Award-winning corporate finance adviser Simon Davies is to set up a new regional corporate finance boutique in Reading, The Business Magazine understands.

Davies is to leave Grant Thornton, where he is regional CF head, and, we understand, is to form Spectrum Corporate Finance.

He will team up with Ian Milne, Royal Bank of Scotland heavyweight in the south; Clive Hatchard, who previously worked with Davies at DHD, the region’s first CF boutique; and entrepreneur David Pointer, who sold his company, Point Source, in 2008 in a deal led by Davies.

Spectrum has identified offices at Forbury Square, Reading, and is looking to recruit to build a team of up to 10. The firm aims to make a significant impact on the deals scene in the south in the coming months.

Ian Milne is managing director, financial sponsor coverage at RBS, and is a former Dealmaker of the Year in the Solent Deals Awards.

Hatchard was a finance director with Land of Leather and is currently CFO at Allied Carpets. He was a former corporate finance director at Tenon and a founder of DHD.

David Pointer started point Source in 1991 and sold it to Qioptiq in 2008.

Davies is a serial winner of CF Adviser of the Year in the Thames Valley and Solent Deals Awards. His recent deals include the sale of HobbyCraft for £100 million-plus and Amtech for £35m.

Before joining Grant Thornton and building its CF team into one of the major players in the south, Davies worked for two of the Big Four firms, and built DHD to a 13-strong team before selling the business to Tenon.

No-one from Spectrum was available for comment at the time of going to press, but we understand the firm plans to open in October and will focus on MBOs, exits, bank refinancings and, eventually, due diligence work. The focus is thought to be on the retail and healthcare sectors, with deals valued at between £15 million and £100m.