The Kelso team is led by experienced individuals with a track record of identifying and creating value in the UK small and mid-cap public markets.
Non-Executive Chairman: Sir Nigel Knowles is currently the CEO of international law firm DWF Group Plc, having previously served as Chairman from September 2017 to May 2020. Prior to joining DWF, Sir Nigel spent over 38 years at DLA Piper, a global law firm, where he was Global Co-Chairman and Senior Partner, and, previously, Global Co-CEO and Managing Partner from 1996 to 2015. During his tenure as leader of DLA Piper and its legacy firms, revenues of DLA Piper grew from £52 million to in excess of £1.5 billion. Sir Nigel served as Chairman of Sheffield City Region LEP for three years from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2018, whereupon he was appointed the Mayor’s Special Advisor (Trade & Investment) until 2021. He also held the Office of High Sheriff of London from 2016-2017, the oldest non-ecclesiastical Royal appointment. Sir Nigel received a knighthood in 2009 in recognition of his services to the legal industry.
Non-Executive Director: David Charters is a former diplomat turned investment banker, venture capitalist and author. He was previously a Director of SG Warburg Securities and a Managing Director of Deutsche Bank. Today he sits on a number of boards mostly in the finance, security and business intelligence sectors, as well as in the charity and not for profit world.
Non-Executive Director: Sarah Rajani has over 25 years professional experience in strategic and investor communications, shareholder activism and public affairs. Sarah is currently Vice President of Investor Relations & Communications at OCI Global, having previously been Director Of Communications at Elliott Advisors, where she led and advised on all aspects of communications and public relations activities across Europe and Asia from 2016 until 2022. Prior to Elliott Advisors, Sarah held senior communications roles at Actis and Apax Partners, having started her career at Citibank and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
Chief Executive Officer: John Goold, 53, qualified as a chartered accountant in London with Touche Ross in 1996 before a 25 year career in the City raising growth capital and advising small and mid cap companies. John initially started in corporate finance before moving into equity sales and corporate broking where he spent most of his career. During his career, John has helped raise over £5.0 billion for his clients much of which was while he was Chief Executive of Zeus from 2012 to 2021.
Chief Financial Officer: Mark Kirkland, 56, qualified as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse Coopers in London and has gained extensive corporate experience gained over 30 years having held numerous senior roles in public and private companies. Mark’s initial career was in corporate finance predominantly with UBS. Mark has been CFO of numerous public and private companies and latterly was CEO of Delin Property, a pan European Logistics developer, investor and manager. He is currently a Non-Executive Director at Strix Group plc and AEW UK REIT plc.
Chief Investment Officer: Jamie Brooke, 53, has over 25 years investment experience and has been a director on over 20 company boards. He was formerly lead fund manager for the Hanover Catalyst Fund. Prior to this, he spent 12 years with the top-rated Volantis team, specialising in strategic and active UK small cap equity investing, where he was lead fund manager for the Volantis Catalyst Funds and led the team’s corporate engagement strategy. Earlier experience was gained at 3i and Quester in private equity, after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte. Jamie read Maths at Oxford University and is currently NED at Oryx International Growth Fund Ltd, Chapel Down Group plc and Flowtech Fluidpower plc.3
