As part of the deal, all 45 Fredward staff – including partners, Dhiresh Patel, consulting partner, and Mark Bowden, partner, data & analytics, and six directors – join S&W. Founded in 2016 by Ashley Bragg, Fredward provides specialist consulting services for financial institutions focusing on complex data challenges, transformation and compliance.

There are no plans to rebrand the firm, S&W confirmed@ ‘Fredward is currently continuing to trade as normal under its existing brand’, and will be led by founder and managing director Bragg.

The latest deal is the sixth finalised since S&W was launched in March 2025 with backing from private equity investment from Apax Funds after the firm divested from Evelyn Partners.