What does a typical week look like for you and your team?

For the investment team, the day-to-day is really about supporting the portfolio – helping businesses grow, solve problems, and ultimately deliver value. Deal execution is important, but we see portfolio support as our core job.

How do you find new investment opportunities?

We invest heavily in origination – we continue to build our footprint and have opened offices in Manchester and Edinburgh to tap into local ecosystems and expand our teams in those regions. Deals don’t travel well, so being present matters. We have also hired a dedicated origination specialist from Houlihan Lokey to bring more rigour and process. Fundamentally, it’s about being known for something – larger ticket investments, deeper involvement with the companies we back, and close partnerships. We stay visible through events, meetings, and a wide network of advisors, chairs, lawyers, and professionals.

How is the current environment for investing in scale-up companies?

The last five years have been challenging which impacts the decisions founders are making and the types of investment rounds they're looking for. This is part of what's contributed to investment volumes into scale-up businesses being so depressed for the past two years. Fortunately we're bucking that trend to an extent, and it's looking like we might add a record number of positions to our portfolio this year. It’s hard to see beyond geopolitical challenges, but the overall performance of our portfolio is really strong, which is very reassuring.

Can you highlight a portfolio company that’s made a real impact over the last year?

Transreport stands out. It’s a digital platform improving travel for people with mobility needs. Initially focused on UK railways, it then secured contracts with Japanese railway operators and it’s now expanding into aviation and hospitality, with trials at Manchester Airport. Earlier this year the business was awarded The King’s Award for Enterprise In Innovation, the UK’s highest business accolade. It’s a pleasure to back a business that’s both impactful and commercially successful.

What new investments are you excited about?

We’re excited about all our new investments; one of the great privileges of the job is investing in businesses that we’re passionate about. But there are some companies where our offer of significant funding with deep support has really resonated. Aveni is an AI-powered RegTech firm helping wealth managers meet compliance needs efficiently, with a huge growth rate from top-tier blue chip clients. YASO helps Western brands sell into China through a game-changing tech and infrastructure platform – a way for us to gain exposure from consumer strength in China without making a bet on a specific brand. Runa is digitising the gift card market with amazing growth and over £100 million a month currently flowing through its platform. And on the consumer side there's LOVE CORN – a non-ultra-processed food snack. It’s a great business, as the product is baked rather than fried so is fairly healthy, and avoids the allergen issues we see with nuts. And NRG Gyms is a high-growth, low-cost fitness brand that’s smashing every metric at the moment: membership numbers, yield, revenue, you name it. It’s just acquired a smaller competitor (Pump Gyms) and is set to be a meaningful player on the UK gym scene. I could go on, but as you can see it’s an exciting time and we’ve added some fantastic businesses over the past year.

What’s your approach to exits?

Managing an exit is a 12–24 month process. We work with boards to align strategy and bring in corporate finance advisors who know potential buyers. Timing is key – companies should focus on their main businesses performing strongly and should avoid being mid-way through costly projects. Buyers look for free cash flow, sustained growth, or strategic dominance. We help companies position accordingly.

Finally, how do you approach portfolio diversification?

We aim for a balance across software, scalable business services, and consumer brands with the potential to be market leaders. Each vertical has its own ecosystem – we host events, share expertise, and encourage collaboration across the portfolio. For example, portfolio companies, Lucky Saint and LOVE CORN are both stretching their categories and learning from each other. That cross-pollination adds strategic value and accelerates growth.