Connect Yorkshire Partners are just that, in every sense of the word, professionals in the services sector, consisting of, but not limited to; Legal, Accounting, Recruitment, Insurance, Banking and Wealth Management.
Our partners offer help and support to our members, with their specific knowledge and expertise. All businesses, no matter what their shape or size, need help and advice from these industries.
Our partners hold seminars on various topics ensuring our members are informed and kept up to date with all the latest news and developments that are constantly changing and evolving in the business environment.
Below are our exclusive Partners:
ALT Legal exists to challenge legal convention and provide a credible alternative for ambitious businesses. Guided by your risk appetite as the business leader, not ours, we're the business opportunity unit.
ALT Legal works with growing SMEs and founder led businesses providing a full service offering: M&A, shareholder structuring and governance, IT and commercial contracts, data protection, IP, employment and commercial property.
We deliver our services through fixed fee projects and monthly subscriptions. The subscriptions are designed to support businesses on their growth journeys, giving easy access to practical legal support as and when its needed and enabling us to really get to know the business, its plans and risk appetite, so that the advice we give is tailored to that business.
Group Managing Director
In over 25 years of practice as a corporate lawyer there isn’t much Rob hasn’t seen when it comes to the buying, selling, structuring and managing of small businesses. From entrepreneurial-led investors through to £50m family businesses, his quiet approach cuts through the general noise of corporate lawyers and he is most likely to be heard saying “what is the client trying to achieve” as opposed to trying to score lawyer points or table banging. Clients love his ability to cut through the Gordian knot of complexity to find a radically simple solution that fits everybody’s commercial goals.
Head of ALT Legal
Anna is a lawyer who spent the first half of her career working in a global law firm helping turn around distressed businesses. That expertise drives a keen understanding of quick solutions rather than fence-sitting. Now passionately focussed on disrupting the traditional, stuffy legal industry, Anna leads ALT Legal, intent on showing business owners that law can be more relevant and accessible to start ups, scale ups and SMEs while, dare she say it.. making it fun and enjoyable to engage, words not usually associated with lawyers!
Owner of ALT Legal
Having founded Alt Legal with Rob over ten years ago, Richard focusses on dot-joining for and between clients, aiming to create connections and solutions that cut across the usual professional silos. An employment lawyer with an MBA and a diploma in management consulting, allied to a deep love of a tortured analogy and a 2X2 matrix, Richard is happiest working with clients who are willing to at least entertain the possibility of disruption and transformative growth.
At Clarion, we’ve always believed that strong businesses are built on strong relationships. Across Yorkshire and beyond, we work with entrepreneurs, business leaders and high net worth individuals who are ambitious, innovative and focused on creating long-term success.
That’s why we’re proud to be the Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) partner of Connect Yorkshire.
Connect Yorkshire plays an important role in bringing together the region’s most dynamic entrepreneurs creating opportunities to share experience, learn from one another and build meaningful connections.
Our involvement reflects the way we like to work: collaboratively, openly and with a genuine interest in helping people and businesses thrive. Supporting a community that champions entrepreneurship, growth and opportunity is a natural fit for us.
Yorkshire has a remarkable entrepreneurial spirit, and we’re delighted to support an organisation that helps nurture and strengthen it.
Senior Partner
Described as ‘exceptionally calm under pressure’ and having a ‘tough approach to negotiating’, Richard is a corporate finance lawyer with over 25 years' experience. He works with a wide range of clients on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and debt transactions and management buy-outs.
Advising on strategy as well as delivering transactions, Richard’s focus is on long-term client relationships. He has particular experience in handling the delicate issues at the heart of succession planning for complex family-owned businesses and is comfortable dealing with large corporate businesses alongside those with limited previous experience of working with professional advisers.
Richard is also part of our International team and works with clients with interests around the world particularly international businesses with interests in the UK and Europe.
Partner
Stephanie is a Partner and heads up our Private Wealth Team at Clarion. She is a highly experienced Trust and Estate Practitioner who advises clients nationwide on a broad spectrum of private wealth matters, including Wills, the set up and administration of family trusts, powers of attorney, inheritance tax and succession planning.
She specialises in advising family business owners, working closely with our corporate colleagues, on matters relating to the succession of the business.
She also specialises in complex, high-value probate work, assisting families where estates require detailed technical analysis or post-death variations. Known for her ability to spot inheritance tax opportunities and navigate intricate estate issues, Stephanie works closely with families and personal representatives to ensure estates are administered efficiently and effectively.
