ABOUT US

I’ve been investing in and running businesses for nearly 20 years and I’ve always been fascinated by them: why they grow (and shrink), how the best ones are run, and how they are financed.

That’s led me on a “career” of investing in and running smaller businesses. I’ve invested and worked across a huge variety of sectors: from nutritional milk shakes to open cast coal mining, jewellery retailing to judicial services. I’ve worked at two great PE firms – Alchemy and Inflexion – and spent 4 years as MD of Complan, an international nutritional supplement business.

In setting up Ignite, I wanted to create the investment firm that would have helped me when running a business: a combination of capital and assistance from people who have done it before.

Having recently been part of the executive team in a fast growing business and before that spending many years working in finance, I’m all too familiar with the frustrations faced by management teams when they try to find a financing and growth partner.

Through establishing Ignite, I wanted to change the way finance is provided, ensuring management teams get help when needed and have an active interested partner to support them through their growth journey.

Some of my past experience includes working at GI Partners, a transatlantic PE fund, and as Commercial Director of Cambian Plc, a £300m turnover healthcare services provider.

I started in the real world: I’m an engineer by training before working for Mars, Unilever and M&S. I then moved into strategic and commercial consulting. I love using proper business experience to support smaller growing companies.

As a Director and founder of Armstrong Transaction Services, I have a focus on working with private equity backed businesses and have advised in just about every sector you can think of: from Healthcare to IT via business services and consumer goods. I’m a long term strategic adviser to Ignite and its Partners.

I am the founder and Managing Consultant of Hill Coates Associates Executive Search which fulfils the Talent Director role for Ignite. I have several decades of experience in headhunting for large and small businesses, many of which were private equity backed. I’ve also spent time working in and running businesses (including being acquired). I was previously the UK Managing Partner of Alexander Hughes Executive Search.

I’ve spent my career building HR departments and advising and coaching senior management teams all with the simple aims of building great cultures and fulfilling potential.  I have experience across companies large and small and was previously VP of HR EMEA for Bombardier and prior to that SVP HR Europe for Claire’s Stores.

We’ll shortly be joined by a Digital Director and Portfolio Director. Watch this space…