Ben Pitt is the latest recruit, joining the growing investment team as an investment associate at YFM Equity Partners (YFM) which has offices in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Reading, and is continuing to expand its team across the South.

After spending the last four years with EY as a corporate finance executive, Ben takes up the position of investment associate with YFM, supporting the origination and execution of new investments across both growth capital and buyout opportunities.

The recruitment follows YFM’s continued growth including the recent £5m investment in the MBO of RGE services in Essex; and the £4m growth capital investment in the Bournemouth-based film visual effects company Outpost VFX, as well as the successful realisation of YFM’s investment in FourNet which generated a 6x return.

Jamie Roberts, partner and head of new investments in the South for YFM, said: “Having almost doubled our team here over the last two years as well as making a number of internal promotions, it’s important that we continue to bring new talent on board and support career development as we keep building our business in the South.

“We are pleased to be welcoming someone of Ben’s calibre, his experience will add further strength in depth to the team following the recent promotions of David Wrench to partner and Adam Hart to investment director. This latest appointment is another step in our strategy of building out the team as we deploy our buyout and VCT funds to support fast-growing businesses across the UK.”

Ben adds: “I’m always excited by a new challenge and this is a great opportunity to develop my career and learn from an extremely experienced team. I have been really impressed by YFM’s track record and the team’s passion for what they do – they are committed to getting the best results for the businesses they support and I’m keen to be part of their success story.”