Building relationships
With twenty years of experience of growing businesses, I thrive on working with teams to get the right foundations in place to grow their business.
Background
After an engineering degree at Durham University and a production engineering role at British Steel role I realised that production engineering wasn’t for me. A few interesting years followed that were more focused on paying the rent than a career and I worked variously as a warehouseman, factory worker, salesman, labourer, accounts clerk, van driver and barman, almost always within small businesses. Eventually I funded myself through an MBA at Cranfield University in 1999.
I joined Deloitte in London in corporate finance and restructuring, often advising venture capital firms or banks on their positions. This usually involved converting a huge stack of data into a short, logical summary. Moving back to Sheffield in 2005, I worked for regional fund manager YFM for thirteen years, both making and manging a portfolio of venture capital investments.
I joined Mercia in 2019, mainly focused on helping boards after the initial investment and working to raise further funds, acquire talent and plan growth. I currently work with the boards of Warwick Acoustics, Tutorful and Pimberly and several others and sit on the VCT investment committee. I’ve been really fortunate to work alongside founders as they realise their ambitions and build valuable companies.
I thrive on working with teams to get the right foundations in place to grow their business.
- Family
- Running up hills
- The outdoors
