Speakers

John Hammond
Director
Northedge
John Hammond
He is a chartered accountant having worked for KPMG earlier in his career, ahead of joining the Co-operative Group M&A team.
John then spent 8 years in industry, firstly as CFO of £80m turnover Individual Restaurants and latterly as CEO of NorthEdge portfolio company East Coast Concepts.
Initially joining East Coast Concepts as CFO following the NorthEdge investment, he then won CFO of the year in his category across both the 2018 North West Finance and the 2019 FD Excellence awards, before being promoted to CEO in 2020.

Bradley Jones
Senior Investment Manager
Earth Capital
Bradley Jones
Prior to joining ECL, he was Equity Portfolio Manager at The FSE Group, Corporate Finance Manager at Grant Thornton and is an experienced investor.
Bradley has received a Business Management degree from the University of the West of England and a Certificate in Investment Management from the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI).

Lorenzo Levi
Managing Director and Operating Partner
CDPQ
Lorenzo Levi
Mr. Levi has over 25 years of experience in private equity, management roles and strategy consulting. Before joining CDPQ, he was Managing Director at Terra Firma Capital Partners and then Operating Partner for Apollo Global Management. Prior to that he worked in sales management and corporate development roles for IBM, Delta PLC and Nortel, as well as in strategy consulting at Bain & Company.
He holds an MBA from Harvard and a BSc in Electrical Engineering and Economics from MIT. He currently sits on the Boards of Directors of Delachaux, Foncia, Datamars and Fives. He is also a Board Observer on Techem.

Bettina Denis
Head of Sustainability
Revaia
Bettina Denis

Robert Sroka
Partner, Head of Value Enhancement Team
Abris Capital
Robert Sroka
Prior to joining Abris, Robert worked at EY in the Forensic & Integrity Department and was a member of the Climate Change and Sustainability Services team. He worked also as Project Manager at Crido Business Consulting. Prior to this, Robert was CSR Manager at Grupa Zywiec, and helped the company achieve a listing on the Respect Index of socially responsible companies on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
Robert has also worked with the Polish Prime Minister as a member of a CSR advisory board, and was Chairman of the Working Group on Responsible Investment. In addition, he is an author of publications on SRI including: Guidelines for Investors in the Scope of Responsible Investing; Building Goodwill by Reporting Non-Financial Data; and Guidance for Companies on the Disclosure of Non-Financial Data.
Robert is a member of the Invest Europe Responsible Investment Roundtable and the European Business Ethics Network.
In his personal life, Robert enjoys walking and is passionate about new ethical challenges related to, for example, artificial intelligence as well as philosophical and sociological concepts.
Robert holds a PhD degree in Business Ethics and Human Rights from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw. He is fluent in English.

Emma Flin
Investment Director
Sovereign Capital Partners
Emma Flin
Prior to this, she spent eight years working as a Corporate Finance Adviser initially with Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and latterly with Landsbanki where she focused on M&A for mid-market companies. She graduated from Durham University with a BA in Economics and whilst working for Capita she completed an MBA at Cranfield.
She is married with two energetic young daughters, so much of her spare time is spent keeping them amused! When time allows she also enjoys running, yoga and family holidays.

Sam Ellis
Portfolio Director
Growth Capital Partners
Sam Ellis
I have 13 years’ experience in the finance and technology industries. Most recently I worked for the fintech Afterpay, initially as Head of Strategy before moving to the UK to help drive their successful international expansion in this region. Earlier in my career I founded and sold a technology business servicing the construction industry. I know from personal experience the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur and hope to provide a friendly ear to owner managers as they pursue their growth ambitions.
I started my career in Sydney working in investment banking with UBS before moving into mid-market private equity.
Outside of work, I spend as much time as possible with my young family, typically chasing our disobedient Labrador across the countryside. I am a mad cricket fan, which has sadly not converted into any notable playing abilities.

Stine Jørgensen
Impact Manager
Verdane
Stine Jørgensen
businesses. At Verdane, she is responsible for assessing the social and environmental impact of potential
investments and working with portfolio companies to develop and implement sustainability strategies.
Prior to joining Verdane, Stine was an Associate with UK-based not-for-profit Social Finance, where she
worked with social impact investors to identify investment opportunities and with government departments
to leverage social and institutional investment through public-private partnerships. Before that, she was a
Manager with Adam Smith International and a Researcher with CIL Management Consultants.
Stine holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in Violence,
Conflict, and Development from SOAS University of London.

Paul Reading
Managing Director
Mayfair Equity
Paul Reading
Paul has an MSc in Accounting & Finance from the London School of Economics and an BA (Hons) in Law from the University of Nottingham.

Diana Marr
Director
Keyhaven
Diana Marr
Diana has BA degrees in Business Administration and Political Science/International Relations from the American University in Bulgaria and an MSc in Finance from Cass Business School in London. She is fluent in English, Romanian, French and speaks Italian.

Jane Grewar
Partner
Limerston Capital
Jane Grewar
Previously, Jane worked for McKinsey where she was an Engagement Manager with a focus on commercial improvement assignments. Jane started her career as a qualified doctor with the NHS.
Dr. Grewar received a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB.) and Acute Medicine from the University of Edinburgh.

