Speakers

Ross Butler, editor, Real Deals
Ross joined Real Deals in 2002 and was appointed editor in 2004. In 2005 he was awarded the Most Outstanding Contribution Award at the BVCA's Private Equity & Venture Capital Journalist of the Year Awards.

Ross is a regular speaker and moderator at industry conferences, including SuperInvestor, Buying into Buy-outs, and the UK Technology Forum. He is also involved in the London Business School's Private Equity Institute and Harvard Business School private equity events.

He is chairman of the judging panel at the annual Real Deals/BVCA Private Equity Awards, and at the Real Deals/EVCA European Private Equity Awards. Prior to joining Caspian Publishing, Ross wrote for FOW, a financial derivatives magazine. He has also been published in Property Week and the Corporate Financier. Ross graduated from University College London.

Stephen Dawson, chairman, Impetus Trust
One of the first venture capitalists in the UK with 25 years' board level experience as chairman, chief executive and director, Stephen has been involved for over 20 years with ECI, a private equity company specialising in mid-market buy-outs, where he was managing partner and is now non-executive chairman. He was also until recently chairman of Ovum PLC and is a founder trustee of the European Venture Philanthropy Association. Stephen was named Personality of the Year at the Private Equity Awards in April 2007.

Chris Hale, partner, Travers Smith
Chris Hale is overall head of Travers Smith's corporate department. He specialises in UK and international buy-out work and is particularly experienced in public-to-private transactions. He acts for institutional investors and management teams on investments and divestments, as well as private equity-backed companies on M&A and other corporate matters. Transactions in which he has recently been involved include the sales of NCP, the Times Education Supplement and tool hire business HSS; the take privates of Boots, DX Services, Chorion and Anglian Water Group; and the buy-outs of British Car Auctions and The Trainline.

Mike Henebery, managing director, Gresham Private Equity
Mike is responsible for Gresham's London investment team. Mike has worked on a number of buy and build transactions such as Gresham's investment in Tribal and as part of his focus on the financial services sector led the investment in 1st Credit.

He joined Gresham in March 2000 and has since been directly involved in a number of new deals as well as follow-on investments. Previously he worked at Montagu Private Equity. Before working in private equity, Mike spent five years in corporate finance at Investec and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

John Kelly OBE, chairman, The Gala Coral Group
John Kelly began his career with Gala Group Holdings PLC in 1997, after leading a buy-in from Bass PLC, as chief executive. The company subsequently made a number of acquisitions in the Bingo sector, and expanded into the casino business with the purchase of the Ladbroke Casino division from Hilton in December 2000. Mr. Kelly moved from the CEO position of Gala Group to chairman of the company in April 2004. He also led the negotiations in 2003/4 which resulted in a joint venture relationship with Harrah’s Entertainments Inc of North America. In October 2005 the company purchased Coral Eurobet making Gala the largest integrated gaming and betting group in Europe.

Between 1994 and 1997, he was chief executive of Cascade Clubs Holdings Limited, a holding company of a bingo business. Between 1984 and 1991, Mr. Kelly was a managing director and then a board director at Mecca Leisure PLC, a company in the leisure industry.

He is also chairman of The Trainline, Gala Group Limited, Gala Group Two Limited and a number of our subsidiaries. He is also chair of the East Midlands Advisory Board for Business in the Community (a Prince of Wales initiative). In 2002 he helped launch the Nottinghamshire “CARES” BITC programme. Mr. Kelly was appointed the Prince of Wales’s Ambassador for BITC in the East Midlands in June 2005 and has also recently been appointed to the board of BITC. Mr Kelly was awarded an OBE in the 2007 New Year’s Honours List for services to the gambling industry.

Richard Moon, chairman, Acal plc, Kylmar Holdings, Oxford BioSignals, Planit Holdings, t+ Medical
Richard Moon has a wealth of experience in the electronics industry with an extensive track record in defence, civil aerospace, information technology and telecom’s, where he has served as managing director, chief executive and chairman. He has made his name with blue chip companies such as Thorn EMI, Racal Electronics (where he was on the parent board) and Thales (where he was chief executive of Thales plc and a member of the Thales SA executive board in Paris). He was also a member of the National Defence Industry Council and vice president of the FEI between 2000/2.

Since 2002 he has become a respected chairman and non-executive director of a number of public and private businesses in Poland, Germany, France and the UK working with the private equity community, merchant banks and directly with investors. He continues to enjoy great success and, in addition to chairing four private and two public companies, he is also a member of PwC’s business turn around panel.

