A clear second place rating in Experian’s East of England rankings means that Ensors continues to be a top rated regional corporate finance firm for 2025.
The nine strong team successfully ranked with 32 disclosed deals – with several others remaining confidential – across the year to claim the high position.
Simon Martin, Ensors Partner who leads on Corporate Finance, said: “This is a landmark moment for us because it demonstrates to existing and potential clients that we are a major regional force across the sector.
“It also gives clients peace of mind when they make what is perhaps their most important business decision, knowing with utter confidence that we will get the job done – and always take it from start to completion.
“Our success is really down to professionalism, approachability, teamwork and contacts. The team is very experienced and has been building relationships for a long time, which stands us in good stead.”
But they are not standing on their laurels, with the CF team continuing to expand strategically as business demand grows, with a new starter due in September.
Ensors’ headline deals in 2025 were an even split between sell side and buy side work, across industries ranging from facilities management to vending machines and construction to professional services.
In total there were 663 qualifying deals worth around £7 billion in the East of England last year, broadly similar to 2024 in number although less in value, highlighting the region’s resilience and its continued significance within the UK’s dealmaking landscape.
Simon added that an ongoing trend among clients, mostly owner-managed businesses, was that as well as retirement sales, more businesspeople in their 30s or 40s were looking to sell.
“People are maybe derisking a little bit and bringing in investors, particularly private equity firms – and we are seeing an expansion of cross-border interest with more American and Northern European money being invested here.
“This is partly due to the many innovative companies we have in our region – particularly in Cambridge where there now is a growing AI industry to add to the existing SaaS (Software as a Service) businesses – which are very attractive to foreign buyers.”
Lee Humble, UK head of Corporate Finance at UK top 10 accountancy firm Azets which acquired Ensors last September, said: “Congratulations to Simon and the CF team at Ensors for this tremendous ranking which is well deserved after what has been a changeable year within M&A for many reasons.
“They have dovetailed seamlessly with our vast deal team at Azets who are one of the UK’s most active corporate finance advisory teams offering trusted, partner-led advice on buying, selling, and raising capital.
“This integration has allowed us to extend our domestic coverage and provide a deeper platform for our clients across all sectors during a period where we have also heavily invested into our technology stack which has included the roll out of multiple data analytics, AI and proprietary deal data platforms.
“Ensors are next in line to both roll this out across their locality as we continue to build one of the most formidable regional CF teams in the country.”
Experian is one of the ‘big three’ major multinational credit reporting agencies and provides data analytics and marketing services to help organizations make informed lending and business decisions in more than 30 countries.
The latest figures were published in the UK and Republic of Ireland Mergers & Acquisitions Review by Experian Market IQ.
Ensors is full service accountancy and business advisory firm Ensors which has 300 colleagues across six offices in Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Ipswich, Norwich and Saxmundham.
Ensors, now part of Azets, continues to operate under its own name with a dedicated regional leadership team, led by David Scrivener as Regional Managing Director, East.
l https://www.ensors.co.uk/
l https://www.azets.com/en-uk
Photo: The Corporate Finance team at Ensors, part of Azets
