John Harris

Sue Watson

Harris Watson Holdings plc

Formed in 1989, the company is based in Birmingham. In addition to John Harris and Sue Watson, a small Head Office team have extensive corporate finance, financial reporting and treasury experience.

Sue's experience as an insolvency advisor combined with John's work in corporate finance, acquisitions and disposals and large company audits has been essential in determining the unique approach adopted by Harris Watson.

The company's aim has been to differentiate its approach from that of other companies in the corporate finance sector. Having initially offered consultancy services to owners of under-performing businesses Harris Watson began to build its own portfolio of businesses by acting as principals in directly acquiring businesses.

With no external equity investors all decisions are made by the company’s two shareholders. This means that Harris Watson can react very quickly to investment opportunities, needing only the consent of Sue and John.

All commercial and financial due diligence is performed by the in-house team which further shortens the timescales to completion of acquisition transactions.

In recent years, Harris Watson has become more focused in developing and building its portfolio of engineering businesses.  In particular the group has sought to exploit the potential synergies between its businesses and also to develop its overseas business, by expanding its presence in North America.