Andy Nash, chairman, NPI Media Ltd, NBA Ltd, Ashford Colour Press Ltd, Somerset CCC
Andy Nash is probably best known as a key member of the management team that bought out Taunton Cider for £72.5 million, floated it the following year for £153 million and sold it three years later for £280 million. Since then, as a portfolio chairman, he has been brought in to grapple with a string of MBOs and MBIs in various states of financial health and has achieved many notable corporate successes He has also been chairman of two publicly-quoted companies, the drinks company Merrydown and the security business Photo-Scan. Both sets of shareholders were paid a handsome premium by new owners as new strategies increased profits.

Based on his experiences of several MBOs in the UK Andy wrote “MBOs a handbook for management teams: lessons from the front-line” which has received considerable acclaim since its publication in the summer of 2005. There are now plans afoot to publish in China and Australia. In recent times he has been in demand as a conference speaker and chairman and also is a visiting lecturer at Nottingham University’s Business School.

He has recently become chairman of his ninth MBO for an international publishing group backed by Octopus Asset Management. Andy has also served as a non-executive director for the city law firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Gates since 1998.

John Pocock, chairman, Vamosa, Cognito, Presence Networks
With a background at IBM and Andersen Consulting, John was the CEO of the International IT Services company Druid Group plc prior to its acquisition by Xansa plc. He is currently non-executive chairman of a number of institutionally backed UK software companies, the senior NXD at Electric and General Investment Trust plc and NXD at Aberdeen Income and Growth VCT plc.

Stuart Rose, chairman, Hamleys Toy Group, MKM Builders Merchants, Bronnley Personal Care Products, Tom Davies Bespoke Eyewear, Environmental Business Products
Stuart was a senior partner in a national firm of chartered accountants where he founded one of the first corporate finance departments in practice. He met the founders of The Body Shop International, Anita & Gordon Roddick, in 1982 and became the company’s financial advisor, steering it through to a full listing in 1987. He joined the board in 1987 and moved through the roles of corporate development, managing director and deputy chairman, with a strong involvement in international development.

Stuart left the company in the autumn of 2001 and is currently chairman of Hamleys Toy Group (Baugur), chairman of MKM Builders Merchants (3i), chairman of Bronnley Personal Care Products (Kaye Enterprises), chairman Tom Davies Bespoke Eyewear (private), chairman Environmental Business Products (private), non-exec Giraffe Restaurants (3i) and non-exec Clifford Thames Motor Industry Outsourcers (3i).

Trevor Williams, chief economist, Lloyds TSB bank plc.
Trevor joined Lloyds bank from the UK civil service where he worked as an economist after being a lecturer. He is now chief economist at Lloyds TSB Corporate. The Corporate Markets economics team supports the bank’s trading and sales activities, speaking to its clients and those of the Corporate Bank directly and indirectly through its many publications (daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly) and delivering seminars/presentations.

He writes for various Lloyds TSB publications and articles for other publications including Moneyfacts, City AM, the Express newspaper, Real Finance and trade journals. He regularly appears on radio and TV to represent the economic views of the bank, and to be interviewed on current economic issues.

Trevor Williams is a member of the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee. The Shadow MPC is an elite group of independent leading monetary economists and from June, Trevor was voted in to become one of the nine voting members, and one of only four City-based members, with the remaining being academics.

The Shadow MPC monitors economic developments and comment on UK monetary policy. Their debate on interest rates is keenly awaited by the financial markets and the decision and minutes of the Shadow MPC meetings are published a few days before the Bank of England’s MPC decision each month. These feature in the Sunday Times, The Business and other leading newspapers.

Rick Wills, chairman, Tyzack Asociates, The Prince of Wales Arts and Kids Foundation, The London Eye
Rick’s career started as a management trainee at BEA in the late 1960’s. He moved on to the Thomson Travel Group where, after spending 3 years in the USA setting up and acquiring travel companies, he became Management Services Director, before returning to British Airways in 1987.

Between 1990 and 2001 Rick was responsible for Corporate Venturing at the airline, firstly as MD of BA Speedwing and then as MD of BA Enterprises. During this period he established 8 trading entities worldwide – in IT, Consulting, Off shore processing, Retail, Media, Travel Health, Business Jets and the London Eye.

From 2001 to now, Rick has pursued a ‘plural’ career. He remains Chairman of the London Eye Company, is Chairman of Tyzack Associates and is Chairman of The Princes Foundation for Children and the Arts.

During this period Rick also Chaired Henley Management Colleges’ consulting business and was a Non-Exec Director of Page & Moy, Interflora and BT Contact Central.

Rick lectures at Business Schools on the subjects of corporate venturing and business innovation.

Neal Wyman, chief executive, Tyzack Associates
Neal is the senior director of Tyzack. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and qualified as a chartered accountant with Coopers and Lybrand before moving to KPMG, Hong Kong.

Neal entered executive search in 1981, initially specialising in the financial services industry before broadening into general appointments and professional services. He joined Tyzack in 1986 and is currently responsible for Board appointments for both Quoted and Private Equity backed companies.