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Centrus expands Debt Advisory Group with Chris Marchant joining as a Director, focusing on real estate financing

Posted on by Stephanie Crawford

Centrus is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Marchant as a Director in its Debt Advisory Group, covering real estate financing. Chris brings 15 years of experience across real estate finance, both as an advisor and a lender, having held roles at DC Advisory, CBRE, and NatWest.

The appointment of Chris strengthens Centrus’ capabilities in real estate financing across key asset classes, including data centres, residential, healthcare, and logistics.

Centrus’ Debt Advisory Group provides strategic advice on financing, capital structuring, credit ratings, and debt raising from banking, private credit, and debt capital markets. Centrus has raised and advised on c.£25bn of debt for clients over the past 5 years.

“We are delighted to welcome Chris to our growing team, bringing with him a long and successful track record in real estate financing across both advisory and lending.

As the boundaries between real estate and infrastructure continue to blur, we advise on bespoke financing solutions that bridge both sectors – combining deep market insight with structuring expertise across the real assets landscape. Chris’ appointment further enhances this capability while expanding our coverage of real estate clients.”

Scott Douglas, Senior Director, Head of Debt Advisory – Centrus

“I am delighted to join Centrus at an exciting time in its growth. The firm’s focus on real assets, combined with its reputation for independent and strategic advice, provides a unique platform to deliver value to clients. I look forward to working with the team to expand our real estate financing capabilities and support clients in achieving their strategic and financing objectives.”

Chris Marchant, Director, Debt Advisory – Centrus

Centrus Impact Report 2024/2025

Posted on by Stephanie Crawford

Executive Summary

We are proud to publish our 3rd Impact Report as a certified B Corporation. This shares our achievements, impact and ambitions across sustainability, social responsibility and governance with the lens on 2024 and early 2025.  Over this time period, we have continued to strengthen the environmental, social and governance impact of our advice while deepening our own internal practices.

“This report highlights achievements that we are proud of, from innovative finance solutions to the other tangible outcomes delivered through our communities work. At the same time, it reinforces the importance of staying ambitious—recognising that there is always more to do if we are to meet the scale of today’s challenges.“

George Roffey, Chief Sustainability Officer – Centrus

As we look ahead, the B Corp re-certification process remains a central focus. It is both a benchmark of progress and a reminder of our responsibility to keep sustainability at the heart of our culture and business model.

Download our impact report.

Centrus Impact Report 2024.2025Download

For more information, please contact George Roffey, Chief Sustainability Officer – Centrus

Centrus Expands Risk Advisory Team with Appointment of Bryan Conway as Director, Corporate Advisory

Posted on by Stephanie Crawford

As part of our continued growth in the Risk Advisory space, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Bryan Conway as Director, Corporate Advisory. Bryan brings with him over 20 years of extensive experience in treasury, sales, and advisory roles, strengthening our ability to deliver expert solutions to our clients.

Throughout his distinguished career, Bryan has successfully led complex transactions across FX, interest rates, inflation, commodities, and equity asset classes. His experience spans a wide range of corporate, institutional, and public sector clients, further enhancing Centrus’ service offering in these key areas.

Most recently, Bryan held a sell-side advisory role at Goodbody Stockbrokers, where he drove thematic and sector investment strategies for Institutional clients. Before that, Bryan headed the FX & Interest Rates Sales team at Barclays in Dublin and also served as Head of Treasury for Barclays Bank Ireland. His deep understanding of financial markets, paired with leadership experience in top-tier institutions, makes him a valuable addition to our team.

This appointment underscores Centrus’ commitment to expanding our expertise in the corporate advisory sector, delivering tailored financial solutions and strategic insights to meet the evolving needs of our clients. Bryan’s wealth of experience will be instrumental as we continue to provide world-class advisory services, and we are thrilled to have him on board.

“I’m delighted to be joining the Centrus Advisory team. I’m excited to help build on the huge success and growth the team has had over the past few years. I’m looking forward to working in such a dynamic environment and of course delivering innovative solutions to our clients.”

Bryan Conway, Director, Corporate Advisory – Centrus

“We are delighted to welcome Bryan to the Centrus team. His breadth of experience and deep expertise across asset classes and advisory roles will be an invaluable addition as we continue to expand our Risk Advisory capabilities. Bryan’s insights and leadership will enhance our ability to deliver sophisticated, client-focused solutions, reinforcing our commitment to excellence in corporate advisory.”

Mark Taheny, Managing Director – Centrus

Centrus Ranked No.1 for Debt Capital Markets Issuance.

Posted on by Georgie Knight

Social Housing’s exclusive professionals’ league has placed Centrus at the top of its league table for number and value of deals in the Debt Capital Markets for the 12 months to 31st March 2024. This is the third year running that Centrus has ranked top in this independent sector research. 

“Centrus is fully committed to playing an important role in delivering solutions to the U.K.’s affordable housing crisis – the stronger our social housing sector, the more vulnerable people have quality homes.”

“The U.K. affordable housing sector is a globally leading example of how public-private financing can succeed but the figures released by Social Housing show a sector taking stock. While the value of deals has held up, the number of deals in the year has dropped on the back of a range of challenges rather than any dent in investor demand, which has remained robust.

