Harry Fitzgibbons
Managing Director

Harry was a director of Hambros Bank from 1972 to 1983 with responsibility for United States corporate finance and for Hambros' portfolio of international unquoted investments. He was instrumental in establishing Boston Hambro Capital Company and Hambro International Venture Fund, both of which were venture investors in the United States. He left Hambros for two years to set up the London subsidiary of L.F.Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin, an American investment bank before returning in 1986. Harry was educated at Harvard College and Trinity College, Oxford and is a graduate of Harvard Law School. After briefly practising law in New York, he served as an officer with the United States Special Forces and with the Department of State, Washington DC. Before joining Hambros in 1972, he was an international banker for four years with Lehman Brothers in New York.

Charles Winward
Investment Manager

Charles joined IP Group in April 2007 to manage investments in Top Technology Ventures, the Group’s venture capital fund management subsidiary. Previously Charles was Vice President Technology Infrastructure at JPMorgan Chase & Co, where he worked in a variety of roles in London, New York and Brussels, and Investment Manager at Axiomlab, an AIM-listed early stage investment specialist. Charles has an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bristol.

Laurent Braun
tba

Laurent started his career in consulting first for Accenture and then for the Boston Consulting Group where he carried out a broad range of strategy assignments in various sectors.  He was then a VP Strategy and M&A at Bertelsmann, where he worked both in Europe and the US on the disposal of several non core businesses and the merger of BMG with Sony Music Group.  Prior to joining IP Group, he was in charge of early stage fund investments for the European Investment Fund.  Laurent has a Commercial Engineer degree from the Solvay School in Brussels and an MBA from Insead.

Andrew Mackie
Head of Life Sciences

Andrew, Head of Life Sciences, joined IP Group in 2005 to develop portfolio companies and work with university partners on identifying new investment opportunities. Andrew has held positions in pre-clinical research, clinical development and business development for multinational pharmaceutical (Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis) and service companies (MDS). Andrew joined the UK biotech sector at Antisoma prior to its IPO, initially to establish the clinical department. Later he managed Antisoma’s strategic alliance with F Hoffman-La Roche and in-licensed new drug leads through partnerships and acquisitions. Andrew holds a BSc in biochemistry from Queen’s Canada, an LLB from the University of London and an MBA from the London Business School where he graduated with distinction.

Liz Vaughan-Adams
Communications

Liz joined IP Group in 2006 having spent two years as a public relations consultant for a number of companies including Walker, Crips, Weddle, Beck plc (financial services), Libra Natural Resources plc (green fuels), Aspen Clean Energy plc/Shield Capital (green fuels), The Unwins Wine Group Ltd and Network Ltd (advertising). Prior to this, she spent seven years as a financial journalist and has written for newspapers, magazines, websites and newswires as well as contributing to a book on investing. Most recently Liz was at The Independent newspaper where she covered telecoms and technology stocks. She started her career with Pearson plc on its graduate trainee scheme.

Stuart Thompson
Director

Stuart joined IP Group in 2006 to build a captive Executive Search and Talent Management capability to support the Group’s portfolio companies. Prior to this he was a Partner at Whitehead Mann and the head of their Healthcare and Life Sciences practice. Stuart has worked in Executive Search for fifteen years and has advised public and private companies, large and small, on the appointment of Chairmen and Non-Executive Directors as well as Executive Management teams. He has a BSc in Biological Sciences from Birmingham University.

Greg Smith
Group Financial Controller

Greg joined IP Group in 2008 from Tarchon Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar fund of hedge funds business. At Tarchon, Greg had day to day responsibility for building and managing the operations and accounting team as well as covering external operational due diligence on all current and prospective investee hedge funds. Greg moved to Tarchon in early 2005 following over 4 years in KPMG’s Financial Services practice where his major clients included Old Mutual plc and Prudential plc. Greg is a Chartered Accountant and holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Warwick.

Mike Winn
Financial Controller

Mike joined IP Group in 2007 following 5 years within the assurance practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Mike is a chartered accountant and holds a Masters in mathematics. His client experience is broad, ranging from small private companies to pension schemes, but predominantly focused on managing every aspect of assurance engagements for blue chip tobacco and pharmaceutical companies. Mike is primarily responsible for the internal and external financial reporting of the group.

Kashmira Ginwalla
Assistant Financial Controller

Kashmira holds a Masters in Commerce (specialising in law and practice of banking and monetary policy) from the University of Pune. Before joining IP Group, she was with ABN Amro Bank NV for 3 years in the foreign exchange remittances and treasury back office department, having previously worked at a firm of Chartered Accountants where she gained valuable experience in book keeping, income tax rules, regulations and computations as well as internal/statutory audits. While studying for her Bachelors degree in Commerce, she also worked part time as an accounts assistant.
 

