2026 Judges
Eva Agnew is the CEO of Lionel Hitchen Ltd who are a UK manufacturer of natural flavours and flavour ingredients. She has also worked for many multinationals such as Unilever, H J Heinz, Thermo Fisher Scientific and General foods in various Operations, Engineering and Business functions.
Varun Bhanot is the Co-founder & CEO of MAGIC AI (magic.fit), the world's first AI Personal Trainer, delivering hyper-personalised workouts through a sleek wall mirror co-created with athletes including Sir Alastair Cook, Jesse Lingard, and Team GB stars. MAGIC AI has raised over $7.5M in venture funding, was named in Time Magazine's World's Best Inventions 2024 and Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, and ranks #1 on The Sunday Times Tech 100 2026 as the UK's fastest-growing AI hardware company. Varun graduated from LSE and the University of Cambridge.
Lucy Brennan is a Partner at Saffery, advising individuals, families and owner‑managed businesses on their personal and business financial and tax affairs. She has extensive experience supporting family‑owned businesses with governance, succession planning and complex ownership structures, alongside specialist expertise in valuation and forensic work. Lucy is a trusted adviser to multi‑generational businesses navigating growth, transition and long‑term legacy planning.
Richard Collis is a Partner and Head of Saffery’s Corporate Group in London, with over 20 years’ experience advising mid‑market businesses, large groups and family‑owned enterprises. A Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser, he is a trusted adviser to boards and leadership teams, combining audit, tax and advisory expertise to support business growth. He also leads the firm’s sustainability offering, helping organisations navigate carbon transition, reporting requirements and long‑term ESG strategies to create lasting value.
Ned is Co-Founder of Nurole, the UK's largest specialist non-executive board recruiter placing over 750 board members a year for some of the world's leading organisations. Over the past decade he has been central to scaling the business from inception to its position today, shaping the commercial engine that sits behind Nurole's combination of sector-expert headhunters and proprietary digital platform. Alongside the core search business, Nurole launched Enter the Boardroom - the destination community for serving and aspiring non-executive directors - extending the business's reach from placing board talent to developing it.
Marco is an Operating Partner focused on technology enablement, digital transformation, and product development. Previously, Marco spent 12 years as Director of equity sales & trading with Wells Fargo and Baird in London and San Francisco. He has founded several technology start-ups. Marco received an MBA from IESE in Barcelona and a Masters in Astrophysics from University College London. He speaks fluent Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
Long-term marketer Ian set up Purple Pilchard in 2004 a marketing consultancy geared specifically at any bootstrapped SMEs seeking to disrupt the nation's beige food & drink landscape
James Jackson is the Co‑Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bumper, the Sheffield‑based fintech transforming how drivers afford car repairs. Since launching the company in 2013, James has led Bumper’s evolution from a buy‑now‑pay‑later solution into a full payment orchestration platform. Bumper is used by over 6,000 dealerships across the UK and Europe.
I am a Partner and co-founder at FPE. I started my private equity life over a decade ago at Nova Capital Management, which involved both investment decisions and day-to-day involvement in the operations of portfolio companies. I joined the FPE team in 2012 and am involved in all aspects of the investment cycle, from deal origination and execution through ongoing board representation and exit management. I have invested in a variety of B2B sectors, with a focus on media, software and telecoms sectors.
Lizzie partners with LDC portfolio company management teams to deliver operational improvement, integration and carve out projects. Lizzie has over twenty years’ experience supporting companies across a wide range of sectors, including consumer and healthcare, to deliver their strategic priorities with a focus on synergies, integration and carve outs. She has extensive experience in delivering complex change programmes, managing risks and enhancing value whilst working collaboratively with management teams to focus not just on the financial and delivery aspects of any change programme but also the softer skills side including employee engagement and culture. Most recently, she supported the creation of Cora Health through the merger of LDC portfolio company Connect Health and BGF-backed Healthshare. Lizzie joined LDC from Cortus Advisory, where she established a mid-market integration and separation advisory practice. Prior to this, Lizzie was at KPMG where she was a Partner in their Deal Execution Strategy team with a focus on the consumer sector.
Will Monange is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Fanvue, a global creator monetisation platform with over 17 million users and 325,000 creators, operating at a $200M+ annualised run rate. He co-founded the company with Joel Morris after leaving a BBC degree apprenticeship to pursue building something with large-scale impact, and has since led Fanvue through a $22M Series A. Based in London, he leads a remote-first team of 130+ people globally. He focuses on Product Strategy, Financial services and how the business positions itself in an AI native world.
Dr Hezron Ottey is an award-winning public health leader, researcher, lecturer, and social entrepreneur whose work bridges healthcare, academia, community development, and enterprise. With a PhD in Health and Welfare Studies and more than two decades of leadership experience, he is recognised for transforming ambitious ideas into sustainable initiatives that deliver measurable social impact. His leadership has earned national recognition for excellence in innovation, inclusion, and community engagement.
Alec is Managing Partner at Primary Capital and has nearly 20 years of experience partnering with and investing alongside founders and managers. He leads investment activity and value creation across the portfolio.
Kate Rand is a scale-up CEO and people-first leader with a track record of growing founder-led businesses across the UK and Ireland. As CEO of Serve Legal, the UK and Ireland's leading compliance auditing provider, she leads international expansion and drives higher standards globally. Kate has held multiple C-suite roles across retail, hospitality, HR, and technology, supporting founders through rapid growth and M&A activity from £10m to £100m+. She holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and has been recognised among HR's Most Influential Practitioners. Kate is passionate about building high-performing cultures and developing the next generation of business leaders.
Lena an advisor, consultant, founder and speaker working across innovation, the built environment, property, infrastructure and technology. She has 25+ years of experience in digital transformation, PropTech, WasteTech and user-centred design and supports organisations to design and implement practical, scalable, digitally enabled solutions. Her work includes advisory, expert assessment, mentoring, training and speaking across the UK and Africa and she has also advised and supported organisations including UKRI, Astia VC, Ada Ventures, Innovate UK, UN-Habitat, Connected Places Catapult, universities and government stakeholders.
Hak is a seasoned investor, operator and growth advisor with a wide network across the business ecosystem. He is a visiting partner at Antler, a global early- stage VC, and previously managed an investment team overseeing £3bn in UK companies. At AWS he built go-to-market programmes for scaling startups worldwide, and at MedCity he advised over 250 companies on commercial growth, NHS navigation and fundraising. He has held board positions at DigitalHealth.London and serves as trustee at Future Care Capital. Hak is a committed mentor to entrepreneurs and brings a rare blend of investment rigour and hands-on scaling expertise to every business he engages with.
Richard is the Founder and ex-Managing Partners for Sullivan Street Partners, and the ex-Strategy Director for John Lewis Partnership. Richard has delivered significant value creation across his 25 years working in private equity owned businesses across strategy, carve outs, acquisitions, integrations, culture change, organisational re-alignment and developing people.
Stuart is a managing director the chief operating officer of Europe in our London office. Prior to joining Providence in 2023, he was a partner at Alvarez and Marsal, focused on the private equity market. Stuart is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds a degree in economics and finance. When not looking after his three children, he likes to cycle, play squash and ride and race motorbikes.
Roger Wareham is a Partner and Head of Saffery’s Bournemouth office, specialising in advising entrepreneurs and owner‑managed and family‑owned businesses. With extensive experience supporting businesses from start‑up through to groups with turnover exceeding £100 million, he is a Chartered Tax Adviser renowned for helping ambitious entrepreneurs structure, grow and successfully exit their businesses.