Advisory Board
Luke and Ian have known Fast Track for many years, and have kindly agreed to serve on our advisory board to help expand the company and take it to the next level. They are not investors in Fast Track which is solely owned by its founder and CEO, Hamish Stevenson.
Luke Johnson is chairman of the advisory board.
Luke is founder and chairman of Risk Capital Partners, and writes a weekly column on entrepreneurs in the Financial Times. He is chairman of the Royal Society of Arts, and was formerly chairman of Channel 4 and PizzaExpress, which he floated at 40p and increased its market cap more than 20-fold to over £500m when he stepped down.
Luke has been making private company investments for over 20 years, including businesses such as Integrated Dental Holdings which he sold for £100m, representing 10 times the original investment; Topps Tiles (x10 investment), and Patisserie Valerie (current portfolio).
Luke has sat on one of Fast Track's annual 'Ones to Recognise' awards judging panels since 2006, he has spoken at a number of our dinners; and several of his investee companies have featured on our league tables, ranging from Seafood Holdings to Signature Restaurants, which he exited for over seven times return. Luke studied Medicine at Oxford.
Ian Armitage
Ian was the founder and Managing Partner of HgCapital (formerly Mercury Private Equity), and was its chairman until November 2012.
Ian joined in 1988, and in 2000 he took the private equity business out of Merrill Lynch and helped build HgCapital into a leading investor in Europe with over £3 billion under management. Prior to this, he spent 10 years with 3i.
Ian has made over 150 investments, and is currently chairman of the Global Capital Committee of the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) and LPEQ, and a director of Sporting Index and Atlas Interactive. He is a private investor. Ian holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford.
www.hgcapital.com
Simon Calver was recently appointed CEO of Mothercare. As chief executive of DVD rental business Lovefilm.com, he merged the company with Video Island in 2006. With venture-capital backing he built to sales of £100m before selling it for a reported £200m to Amazon, which had been a shareholder. Lovefilm.com has appeared on the Tech Track 100 and Buyout Track 100.
Stephen Murphy was group chief exec of Virgin until November 2011, overseeing branded revenues of $20bn. He was involved in Virgin's sponsorship of Fast Track 100, which Richard Branson has supported since 1997. He is a non-exec of the government's Business Growth Fund; and previously held senior positions at Mars UK, Unilever, and Ford.
Martin Ott was recently appointed managing director for Northern Europe at Facebook. He was previously joint chief executive of Skrill, the online payment provider which is backed by Investcorp. It made profits of £20m in 2010, and has appeared on Fast Track's league tables seven times. Martin has invested in a range of tech companies in Europe.
Anthony Preston founded Pets at Home in 1991 and grew it into one of Britain's largest private retailers with 300 stores, before a majority stake was sold to KKR in a £955m deal in 2010. The company first featured on Fast Track 100 in 1999, and has featured on 14 subsequent Fast Track league tables. His investments include Kids Allowed nursery chain and Palatine Private Equity.
Richard Reed co-founded innocent drinks in 1998 with two university friends and sold a majority stake in this quirky smoothie company to Coca-Cola for £100m. The company made sales of £130m in 2010 and is expanding in Europe. It featured on Fast Track 100 for five consecutive years, from 2004 to 2008. He sits on the development board of Oxfam.
Nick Wheeler founded shirt maker Charles Tyrwhitt in 1986 and is sole owner and chairman. Sales reached £98m in 2012, with operating profit of £8m. It has 21 retail stores and online sales, which won it a place on the Profit Track 100. His investments include mywardrobe.com and online customer feedback software firm, Feefo.
Luke Johnson is chairman of the advisory board.Luke is founder and chairman of Risk Capital Partners, and writes a weekly column on entrepreneurs in the Financial Times. He is chairman of the Royal Society of Arts, and was formerly chairman of Channel 4 and PizzaExpress, which he floated at 40p and increased its market cap more than 20-fold to over £500m when he stepped down.
Luke has been making private company investments for over 20 years, including businesses such as Integrated Dental Holdings which he sold for £100m, representing 10 times the original investment; Topps Tiles (x10 investment), and Patisserie Valerie (current portfolio).
Luke has sat on one of Fast Track's annual 'Ones to Recognise' awards judging panels since 2006, he has spoken at a number of our dinners; and several of his investee companies have featured on our league tables, ranging from Seafood Holdings to Signature Restaurants, which he exited for over seven times return. Luke studied Medicine at Oxford.
| www.lukejohnson.org | www.riskcapitalpartners.co.uk |
Ian ArmitageIan was the founder and Managing Partner of HgCapital (formerly Mercury Private Equity), and was its chairman until November 2012.
Ian joined in 1988, and in 2000 he took the private equity business out of Merrill Lynch and helped build HgCapital into a leading investor in Europe with over £3 billion under management. Prior to this, he spent 10 years with 3i.
Ian has made over 150 investments, and is currently chairman of the Global Capital Committee of the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) and LPEQ, and a director of Sporting Index and Atlas Interactive. He is a private investor. Ian holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford.
www.hgcapital.com
Brains Bank
The Fast Track "Brains Bank" is made up of a select cross section of founders and directors of successful companies that have featured on past Fast Track league tables. They generously give their time to Fast Track and meet on a bi-annual basis to provide general advice and entrepreneurial nous.Simon Calver was recently appointed CEO of Mothercare. As chief executive of DVD rental business Lovefilm.com, he merged the company with Video Island in 2006. With venture-capital backing he built to sales of £100m before selling it for a reported £200m to Amazon, which had been a shareholder. Lovefilm.com has appeared on the Tech Track 100 and Buyout Track 100. Stephen Murphy was group chief exec of Virgin until November 2011, overseeing branded revenues of $20bn. He was involved in Virgin's sponsorship of Fast Track 100, which Richard Branson has supported since 1997. He is a non-exec of the government's Business Growth Fund; and previously held senior positions at Mars UK, Unilever, and Ford.Martin Ott was recently appointed managing director for Northern Europe at Facebook. He was previously joint chief executive of Skrill, the online payment provider which is backed by Investcorp. It made profits of £20m in 2010, and has appeared on Fast Track's league tables seven times. Martin has invested in a range of tech companies in Europe.
Anthony Preston founded Pets at Home in 1991 and grew it into one of Britain's largest private retailers with 300 stores, before a majority stake was sold to KKR in a £955m deal in 2010. The company first featured on Fast Track 100 in 1999, and has featured on 14 subsequent Fast Track league tables. His investments include Kids Allowed nursery chain and Palatine Private Equity.
Richard Reed co-founded innocent drinks in 1998 with two university friends and sold a majority stake in this quirky smoothie company to Coca-Cola for £100m. The company made sales of £130m in 2010 and is expanding in Europe. It featured on Fast Track 100 for five consecutive years, from 2004 to 2008. He sits on the development board of Oxfam.
Nick Wheeler founded shirt maker Charles Tyrwhitt in 1986 and is sole owner and chairman. Sales reached £98m in 2012, with operating profit of £8m. It has 21 retail stores and online sales, which won it a place on the Profit Track 100. His investments include mywardrobe.com and online customer feedback software firm, Feefo.
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