Abu Ali

In January 2019 Abu, along with his business partner Phil Williams, established WilliamsAli Corporate Finance. WilliamsAli is a Newcastle-based corporate finance boutique that provides strategic M&A and funding advice to business owners and investors.

A chartered accountant, Abu had a decade of successful lead-advisory experience before co-founding WilliamsAli. He has significant experience of advising on company sales, management buyouts and fundraising, including several high-profile deals. This includes recent transactions such as

· the management buy out of precision engineering company Impress Group backed by Lucena Capital

· securing funding from Beechbrook Capital for The Lakes Distillery

In recognition of his work and commitment to client service, Abu was named as the North East’s Emerging Dealmaker of the Year in 2018.

Under Abu’s stewardship, WilliamsAli has established a trusted and respected position in the region’s corporate finance market. This has resulted in credible brand recognition which has, in turn, made it easier to recruit experienced individuals as the business has grown over the last 5 years. This includes welcoming Chairman, Paul Kaiser in 2022. Paul is a well known and respected name in the region and beyond and an important wealth creator in the business community.

Day to day, the WilliamsAli team has grown to a collective of 7 professionals who work towards a common purpose of supporting clients through superior service and technical capabilities.

Abu has worked hard with Phil to establish a collective of WilliamsAli brand values. These are;

· Relatability,

· Technical expertise

· Independence

· Agility

Through his leadership, Abu has fostered a real sense of community at WilliamsAli to ensure that together the team work hard to ensure that all clients are offered a personable experience whilst also receiving technical excellence. There is a real sense of camaraderie across the team which in no small part, is as a result of Abu’s recognition of talent and ability to lead in a positive way.

Abu ‘punches above his weight’ in the professional services sector. He is well renowned for his well-liked and relatable approach to both business and maintaining his network. He has become a reliable and valuable asset to the North East deal community. His personal brand is such that his opinion is sought and valued across the market place.

This is also evidenced through the reciprocal level of work that WilliamsAli wins.

Abu has also recently co-founded River Birch Newman, a financial planning organisation established to democratise financial advice, making it accessible and valuable to all individuals, regardless of wealth status or background.

Outside of the professional world, Abu is a committed family man with 2 young children. He also spends time as founder and trustee of CEO Sleepout, a national charity that was established to inspire the business community to unite to fight against homelessness; raising money for frontline services, helping to change lives. So far more than 5,000 executives have helped to raise over £3m.