Stephanie regularly supports high net worth individuals, business owners, the recently bereaved and elderly clients, providing guidance on sensitive personal matters in plain, reassuring language. As one of only a small number of fully accredited members of the Association of Lifetime Lawyers in Leeds, she brings both technical expertise and a strong client-centred ethos to her work.
tel: 07825 635 212
stephanie.parish@clarionsolicitors.com
Founded in 2001 by Graham Royle, GRI Group quickly became established as a global player in our chosen markets through a combination of strategic acquisitions and the creation of new enterprises.
Over the years, we have invested heavily in technology, manufacturing capability and personnel expertise, ensuring our ability to offer our global customers the very best in World Class products and services.
GRI Group’s current portfolio of associated trading businesses are involved in:
Chairman & CEO
Serial entrepreneur. A successful strategist, blending creative vision and initiative to maximise business performance and growth. Extensively travelled globally and has substantial practical commercial, engineering and manufacturing expertise.
Very passionate about the education, personal development and links with business of students and engaged in many helpful activities.
Graham’s early career successes were in the corporate world, where he was headhunted several times in his 20’s and 30’s, and travelled globally gaining practical, commercial, financial, technical and manufacturing expertise. During this time Graham headed up a number of businesses and was also involved in several acquisitions, which now total >35 deals career-to-date.
In 2001 Graham created and developed his own group of businesses, GRI Group, by a combination of acquisitions, start-ups and organic growth.
The combined turnover of GRI Group’s past and present trading businesses reached some £245 million p.a. and in 2021 GRI Group celebrated its 20th birthday, highlighting its total 20 years of sales at £1.751 billion.
McLaren Leeds specialises in the sale of new and used McLaren cars plus servicing, parts and accessories.
Situated on Aire Valley Road, just off the M1, with fantastic access to the A1, catering across the north of England, McLaren Leeds is the eighth UK location in McLaren Automotive’s expanding network of retailers.
McLaren Leeds is operated by Park’s Motor Group, a private family-owned business with a portfolio of over 20 new car franchises in various locations throughout Scotland.
Welcome to the next generation of insurance broking.
Partners& is a Chartered insurance broker providing specialist insurance, employee benefits, risk management and claims advice to businesses and private clients. As a next generation insurance advisory business, Partners& combines the best traditions of broking, which places value in relationships and technical knowledge, modern thinking and intelligent use of technology to ensure our clients experience a better way.
In line with its strategy to continue developing a strong northern presence, Partners& is actively looking to support likeminded businesses in the Yorkshire area.
Our aim is to be the best insurance advisory business in the UK, characterised by:
Client Partner
Tom is a Yorkshire lad, born and bred. He started his insurance career at NFU before moving to Henderson Insurance Brokers in 2008 where he worked his way up to Management Director prior to joining Partners& in December 2020 as a client partner. Tom actively supports an ecosystem of connected Yorkshire businesses and is passionate about offering comprehensive advice to protect client against risk and ensure their business resilience.
0113 887 3805 / 07764 492847
UK Sales Director
Since graduating from the University of Leeds, Jon has worked as a commercial insurance broker specialising in the food manufacturing sector and supporting M&A transactions for Private Equity and trade investors. He has held senior positions at global insurance brokers before joining the Partners& executive team as Sales Director earlier this year. Jon is also involved in a number of charities and is Chair of the Working Option in Education advisory board, committee member of children’s charity KidsOut and a co-founder of the BPFS Black Leaders Network.
m: 07776 340 091
Whatever personal goals and ambitions you have in life, knowing where you stand financially and knowing what this empowers you to achieve, is key to a life well-lived.
At Rathbones we are the UK’s leading discretionary wealth manager, overseeing over £100bn in assets for our valued clients. We take great pride in our relationship-based approach to Financial Planning and Investment Management, and our purpose to make a tangible and meaningful difference to you and your family. With an investment heritage dating back to 1827, we’re built for the long term, and have been entrusted by generations of our clients for nearly 200 years.
With investment your capital is at risk.
Investment Director
David Herdsman is an experienced Investment Director based in Rathbones’ Leeds office. He joined the firm in 2023, bringing over 24 years of industry experience and a strong track record in managing diverse, multi‑asset portfolios for private clients, trusts, companies and pension schemes.
David is committed to providing a highly personal service, taking the time to understand each client’s objectives and building trusted, long‑term relationships. His approach mirrors Rathbones’ values — putting clients first and delivering thoughtful, high‑quality investment management.
A Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment and a Chartered Wealth Manager, David holds an honours degree in Economic & Social History. Before joining Rathbones, he served as an Investment Director at Brown Shipley.
Investment Director
David is an Investment Director in Rathbones’ Leeds office and brings more than two decades of investment management expertise to the firm. Joining in 2024, he plays a key role in supporting Rathbones’ presence across the region and delivering the high‑quality, personalised investment services for which the business is known.