Angela Leach
Legal Counsel & Company Secretary

Anita Pulleyn
Group Business Services Support Manager (Leeds)

Anita has worked for IP Group since January 2005 following the acquisition of Techtran Group Ltd. She joined Techtran in April 2004 as the Business Support Manager, assisting the Leeds spin-out companies with financial, company secretarial and administrative support.

Previously, Anita worked for the venture capital group 3i plc, working primarily for the new business team, ensuring that the background administration for new investments was carried out accurately.

Debby Hogben
Business Support Manager (Leeds)

Debby joined the Group in August 2007 as Business Support Manager, assisting the Leeds spin-out companies with financial, company secretarial and administrative support. Previously, Debby worked for blue chip companies such as Siemens A & D, Siemens Business Services and Boots The Chemists and is now bringing her commercial experience to bear in supporting the Leeds spinout companies.

Lorraine Highton
Business Support Manager (London)

Lorraine joined the Group in December 2007 as Business Support Manager, assisting the Southern spin-out companies with financial, company secretarial and administrative support. Prior to this Lorraine worked for one of the UK’s leading firms of property advisors, assisting in the disposal and acquisition of land in London and the South East.  Lorraine also brings her Group Management experience from Allen & Overy, where she co-ordinated all departmental administrative procedures.

 

Dr Ivan Griffin
King’s College London

Ivan is responsible for IP Group’s activities with King’s College London. Before this, he spent a year in post-doctoral research where he published several scientific papers, before spending two years at Oxford Technology Venture Capital Trust prior to joining IP Group. Ivan holds an MSc and DPhil in cognitive neuroscience from New College, Oxford, where he also won a Blackwell’s scholarship.

Liz Thompson
Queen Mary, University of London

 

Laura Bond
University of Bath

Laura gained a BSc (Hons) in chemistry from Warwick, during which time she worked at GlaxoWellcome and was awarded the Salters' Graduate Prize for Chemistry in 2000. After working for a spin-out company from the University of Vienna, she read for her PhD with Pfizer GR&D at Nottingham investigating particle interactions at the nanoscale. Laura subsequently worked on inhalation drug delivery systems for Quadrant Drug Delivery Ltd. in Nottingham before spending a year at Warwick Ventures working on licensing and spin-out opportunities from the University of Warwick. Laura joined the Techtran group in September 2005.

Esmond Kensington
South West: universities of Bristol & Bath

Esmond Kensington joined IP Group from Marakon Associates where he spent seven years advising senior and board-level executives in a variety of industries, but particularly pharmaceuticals. He focused on resolving growth and operating strategy as well as organisation issues most driving performance and value. He also has six years' experience with Coopers & Lybrand (now part of PWC), where he advised numerous companies and governments on mergers, acquisitions and disposals (including licensing and joint ventures). He has an MBA with distinction from INSEAD, is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has a science degree from Bristol University. He speaks fluent French.

Brian Horsburgh
University of Glasgow

Brian joins IP Group from ITI Life Sciences where he was responsible for search and evaluation of technologies that address emerging opportunities in the pharma and biotech markets. Prior to joining ITI, Brian held various leadership positions in viral-based drug discovery, preclinical development and scientific affairs for U.S. and Canadian biotechology companies before co-founding Nurel Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company with a mission to bring new therapies for intractable pain and peripheral neuropathy. Brian received his BSc (hons) from the University of Glasgow, a PhD from Cambridge University and conducted post-doctoral research as the Charles A. King Fellow at Harvard Medical School.

Dr Rob Rule
University of Leeds

As Managing Director of Techtran, Rob is responsible for the day to day running of the Leeds-based business. IP Group bought Techtran, a company set up to commercialise university intellectual property under a long term contract with the University of Leeds, in 2005. Rob joined IP Group from Liverpool Ventures Ltd, an investor in early-stage technology, where he was Business Director. Prior to that, Rob was Group Commercial Director of Micap plc and he also has extensive international blue-chip experience with ICI and DuPont. Rob has a first class degree in Chemical Physics from the University of Bristol, a PhD in Materials Structure from the University of Liverpool and a Business Masters degree from the University of Warwick.

Charles Tavner
University of Southampton

Charles joined IP Group from Cambridge Consultant where he was the commercial director running their Healthcare practice. Charles spent 13 years at Cambridge Consultants leading teams developing a wide variety of products from Asthma inhalers to flavour blending instrumentation. Charles managed and developed a broad client base across the US and Europe ranging from start ups to blue chip companies. He has a MEng from Downing College, Cambridge.

 

Andrea Mica
University of Surrey

Andrea joined IP Group from Oxford University where he was a Begbroke enterprise fellow for a year. Andrea has an MSc in industrial design management of new product development from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He worked in technology transfer from the space sector for 7 years before moving to CFB, helping to set up and run 4 materials companies based on Russian technology. Before going to Oxford, Andrea provided consultancy and training in technical problem solving through Oxford Creativity. Andrea is responsible for IP Group’s activities with the University of Surrey.

