Corporate Finance Lunch 2022

Jodi Birkett is a partner in Deloitte’s Financial Advisory practice. Jodi leads the Transaction Services team in the North West and works across privately owned businesses, private equity houses and their portfolios and listed businesses. Jodi focuses on the Telecoms, Media and Telecoms industries as well as Consumer, including retail, travel and professional services.

Jodi is the Clients and Industries lead for Financial Advisory in the UK and across North South Europe and also leads our TMT sector in the Regions and a member of the UK TMT Exec.

Dom has a strong technology focus, having been involved in a number of high profile software and tech-enabled services transactions since joining in 2012.

Dom previously worked within KPMG’s transactions and restructuring practice and prior to that studied English Literature (BA) and Business Management (MA) at Durham. He has an MBA from Manchester Business School and is a qualified insolvency practitioner.

Rebecca is a partner at EY focused on Corporate Finance M&A. She has over 20 years’ experience helping shareholders unlock value by completing transformational transactions with Private Equity and global strategic trade. Born in the North, she spent 15 years with a North American investment bank whilst living in Vancouver, Canada. Rebecca is very passionate about DE&I and actively shares her experiences including her “Work Life Harmony Handguide” and “Confidence Boosting Alphabet” on how to SMASH Imposter Syndrome.  She chairs EY’s Corporate Finance Women’s Network and created the “Redefining MACHO” programme to help encourage male allyship and support a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Rebecca was recognised as a “Changemaker” at the 2022 Yorkshire Rainmakers Awards and was added to the exclusive Northern Power Women POWER list in 2023.  She is CPA, CFA charterholder and former Trustee of Big Sisters and Broughton House charities.

Kaine qualified as a Chartered Accountant with EY, before joining Rickitt Mitchell in 2013. He has worked across a variety of transaction types, including public flotations, private disposals, fundraises, acquisitions and private equity investments. He boasts strong credentials in the TMT space but also has experience in a wide range of other sectors, including healthcare, distribution and retail.

Kaine also leads the global activities of M&A Worldwide in the technology sector, forging close and collaborative relationships with experts in 35 countries across 6 continents.

Simon Joined Cazenove from UBS where he was the Regional Head for the North West based in Manchester. Prior to that Simon spent most of his working life working for The Lloyds Banking Group in various wealth management roles.

Simon has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry and has been helping High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth families achieve their long term financial objectives for much of that time.

Simon is a Chartered Member of the CISI and is a Portfolio Director heading up our new Manchester office.

Jess Jackson is an investment manager at Praetura Ventures and is responsible for identifying and managing investment opportunities for our EIS Growth Fund and the GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura. Jess boasts a wealth of experience working with startups across multiple sectors, including businesses with a social impact focus and is a well-known figure in the North’s investment scene. She is a founding member of Fund Her North – a collective which champions investment opportunities for women – and regularly gives talks around this subject and the early-stage investment market. Prior to joining Praetura Ventures, Jess managed fund deployment at GC Angels and HNWI Capital.

Jeremy leads Cole Associates Corporate Finance (www.cole-group.co.uk), one of Manchester’s longest-established corporate finance ‘boutiques’. Cole Associates advise clients on acquisitions, management buy-outs and buy-ins, company sales and raising finance for growth. Jeremy was previously with PWC, including 3 years in the States.

Dr. Nereida Polovina is a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. She teaches International Financial Management to undergraduates and Corporate Finance postgraduate students.  Nereida is an active academic researcher. Her research focuses on foreign investments in emerging markets, from the perspective of quality of investor protection, foreign ownership and  corporate control.  She regularly supervises PhD students who research on emerging markets. Her academic work has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Guy is in the Investment Team at Praetura Ventures focused on investing equity into early stage businesses. Praetura Ventures is a Manchester headquartered venture capital firm with  over 30 people and 22 companies in the portfolio.

The Praetura Ventures focuses on backing high growth business with equity capital in addition to more than money support.

Guy has a focus on energy , SaaS and Fintech. His recent deals include BankiFi, Transreport and Enthuse . Guy sits on the boards of IOT energy technology business SteamaCo and artificial intelligence business Futr.

Anthony is a keen supporter of North West Business Community, being a Director and former Chair of pro-manchester, and member of the pro-manchester Fintech committee. Anthony is also a board director and investor in a number of businesses in the region with specific focus on financial services and technology.

Anthony co-founded OpenMoney and is passionate about making financial advice accessible and affordable to everyone. He has considerable experience of the financial services industry, most recently as a founding partner of Tatton Asset Management plc. Previously, he was a consultant at both Arthur Anderson and KPMG, specialising in regulatory, performance and strategic issues for the life and pensions sector.

Michael operates as an Investment Director, overseeing a portfolio of investments, and as the Head of Corporate Finance for Together, the UK’s largest non-bank lender. Specialising in high-value partnerships and strategic opportunities, his extensive career spans both large and small advisory businesses, latterly holding directorships across financial services and technology businesses. A Chartered Accountant by training and originally from Manchester, Michael lived in France during his formative years and has also worked professionally in London. Known for his straightforward and commercial approach, he boasts a strong track record in equity and debt-funded M&A transactions within the small to mid-market deals space and has worked with several of the UK’s fastest-growing companies.