After a busy and productive summer, we’ve arrived in autumn on a high and with a flurry of four industry awards.
Representing a rare double-double, we were thrilled to win two awards at the North West Rainmakers Awards 2021 – a community-led corporate finance awards programme run by TheBusinessDesk.com - and two additional awards at the Insider South East Dealmakers Awards.
These awards reflect the talented individuals in our team, our deep commitment to the regions across the UK, and the quality and impact of our investee companies.
In the North West our newly promoted partner, Claire Alvarez, was voted by her peers as ‘Changemaker of the Year’. This recognises her work to promote diversity in the regional corporate finance community and in our portfolio. Claire’s also worked closely with female founders such as Nisha Katona MBE of Mowgli Street Food and Actar Arya of DA Languages, supporting them to deliver on their vision.
At the South East Dealmakers, we were delighted to see Chris Wiles, senior investment manager, crowned Emerging Dealmaker of the Year. Chris led three new deals in the region, as well as a follow-on investment into a portfolio company during the qualifying period.
The judges commented that Chris' broad range of technical, strategic and commercial skills added real value to Foresight, making Chris the stand-out contender for the trophy.
At the same South East Awards, Foresight’s acquisition of Lightning Fibre, an East Sussex-based hyper-fast broadband network, won Private Equity/ VC Deal of the Year.
Finally, we were delighted to see our exit from Manchester-based Clubhouse Golf – a fast growing e-commerce business – named International Deal of the Year. Over the course of investment, revenues more than doubled to £30m and staff numbers increased by 50%. The team also expanded their presence in Europe, resulting in the successful acquisition by all4golf – delivering a 6.1x return.
These awards reflect the strong post-pandemic recovery we are witnessing across the UK. This is also demonstrated in our 26 investments into innovative and ambitious SMEs in the first half of 2021.
We are proud to be a supportive partner to some of the UK’s most exciting SMEs. At Foresight, we know the best way to create a smarter future is to support innovative thinking and ambitious growth. We pride ourselves on developing mutually beneficial partnerships with some of the UK’s most promising and exciting SMEs. We use our combination of shared vision, international reach, deep local roots, and cross-sector expertise. When you partner with us, you get the guidance and support you need to achieve long-term, sustainable growth.