Dr Jeff Eaves
University of York

Jeff joined IP Group from Deloitte where he was a Director in the Commercial Transaction Services team, providing commercial due diligence services to both Private Equity and Corporate clients. Prior to this, he carried out a similar role for KPMG giving him a total of eight years' experience in due diligence for mergers and acquisitions. Jeff also spent eleven years with ICI, most recently as Global Product Manager for a range of synthetic lubricants. He worked as a post-doctoral researcher at MIT before joining ICI. Jeff has an MBA from the Open University where he now has a part-time role as an Associate Lecturer in business strategy. He has a BSc and PhD in chemistry from the University of Durham.

Andrew Mackie

Andrew, Head of Life Sciences, joined IP Group in 2005 to develop portfolio companies and work with university partners on identifying new investment opportunities. Andrew has held positions in pre-clinical research, clinical development and business development for multinational pharmaceutical (Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis) and service companies (MDS). Andrew joined the UK biotech sector at Antisoma prior to its IPO, initially to establish the clinical department. Later he managed Antisoma’s strategic alliance with F Hoffman-La Roche and in-licensed new drug leads through partnerships and acquisitions. Andrew holds a BSc in biochemistry from Queen’s Canada, an LLB from the University of London and an MBA from the London Business School where he graduated with distinction.

Dr Ivan Griffin
Ivan is responsible for IP Group’s activities with King’s College London. Before this, he spent a year in post-doctoral research where he published several scientific papers, before spending two years at Oxford Technology Venture Capital Trust prior to joining IP Group. Ivan holds an MSc and DPhil in cognitive neuroscience from New College, Oxford, where he also won a Blackwell’s scholarship.

Dr Vivian Owino

Vivian holds a PhD in medicine from University College of London and a BSc Hon in pharmacology and biochemistry from the University of Southampton. Before joining IP Group, she was Bioscience Business manager at the Centre of Enterprise and Innovation, where she was responsible for establishing a number of spin-out companies and licensing deals based on intellectual property arising from the University of Southampton.

Dr Simon Graindorge
Simon joined Techtran in March 2006 as an Investment Manager. Simon holds honours degrees in both chemistry and mechanical engineering from the University of Western Australia. After working briefly for Australian Gold Refineries, he returned to university and completed a PhD in biomedical engineering. Since moving to the UK, Simon has spent 5 years researching articular cartilage and technology for partial knee joint repair and tissue replacement. Simon has expertise in tribology, biomaterials, surface science, lubrication and wear, joint replacement technology, soft tissue modelling and tissue engineering, having held editorial positions for tribology and medical engineering journals. Simon is a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers.

Dr Andy Round
Andrew is an Investment Manager at Techtran. He has a degree in Process Biotechnology and an MSc in Environmental Microbiology where he worked on several industrial projects scaling up biological and biotechnology processes. Andrew then went on to complete a PhD as part of the DTI Postgraduate Training Partnership Scheme (PTP) and Leeds University, in using microbes as a delivery vehicle for flavours, pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Andrew has been a key member in several start-up businesses one of which (Micap PLC) was floated on the AIM market in London. Andrew developed and implement a process scale up program ‘from the bench’ to ‘full commercial production’ for the Micap products. He subsequently managed several technical licensing programs for the Micap product resulting in the company’s first license deal for this product with a major flavour and fragrance company. After moving on from Micap, Andrew joined a global technology brokering and consulting company Yet2.com, working with companies throughout Europe and Asia to identify and evaluate technologies for their market potential, and develop licensing and acquisition strategies. Highlights included the completion of several license deals for clients and working on multi million dollar acquisition projects across Europe the US and Asia.

Laura Bond
Laura gained a BSc (Hons) in chemistry from Warwick, during which time she worked at GlaxoWellcome and was awarded the Salters' Graduate Prize for Chemistry in 2000. After working for a spin-out company from the University of Vienna, she read for her PhD with Pfizer GR&D at Nottingham investigating particle interactions at the nanoscale. Laura subsequently worked on inhalation drug delivery systems for Quadrant Drug Delivery Ltd. in Nottingham before spending a year at Warwick Ventures working on licensing and spin-out opportunities from the University of Warwick. Laura joined the Techtran group in September 2005.

Andrea Mica
Andrea joined IP Group from Oxford University where he was a Begbroke enterprise fellow for a year. Andrea has an MSc in industrial design management of new product development from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He worked in technology transfer from the space sector for 7 years before moving to CFB, helping to set up and run 4 materials companies based on Russian technology. Before going to Oxford, Andrea provided consultancy and training in technical problem solving through Oxford Creativity. Andrea is responsible for IP Group’s activities with the University of Surrey.