James Smallridge
Director
Soho Square Capital
James Smallridge
He holds a BEng (Civil) (Hons) from The University of Bristol and is a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments.

Aidan Robson
Partner
Endless
Aidan Robson
Aidan has been on the deal team and responsible for some of Endless’ biggest projects, including BSW Timber, Menzies Distribution, Karro Food Group and Imtech.
“The most enjoyable part of my job is seeing individuals come together as a team with a clear objective and take a troubled business and make it highly successful.”
Aidan spends his spare time with his five children in the great outdoors – his regular haunt being the Lake District for some fell running and walking.

Michał Kędzia
Partner
Enterprise Investors
Michał Kędzia

Giancarlo Beraudo
Partner
Ambienta
Giancarlo Beraudo
He has been involved in a number of transactions including Namirial, Next Imaging, Pibiplast, Lakesight, FoundOcean and SPIG.
Prior to this, Giancarlo was with the mid-market private equity firm Rhône Capital in London and in the Milan office of Bain & Company. Prior to Bain & Company, Giancarlo worked for Siemens.
Giancarlo graduated in Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago and in Computer Engineering at Politecnico di Torino. Giancarlo received an MBA with distinction from INSEAD.
Giancarlo speaks Italian (native) and English (fluent).

James Markham
Senior Partner
Graphite Capital
James Markham
board of three portfolio companies and works on a number of others. He focuses on value creation
impact and implementing best practice across Graphite’s portfolio which can involve operational
improvement projects and, where necessary, effecting change programmes. He plays a lead role in
the development of and recruitment of portfolio company management teams. He maintains an
advisory network to deploy as appropriate on operational and performance improvement initiatives.

Jacqueline O’Donovan
Managing Director
O'Donovan Waste Disposal Limited
Jacqueline O’Donovan

Jasmine Megson
Head of Origination and Talent
CGE Partners
Jasmine Megson
Jasmine leads the firms pre deal origination strategy as well as talent management across their portfolio. Prior to CGE, Jasmine worked at Inflexion Private Equity where she focused on developing their network of senior executives and finding ways to support entrepreneurs at all stages of their growth and ambitions.
Jasmine has a master’s in mechanical engineering from UCL and a master’s in finance from Hult International Business School.

Owen Pagan
CEO
Planr
Owen Pagan

Ash Patel
IT Director, Head of Cyber
ECI
Ash Patel

Ruby Biring
Head of Talent
Livingbridge
Ruby Biring

Marco Ferrara
Operating Partner
Limerston
Marco Ferrara
Previously, Marco spent 12 years as Director of equity sales & trading with Wells Fargo and Baird in London and San Francisco. He has founded several technology start-ups.
Marco received an MBA from IESE in Barcelona and a Masters in Astrophysics from University College London.
He speaks fluent Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

Jovana Stopic
Director
IK Partners
Jovana Stopic
Before joining IK, Jovana worked as an independent Business and Human Rights Consultant, after spending a decade at the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights. She holds an LLM in Transnational Law (Distinction) from the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London in addition to an LLM and LLB from the University of Belgrade.

Hugh Minnock
Investment Director
Foresight
Hugh Minnock
Hugh holds an undergraduate degree in History from the University of Exeter and an MBA from MIT Sloan.

Ben Cole
Director
FPE
Ben Cole
At FPE, Ben has a particular focus on coordinating the firm’s origination and talent activities, which includes engaging and expanding FPE’s differentiated network of business leaders, intermediaries, and investors.

Laura Heely
Principal
Three Hills
Laura Heely
Laura holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BA from Northwestern University where she double majored in Economics and French. She speaks English and French fluently, in addition to intermediate Spanish.

Dennis Hall
Partner, Global Head of Portfolio Management
Baird Capital
Dennis Hall
Dennis joined Baird Capital in 2006 and has over 30 years of relevant operational and financial experience. With a Joint Honours degree in accounting and law plus an MBA from Warwick Business School, Dennis trained with Singer & Friedlander before moving into operational and then portfolio management roles where he has served on the boards of a large variety of businesses during a private equity career that spans in excess of 25 years.
Dennis sits on the Global Valuation Committee, chairs the new transaction assessment Partner Meetings and currently represents Baird Capital on the board of directors of bfinance, the SR Group and Collage.

Victoria Brown
General Counsel
AnaCap
Victoria Brown
Victoria joined AnaCap in 2015 as a Senior Legal Counsel, prior to which she spent 9 years at Linklaters LLP in the Corporate department in London and Hong Kong where she advised clients on a broad range of transactional and other legal matters.
She holds an honours degree in Jurisprudence from Oxford University, a joint honours degree in English and History from Queen Mary, University of London, and a distinction in the LPC from BPP Law School in London.

Valerie Wong
Investment Director
AnaCap
Valerie Wong

Archer Kilpatrick
Principal
Actis
Archer Kilpatrick

Sam Price
Portfolio Manager
Bowmark Capital
Sam Price
He has a degree in accounting and finance from The University of Southampton and is a Chartered Accountant.