Matt Atkinson to join public sector consultancy, MH&A, from the Department of Education

Matt Atkinson will join public sector consultancy, MH&A, in September to provide corporate finance advice to clients in education, economic development, and local Government – including schools trusts, colleges, universities, and combined / local authorities – as well as banks and other financial stakeholders. 

Atkinson will join the firm from the Department for Education where he is the senior civil servant responsible for ‘provider market oversight’ in the schools and further education sectors, providing advice and challenge to ministers and institutions, and overseeing Government intervention and investment where institutions ran into financial difficulties.  

Before joining the Department, Atkinson, a qualified accountant, and insolvency practitioner, worked in PwC’s deals team – where he led restructuring, insolvency, mergers, and acquisitions engagements in the public and private sectors; he was also seconded into one of the nation’s largest banks during the 2008 financial crisis. 

MH&A provides clients in and around the public sector with the strategy, service design and delivery advice they need to translate strategic intent into operational activity and exceptional outcomes. Atkinson’s arrival – and that of others with similar specialisms – will enable the firm to help clients take astute action on the financial aspects of the transformation journey. 

Of Atkinson’s appointment, MH&A’s founding partner, Prof. Matt Hamnett, said:

“Matt is an amazing addition to our team; he’s an exceptional corporate finance professional with the rare ability to deliver complex, challenging work at pace. As important, he shares our values and commitment to doing work which creates real social value. Inviting him to join us as our first externally recruited partner was an easy decision. I’m looking forward to introducing his expertise to our clients.” 

Atkinson said: “The firm’s focus on cutting through the complexity, focussing on what matters, and working alongside clients to deliver socially valuable outcomes fits perfectly for me. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the civil service – and am now looking forward to talking to colleagues in the sectors we serve about how I can help them.”