How did your career in finance start?

I studied modern history at the University of Oxford and wanted to get into business, but I didn’t really know anything about finance. However, the ACA provided a strong foundation in finance, and the training would give me exposure to a variety of businesses. 

Why did you choose KPMG?

I spoke to most of the Big Four. They all had good reputations and similar training programmes, but the differentiator was simply the people I met. 

In September 2008, I joined KPMG’s information services audit team in London – I thought I’d get a broader selection of clients and more exposure to the entire audit process. I focused on media and telecom companies, including ITV, UKTV, Wolters Kluwer and Cable & Wireless. I enjoyed a broad selection of clients and had exposure to all aspects of the audit process. The ACA was challenging, particularly in busy season when you’re balancing a gruelling work schedule with revision. I’m definitely glad that’s behind me now!

One of the clients I advised on was European Care Group – a UK adult and children residential care services business. It was a complex business and a long project, spanning over a year before we completed. I found it a bit dissatisfying when the transaction was over as by then you’ve built a good relationship with the team and have a good understanding of the business and strategy, and I wanted to see that next phase of growth executed. That’s why I decided to move into investment.

Why did you join Octopus Healthcare?

Octopus took a really interesting, innovative approach to the sector. In 2015 I joined its partnerships team, which was about forming joint ventures with management teams – often with entrepreneurs who had built successful companies before and wanted to go again. A lot of the investments involved acquiring land and building healthcare assets – care homes, private hospitals, retirement villages, etc. It was great to see the tangible results of my work, and I got the experience of starting a company from scratch and building the operations.

We had one buy-and-build platform in the special educational needs space where I was able to leverage my corporate finance experience. I enjoyed the experience, but was more interested in the operational rather than development side – building management teams, driving growth and ensuring high-quality service delivery.

What was your next move?

I joined Gresham House Ventures as investment manager in 2019 to build its private healthcare and life sciences investments, which at that point was a small proportion of its assets under management. It was a great opportunity to build that out, and broaden my focus from health and social care to areas such as outsourced pharma services and digital healthcare, which really came into its own post-COVID. The sector can be challenging at times because health is a very regulated and broad sector and can involve deep science, but that variety keeps it interesting and engaging.

I was promoted to investment director in 2022. I’m responsible for all aspects of an investment from sourcing opportunities, executing deals and portfolio management post-deal. It’s helpful having a foot in both camps as you learn a lot from being on portfolios and attending boards, which ultimately makes you a better deal-doer.

We’ve done several investment rounds into a business called Orri, an eating disorder business, where sadly there is significant demand for its services. Orri has an incredible impact on people’s quality of life – it’s a real privilege to be associated with businesses like this.

What are your ambitions?

As a firm we want to continue growing our assets under management and launching new funds. I want to build out our healthcare credentials with more investments and exits so we can point to our deep sector expertise and raise a dedicated healthcare fund at some point in the future.