Resume
Darren has operated in the restructuring and turnaround arena for his entire career. Frustration with the lack of true turnaround funding in the UK, whilst working as an adviser to distressed corporates, banks and private equity houses, prompted Darren to co-found Endless in late 2005 to address this gap in the market.
Since this time, Darren has been responsible for sourcing, leading and executing numerous investments and disposals. Darren has responsibility for several key investments in the Endless portfolio and sits on the Investment Committee.
Darren splits his time across all of the Endless offices, with specific responsibility for Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham.
Darren's notable projects include:
- Acquisition of £100m turnover Amco Group, a highly complex MBO of diverse non-core assets from a plc. This transaction demonstrated Endless's "can do" approach after dealing with a variety of difficult issues in a group with a long history, having started as a mining business. The exit in 2011 delivered more than 8x on the committed capital.
- Acquisition of £250m turnover Peter Black International and then subsequent sale to a trade buyer just 13 months later. More than £50m of equity value was generated during Endless's involvement.
- Turnaround of JTF Wholesale following our acquisition in 2009, when the business had just reported losses in excess of £(5m) for the financial year. By 2011 and despite a difficult retail environment, the business is operating at a £5m EBITDA run-rate.