Mike is a successful investor, business leader and entrepreneur with more than 20 years’ experience in the financial sector. He was the co-founder and former CEO of Praetura Group, which launched in 2011. His early career was spent with PwC as a chartered accountant before joining GCA Altium, where he was a managing director for 10 years. Alongside his role at Arete, Mike is a trusted advisor and non-executive chairman to five businesses, including Sorted Group and Inspired Energy plc, and a board member at several others, including Peak AI and SysGroup plc.

Simon is an award-winning financial advisor and a former managing director of GCA Altium, where he spent 16 years. He is a former recipient of Business Desk's Rainmaker of the Year award and the teams he has built and led have twice earned recognition as Corporate Team of the Year. Simon has an excellent track record of acting for and building trusted relationships with ambitious entrepreneurs and has played key roles in multiple high-profile deals for the same companies at different stages of their growth journey.

Ben is an award-winning technology entrepreneur who founded and built one of the UK's leading digital agencies before selling to the country's largest publisher at the time, Trinity Mirror plc. He went on to become managing director of the group's digital marketing division, where he led the acquisition and integration of growing tech-based companies. Since 2016, Ben has been working with ambitious entrepreneurs and businesses as an investor and board member offering strategic, operational and transformational support to help them to scale.

David is an experienced entrepreneur and investor with more than 25 years in finance recruitment. He is the executive chairman and co-founder of Axon Moore Group, an award-winning recruitment business. He has been investing in businesses for more than two decades and was a founding investor in The Hut Group, which recently completed a £5.4bn IPO. He is also chairman of Tactus Group, which sources, retails and brands cutting-edge consumer technology, and sits on the board of Manchester-based charity The Message Trust, ‘Best not-for-profit organisation to work for’ in the 2018 Sunday Times list.

Jamie is an investment manager who was recently nominated for Business Insider’s Young Financier of the Year. A Chartered Accountant by background, he qualified with EY after completing the EY degree program. Formerly with Praetura Group, Jamie helped launch and deploy EIS funds into early-stage, technology-driven investments. Jamie focuses on Arete’s investments and plays a key role in sourcing, evaluating and executing new opportunities.

Sam is a business support manager who has spent her career in the investment industry. She spent 13 years in London as an executive assistant for a private equity business before taking on a similar role in Manchester. At Arete, Sam is integral to many functions, supporting the team on investment and portfolio and management.

Natalie is an experienced executive assistant who spent more than 10 years with restaurant and bar group Living Ventures before two years with Praetura Group. As assistant to the Arete partners, Natalie makes sure everything runs smoothly. She organises diaries, plans events and gets the right people in the room, virtual or otherwise, at the right time.

Mike is a former regional director and head of department for M&S Bank who has more than 25 years’ experience in the financial sector. At M&S, he held several senior sales and strategic roles, including advising the board during their renegotiation with M&S Retail and leading the project to build out the firm’s branch network. Prior to the bank, Mike held senior positions with American Express, MBNA and British Airways. At Arete, his main focus is to make sure deals meet all regulatory requirements.

Andy is a qualified chartered account and investment manager with more than 20 years’ experience with the likes of PwC and FTSE 100 insurance plc, RSA. More recently, he has held investment roles with MSIF, deploying funds across the Liverpool City Region, and Development Bank of Wales, where he invested in technology businesses from early stage seed funding to later stage growth capital deals. At Arete, Andy is integral to deal origination, investment appraisal, structuring and deal execution.

Mike is a Chartered Accountant and investment manager focusing on sourcing and analysing new opportunities before supporting our target through the investment journey. He started his career with accounting giant PwC, gaining his qualifications through its audit graduate scheme prior to transitioning to M&A, joining KPMG’s award-winning Transaction Services team. Mike’s expertise lies in financial due diligence having supported many private equity-backed and family-owned businesses through both buy and sell-side processes.

Briony is an experienced investment specialist, having spent the five years prior to joining Arete in Grant Thornton’s Transaction Advisory Services team. As a manager at the accounting firm, she focused on analysing the day-to-day finances of businesses and advised on a number of transactions for private equity investors. Briony is a specialist in understanding the long-term potential of businesses and the strength of their cash position. At Arete, her time is spent sourcing and evaluating new opportunities, providing vital decision-making information to the management team and overseeing the investment journey for portfolio companies.

Richard is an insurance specialist with more than 35 years' experience across the US and UK markets. He began his career with C.F. Palmer Syndicate and later joined ARK Syndicate Management. For 12 years, he headed up a USD100m Gross Written Premium division and was part of a team that produced groundbreaking work on North American Casualty and Professional liability, Product Recall and a World Wide Contingency. He has held roles with Lloyd’s of London and more recently operated as a consultant working with some of the biggest names in the sector.