengthened since our investment, including the appointment of Darren Redmayne as Group CEO. Prior to Affinia, Darren held a range of senior roles across M&A, professional services and asset management businesses including UK CEO at the mid-market investment bank, Lincoln International, where he led the MBO of the pensions advisory business, Lincoln Pensions. As CEO and co-founder of Lincoln Pensions, a specialist pension covenant advisory firm, he oversaw its acquisition by Cardano, the Anglo-Dutch specialist pensions, investment and sustainability firm. Most recently Darren was CEO of Cardano Advisory.

Other senior appointments include Vanessa Emens as Group COO, Rob Harden as Group CFO, and Martin Wassell, the Managing Partner of digital transformation agency BIP UK (formerly Chaucer), as Non-Executive Chair.