London, 19th July 2017 – Tenzing, the UK lower mid-market growth investor, today announces the launch of its Entrepreneurs Panel. Made up of six inspiring and successful Founders, entrepreneurs and CEOs, the Panel brings additional vision, strategic insight and hands-on support to Tenzing portfolio companies.
Panelists include: Glenn Elliott, Founder & CEO of Reward Gateway; Bill Collis, Former CEO and President at Foundry; Bobby Healy, CTO of CarTrawler; Louise Rogers, Former CEO of TES; Titus Sharpe, Founder, President and Former CEO of MVF; and Adrian Thompson, CEO of Aspen Pumps.
Each member of the Panel has lived and breathed the successes and failures of scaling their own organisations, from hiring the first employee to now running some of the UK’s fastest-growing and respected businesses. They all bring specific operational super strengths and the foundations on which they built their own businesses, be that in sales, digital marketing, product innovation, overseas sales and expansion, as well as building and managing great teams of people.
Panel members all have a track record of working successfully with private equity firms in the UK and further afield. They are therefore ideally placed to help management teams get the most out of their partnership with Tenzing, particularly those engaging with a private equity firm for the first time.
Each Panel member has materially invested in Tenzing Fund I and is highly motivated to share their learnings and expertise to help and inspire a new generation of entrepreneurial management teams. Their work has already begun: Bobby Healy provided support to Fleetway Travel in helping the team redesign its operating platform, whilst Titus Sharpe has helped drive improvements in online lead generation at FMP Global.
Christian Hamilton, Founder and Managing Partner of Tenzing, commented: “We are truly proud to be working with some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs. This Panel is central to the growth ecosystem we are building for our portfolio companies and will complement Tenzing’s day-to-day work by providing practical help to our management teams. We expect many more influential moments from the Panel with all of our investees, as they grow and take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.
Glenn Elliott, Chair of the Entrepreneurs Panel commented: “This panel is the most exceptional group of humble, human, high-achievers I could ever have hoped to have work with. Being a successful entrepreneur puts you in a tiny minority of people who see the world differently and process opportunity and risk in a unique way. Professionals and investors rarely look through the same lens and can struggle to understand it. Tenzing’s confidence and ability to assemble this group of incredible entrepreneurs to help their portfolio companies really shows how much they understand and value the unique skills and role that entrepreneurs have. It really shows that Tenzing “gets” entrepreneurs in a way that most investors just don’t.”
-ENDS-