This backdrop has required innovation and dynamism in deal structuring, particularly where borrowing costs remain far higher than just a few years ago. Looking forward, we may soon see increased certainty across rent, grant and planning regimes which if delivered will create a more stable environment for long term investment decisions, which drive borrowing need. Having advised on quarter of all deals – and more than half of those with an advisor – our team at Centrus is well practiced in securing the best outcomes for our clients. Critically, that means working to secure funding at pace, with thorough risk assessment and comprehensive data analysis. It is vital to act dynamically, establishing clear objectives to measure and track success, rooted in careful consideration of the right capital structure as discussed by John Tattersall and Tom Miller for Social Housing.

Centrus strengthens global infrastructure credentials with new Senior Advisor

Posted on by Stephanie Crawford

Centrus today announces the hire of Christian Schmid as a Senior Advisor in its infrastructure team.

Christian brings over 20 years of advisory, financing and investing experience in infrastructure assets across Europe, North America and Australia.  Throughout his career, he has led the origination and execution of infrastructure transactions valued at approximately US$40 billion, demonstrating a proven track record of success. Notably, Christian possesses expertise in acting on both the
buy-side and sell-side of large transactions, with a particular focus on energy transition investments.

Christian was most recently Co-Head of Infrastructure at Slate Asset Management and previously held positions at QIC and RBC Capital Markets. He will strengthen Centrus’ global M&A offering to sponsors with his focus on the UK, US & German markets.

“We are thrilled to welcome Christian to the Centrus team. His extensive experience and deep understanding of the global infrastructure landscape will be invaluable as we continue to grow our global M&A practice alongside our strong offering in Debt Advisory and Risk Advisory.”

Geoff Knight, Managing Director – Centrus

“I am excited to join Centrus at a pivotal point for the company as we look to expand on our M&A offering to corporates, developers and financial sponsors across different jurisdictions. Centrus has a strong, agile team with impressive expertise across infrastructure services and I join the business at an interesting time for sustainable finance in the sector.”

Christian Schmid, Senior Advisor – Centrus

Centrus bolsters higher education credentials with new Senior Advisor

Posted on by Stephanie Crawford

Centrus, the global corporate finance firm specialising in real assets and essential services, today announces the appointment of Russell Schofield-Bezer as a Senior Advisor to the Higher Education team.

Russell is the founder and CEO of RSB Advisory Ltd. which has been established to provide universities and other organisations with advice on strategy development, stakeholder engagement, and industrial partnerships.

Working with Centrus, Russell will be supporting the firm’s strategic growth ambitions with independent schools, colleges, and universities, including a special focus on financing across student accommodation, campus real estate and energy transition.

Russell is currently a board member at the University of Lincoln, serving as the Chair of the Finance, Infrastructure and Investment Committee, and previously worked as an independent investment advisor to the Universities of Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield and as Chief Operating Officer at Northern Gritstone.

Russell brings over 30 years of capital raising and investment experience, gained across 14 years spent at HSBC split across time in London and New York, most recently as the Chief Investment Officer of the Private Bank in the Americas, following 15 years in senior positions at JPMorgan Chase.

“Russell’s expertise and links in the education space will bolster our Higher Education offering to enable us to better help educational institutions to build financial strategies, access capital and manage risk.”

Phil Jenkins, CEO at Centrus

“I’m looking forward to working with the Centrus team to develop strategic partnerships with leading educational institutions. Centrus has an impressive track record in the higher education sector, and together we will build on our collective expertise to help these institutions navigate the financial challenges currently facing the sector.”

Russell Schofield-Bezer, Special Advisor, Higher Education at Centrus

Centrus Impact Report 2023

Posted on by George Roffey

Executive Summary

We are proud to publish our second Impact Report as a certified B Corporation. This shares our achievements, impact and ambitions across sustainability, social responsibility and governance with the lens on 2023.

“The macro-economic challenges and ESG backlash rose fervently in 2023.
In the face of these challenges Centrus remains committed to high standards of verified social, governance and environmental performance and has backed this up with public transparency and accountability. Our people and our purpose are backed by the delivery of bespoke solutions for projects, companies & assets that matter to people, communities & the environment”. George Roffey, Chief Sustainability Officer at Centrus.

At Centrus, our sectors of operation have tangible impact on the environment and on society. As a service provider, our action and output on our value chain is far greater than our supply chain inputs and in this service provision, people are our most valued asset. So that our people know how their role contributes to ESG, we strive to set an exemplary internal footprint.

Download our impact report.

CEN_2023ImpactreportMASTER-1Download

For more information, please contact George Roffey, Chief Sustainability Officer – Centrus

Proxima launch: France’s first independent high-speed train company

Posted on by Georgie Knight

Proxima: France’s first independent high-speed train company

Rachel Picard and Tim Jackson together with Antin Infrastructure Partners have announced the launch of Proxima, France’s first independent high-speed train company.

Centrus is proud to have acted as a key commercial and financial advisor to Antin Infrastructure Partners and Proxima founders, Rachel Picard and Tim Jackson, securing Antin Infrastructure Partners as the sole equity provider for the project.

Proxima will strengthen the offer available to high-speed rail travellers in France, providing more than 10 million new seats per year.

Click here to read the full story in Railway Gazette


For more information, please contact Stephen Layburn