In an era when multinational advisory practices can often feel process-driven and detached from the realities of regional businesses, he and co-founder Melanie Clark have found their niche by challenging the corporate hierarchy, rolling up their sleeves, and getting straight into the details.

The firm says its aim is to be the advisor of choice for clients ranging through corporates, owner managers and private equity managers and provides both advisory and transaction services.

Earlier this month the independent firm headquartered in Aberdeen announced the appointment of a new corporate finance manager as well as celebrating its second anniversary.

Ryan Clark, after working at Deloitte and Johnston Carmichael, joined Quantify, which has completed 27 deals with a cumulative deal value worth more than £320 million within its first two years.

This year saw the firm complete its maiden overseas transaction with a Dutch entity, strengthening, it says, its reputation throughout the UK, Ireland and recently European dealmaking community.

Mr Faichnie has more than 30 years’ experience in financial services starting by qualifying as a chartered accountant in KPMG and all Quantify’s team of five have Big Four backgrounds.

He then became corporate finance director at the then Deloitte and Touche before moving through Barclays, Campbell Dallas and RSM before creating Quantify with Melanie Clark, who had qualified with KPMG and who had also worked at RSM in Aberdeen.

However, while he has held significant roles at big financial services institutions, he’s not always been satisfied with their modus operandi.

Having been at Deloitte in Manchester, the native of Falkirk, who went to school in Glenrothes and university in Glasgow, returned to Scotland and set up and led a specialist team within Barclays Leveraged Finance which focused on the financing of transactions involving oil and gas services.

“At the time we had two new babies and the family was all in Scotland. It was one of these, ‘OK, I’m coming back’ moments – even just to appreciate more family life,” he says.

“Structured finance in a bank is quite close to corporate finance. It was challenging but interesting – and very different from working in a global accountancy firm. And trying to bring an English brand into Aberdeen was probably even harder.”

Challenges, it seems, are not situations Mr Faichnie actively avoids. “Probably the biggest success at Barclays was creating what was the oil and gas team within the bank. Before that, oil and gas was included as manufacturing so achieving a separate sector team was great,” he recalls.

When working at Barclays he became that aware a gap existed in Aberdeen for corporate finance, and in particular, due diligence and he was being asked by several people to find a firm and start doing corporate finance.

“I joined Campbell Dallas because I liked the challenge of trying to grow a Glasgow firm’s presence in Aberdeen. Then RSM opened in Aberdeen and asked me to come across, bring the team over and continue doing the same thing so that’s what we did.

“However, that work was very London centric and became directed from the Edinburgh office. We had to find a new home – and that is when the idea of Quantify was born.”

At RSM he says he realised that he was somewhat beholden to events elsewhere in the UK. “But we knew we had the product that people wanted – and wanted to be masters of our own destiny.

“Melanie and I had several options regarding firms who wanted to recruit us. We had quite a lot of choices but we wanted to be able to do it and grow it ourselves.”

The first move was joining DSW Capital, the business advisory platform behind Dow Schofield Watts and DR Solicitors, a franchise agreement. “As part of a franchise though we were basically publicising someone else’s name and were competing with other franchises throughout the UK. So, we gave notice to come out and Quantify was effectively born in Aberdeen over the course of a weekend.”

While it was able to stay on in the same premises the obvious challenge was startup funding. “We knew we had enough support from some local investors and private equity firms who were using us so there was two months leeway if we could get these get these deals over the line.

“However, it’s tough when you’re working for contingent fees and in corporate finance, if you’re selling a company, you only get paid if the deal is completed and sometimes you can put two years’ worth of effort into that then not get paid a penny.”

Quantify decided to focus on due diligence. “We had such a focus on cash to pay salaries and overheads, we had to really push the due diligence aspect – going through the books to make sure the people intending to buy a company know exactly what they are buying.

We are engaged in sell-side as well but if you’re doing the diligence, while the fees may be somewhat lower, you’re generally underwritten by one of the parties.”

Companies that Quantify has provided due diligence for have ranged from advising The Scottish Investment Bank on its investment in Leap AI, the 360 Energy Group on its acquisition of Samphire, the Cairngorm Hotel on its sale to Turas Hotels and social housing and public sector maintenance and retrofit company Cardo.

“They liked what we did for them and how we presented the numbers and answered their questions,” says Mr Faichnie, who adds that the firm has worked for Cardo in several subsequent buy side deals.

It’s an eclectic mix of business and by focusing on diligence the firm now has work across the UK – and now in Europe. “We’ve found a real niche by really rolling up our sleeves and getting into the detail. And it’s interesting to be involved in new areas – for example we recently provided financial due diligence to ME Hero Media & Entertainment on the acquisition of Dundee Press Agency and E News Now.

“Listening to how these companies have succeeded is fascinating and helps us at Quantify to be more edgy and different. Learning about the media industry has meant learning different things and meeting different people and a company is a company but they all have their unique qualities, whether it’s a football club or a drilling tool maker. I love meeting the people and learning how they’ve accomplished what they have. I suppose that’s where I get the buzz.”

He’s confident that Quantify’s team of five in Aberdeen can match what much bigger partnerships can do for clients. “I think our diligence reports are very different from anyone else’s. We’re competing with the Big Four and some big multinational firms who have 200 people doing this but our product must look as good – and probably better – than theirs.”

That, he says is the ultimate challenge: “If we just do the same, we’re just going to be the same. They have a bigger brand than us so we’re never going to win on that basis. Therefore, we must do it differently and we must do it better. That’s the firm’s philosophy.”