Begbies Traynor Group plc and Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC Announce Joint Venture

Begbies Traynor Group plc and Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC Announce Joint
Venture
BTG Mesirow Financial Consulting combines recovery and restructuring expertise
and offers significant resources to service the global marketplace

LONDON and NEW YORK, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Begbies Traynor Group plc ("BTG")
and Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC ("MFC") have today announced a joint
venture that leverages both firms' historical strengths to service
restructuring and other consulting-related engagements with international
scope. The joint entity, BTG Mesirow Financial Consulting, addresses the
increasing number of international cases requiring local market-based
expertise, solutions and service.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091008/CG89269)

This joint venture immediately positions BTG Mesirow Financial Consulting as
one of the leading players in the global restructuring and recovery market. It
offers underperforming and distressed companies and their stakeholders access
to a broad range of industry knowledge, large case experience and a robust
service offering that logically extends the firms' core capabilities. The BTG
Mesirow Financial Consulting footprint will enable fast mobilization of the
right resources to support multi-national assignments through a global network
of professionals and with a particular strength in the United States, the
United Kingdom and mainland Europe. The venture also brings an understanding
of the nuances, regulatory climate and issues of specific markets in
multi-jurisdictional cases.

"This venture is clear acknowledgment of today's global environment," said
Ralph S. Tuliano, Mesirow Financial Consulting president and executive
managing director. "We continue to support some of the largest recovery and
restructuring cases in the United States, many of which have international
components. Advising clients every day in multiple geographies has become
increasingly important. Through the establishment of BTG Mesirow Financial
Consulting, we have access to professionals with complementary expertise and
reputation worldwide, providing experience on a global scale. This will give
us a distinct advantage as we address these large, complex, multi-national
assignments. The benefit to our clients is significant."

Ric Traynor, Executive Chairman, Begbies Traynor Group plc added, "Begbies
Traynor is an established U.K. corporate recovery and restructuring practice,
with a network of professionals and support staff worldwide through Begbies
Global Network. We are the U.K.'s leading insolvency practice by market share,
with an increasing focus on complex restructuring work. Like MFC, BTG provides
corporate finance, forensic accounting and litigation support services. For
some time, however, we have been seeking to raise our profile in the
commercially important U.S. market and the joint venture with Mesirow
Financial Consulting will facilitate this. Together, we will work with clients
on complex, cross-border engagements to develop comprehensive restructuring
solutions, which can serve as a solid foundation for future success."

About Begbies Traynor Group
Begbies Traynor Group plc is a specialist professional services organization
providing independent professional advice and solutions to businesses,
financial institutions, the accountancy professions and individuals in the
areas of corporate finance, corporate recovery and restructuring, commercial
intelligence and investigation, risk management and specialist tax advice. The
Group is listed on AIM (Ticker: BEG). For more information about Begbies
Traynor Group plc, please visit www.begbies-traynorgroup.com.

About Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC
A full-service financial advisory consulting provider, MFC provides corporate
recovery, litigation and investigative services, valuation services, interim
management (Interim management services provided by Mesirow Financial Interim
Management, LLC.), operations and performance improvement, distressed M&A and
capital raising services*, alternative investment services, due diligence
services and technology advisory services. For more information about Mesirow
Financial Consulting, please visit www.mesirowfinancial.com/mfc.

* Distressed M&A and Capital Raising Services provided by Mesirow Financial
Consulting Capital (a division of Mesirow Financial, Inc.).

SOURCE Mesirow Financial Consulting, LLC

United Kingdom & Europe, Elaine Bartleet of Smithfield Consultants, + 44 (0)
207 360 4900, ebartleet@smithfieldgroup.com; or United States, Amanda Cheslock
of Sloane & Company, +1-212-446-1884, acheslock@sloanepr.com