David specialises in managing multi‑asset portfolios for private individuals, pension funds, trusts and corporates. He takes pride in building long‑standing client relationships and ensuring each client receives clear, attentive and tailored advice.
A Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment and a Chartered Wealth Manager, David also holds an honours degree in Business Studies. Prior to Rathbones, he spent a significant part of his career as an Investment Director at Brown Shipley, contributing to more than 23 years of experience in the industry.
Thomas Coombs is one of the oldest and most respected independent firms of Chartered Accountants, tax, and business advisers in Leeds, Yorkshire. Since our founding in 1878—an impressive 145 years and counting—we have been committed to helping family and owner-managed businesses, as well as charities, solicitors, and even international organisations, navigate their most significant decisions and achieve lasting success. Our rich history is rooted in the heart of Leeds, a vibrant city that perfectly reflects our dynamic approach to modern accounting.
Our directors and management team are dedicated to steering the firm into the contemporary landscape of accounting, ensuring we remain at the forefront of industry developments and technological advancements. Despite the many changes and advancements over the years, one thing remains constant: our unwavering dedication to the clients we serve. We pride ourselves on our proactive, approachable, and forward-thinking ethos. Our passion for helping our clients grow and prosper is unrivalled, and we strive to deliver exceptional service and strategic advice tailored to each client’s unique needs.
If you are seeking a team of dedicated professionals who are committed to your success, we would be delighted to be of service. At Thomas Coombs, we work collaboratively with you, bringing our extensive expertise and innovative solutions to help you achieve your business objectives and secure a prosperous future.
Director
Tom joined Thomas Coombs in 2015 as part of the firm's graduate scheme in the audit and accounts department. Since then, he has demonstrated exceptional dedication and skill, which has enabled him to rise through the ranks. He was promoted to Head of Audit in 2021, where he significantly enhanced the audit processes and team efficiency.
Following his success in that role, he was appointed Director in 2022, a testament to his leadership and expertise. In his current role, Tom manages a diverse client portfolio, primarily focusing on business and tax advisory services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and owner-managed businesses across various sectors. His clients appreciate his hands-on approach and tailored solutions that address their unique business challenges and growth opportunities. Tom also holds the position of senior statutory auditor for a large portfolio of the firm's audit clients. He specialises in conducting audit engagements under the International Standards of Auditing (UK). His expertise extends to auditing a wide array of clients, ranging from single-entity organisations to complex international groups.
The sectors he serves are diverse, including telecommunications, manufacturing, finance, software development, and the motor industry, among others. This broad experience enables him to bring valuable insights and best practices to each engagement. Additionally, Tom is proficient in conducting SRA audits in compliance with the Solicitor Accounts Rules.
tom.bond@thomascoombs.com / 0113 244 9512
Director
Christopher joined Thomas Coombs’ graduate apprenticeship programme in 1992 and has shown remarkable dedication and talent throughout his career. By 2001, he had advanced through the ranks to become a Partner, reflecting his commitment and expertise in the field. Early in his career, Christopher demonstrated his exceptional capabilities by ranking seventh nationally in the Making Financial Decisions component of his foundation exams. Additionally, he was among the top three performers in West Yorkshire at the intermediate level. These early achievements set the stage for his successful career at Thomas Coombs. Over the years, Christopher has become a specialist in advising family-run businesses, leveraging his extensive knowledge and experience to support their unique needs. He now serves as the Head of the Charities and Social Enterprise department, where he plays a crucial role in assisting good causes and not-for-profit organisations. His leadership in this department underscores his commitment to making a positive impact in the community.
With a family background in farming in South Yorkshire, Christopher possesses a deep understanding of the challenges and requirements of owner-managed businesses. This personal connection to the farming industry has allowed him to build a robust and growing portfolio of clients across the region. His clients benefit from his insightful advice and strategic planning, tailored to their specific needs and goals. Christopher's farming values are deeply ingrained in his approach to client service. He is dedicated to helping his clients maximize their profits and retain as much wealth as possible. His practical and client-focused advice ensures that his clients can achieve their financial objectives efficiently and effectively. In addition to his professional achievements, Christopher is known for his strong work ethic, analytical acumen, and ability to communicate complex financial concepts clearly. His clients appreciate his proactive approach and his unwavering commitment to their success.
Christopher.darwin@thomascoombs.com / 0113 244 9512
Partner
I am Scott Turner, a Healthcare Practice Partner. My focus is to help new customers buy medical insurance; particularly the self-employed, company directors and professionals. I also specialise in dealing with company policies for 2 employees and above. I am here to help you at every stage of your journey with WPA. You can rest assured that I will help you to choose the right cover at the right price. I'm available however you choose, be it a meeting, by email or over the telephone, at a time that's convenient to you.
