Growthdeck- The private investor network

Douglas Jack

Chairman

Douglas is currently the UK’s no.1 ranked Travel & Leisure analyst (Institutional Investor small mid-cap Awards). He has been a top ranked equity analyst throughout his 25-year career in the city, and has worked on numerous M&A and IPOs transaction over this period. Also qualified in economics, accountancy and fund management, Douglas spent eight years at both Panmure Gordon and Numis, before joining investment bank Peel Hunt in January 2017.

Hugh Clark

Deputy Chairman

Hugh is a member of the Clark family, creators of the world-renowned Clarks shoes brand, and acted as a non-executive director of the group for more than a decade. He is also very experienced in terms of supporting growing businesses, having been involved with The Institute for Family Business as a non-executive director and, since 2017, as non-executive chairman. Hugh was also Managing Director of Rohan, the outdoor clothing business, for seven years whilst backed by private equity ownership. Since 2019, Hugh has been non-executive chairman of Growthdeck investee company, Kirk & Kirk, a luxury eyewear business.

Fraser Allan

Fraser is a visionary and highly entrepreneurial senior executive with over 40 years’ experience in branding, business development, multi-channel management and a particular specialism in customer experience. He has held several CEO/COO and senior executive positions in high profile consumer brands, including SpaceNK, Bang & Olufsen, Liberty of London, Linley, and Fired Earth, where he led a successful MBO backed by PPM Ventures.

Iain Bishop

Technology and software leader with successful track record of working with private equity, venture capital and PLC to assess, build, scale, transform and internationalise products, teams and businesses to drive growth and high value exits in the £50m to £500m range.

Richard Bull

Richard began his career in the leisure sector working for Allied Leisure as they built a portfolio of nightclubs and Ten pin Bowling alleys before working for Whitbread and Mansfield Breweries. Following the demise of Mansfield he moved into the IT sector initially helping establish a leisure based B2B site from seed funding to sale and then moving onto work for Fujitsu, BAE systems and now Capgemini where he is a Vice President delivering Cloud and Infra projects across the UK and Northern Europe. He came to know Growthdeck via their involvement and support of portfolio company, CFP Composites Limited. Richard is also Chair of a charity for the homeless and vulnerable called Streetlytes which operates in West London. He is married with three children and lives in Surrey.

Ann Elliott

Ann is a highly experienced NED and Board Advisor in the leisure and hospitality sector with a track record of helping B2C and B2B boards listen to the voice of the customer, respond to their needs and create profitable, award-winning businesses. With a consistent record of creating demand for brands, she has particular skills in Strategy, Insight, Marketing and Operations. Her board experience covers PLC, VC/PE backed, family and start-up businesses and she now sits on five boards in the sector and is an advisor to a further three boards. She speaks regularly at industry events, sits on the Tamweel advisory panel, was a co-founder of Plan B mentoring, founded the Hartwell Dinner Group, sits on the Arena board and the UKH events committee and organises the Female Leader & Entrepreneurs conference for Propel.

Roger Mitchell

Roger Mitchell comes from a strategic finance background, having been involved in financing innovation across creative industries like advertising, publishing and music at WPP, Panini and EMI. He was the founding CEO of the Scottish Premier League and represented Scotland on the UEFA Professional Football Committee. For 20 years, through his own advisory and investment business, he has invested in many of the most exciting SportTech startups, with successful exits. He co-founded the leading international sports business podcast AreYouNotEntertained, and is regularly included in lists of top influencers in sport.

Mike Molesworth

A Cambridge educated engineer, Mike has been in business for over 40 years, the first half in vehicle related engineering and service-based corporates. As part of an MBO in 2000, Mike started a journey of direct investment in businesses which accelerated following a very successful exit in 2006. Mike now has a portfolio NED/Chair career in the private equity arena. His particular areas of expertise are vehicle and waste industry related, as well as broader innovation in engineering. Mike has been closely involved with developments towards zero emission trucks and associated technologies in recent years.

Greg Tufnell

Greg is a highly experienced Consumer Sector senior executive, advisor and investor in particular across the fashion, sports, hospitality and leisure sectors. As a former CEO of Mothercare plc, MD at Arcadia and director of Next, Greg has an extensive track record in international omni-channel retail. This track record also extends to the SME, private equity and privately owned business sector. Skilled in new business launch, turnaround, acquisitions and raising investment, Greg has built his own portfolio, founding Prime Advantage Capital Partners, an FCA regulated business advisory and corporate finance company specialising in the Consumer, Energy and Renewables, Automotive and Mobility, Financial Services and Manufacturing sectors.