Investment Leaders

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Annoushka Ducas

Founder Annoushka

Annoushka has strong Russian heritage and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris in the 1980s after which she followed inspirational travel opportunities, stopping to spend time in Hong Kong where she first began to design jewellery.

In 1990, together with her husband, John Ayton, Annoushka founded Links of London, a pioneering venture that became a global luxury jewellery brand. It became of the great success stories of the 90s and the new millennium, a pioneering venture that spearheaded the democratisation of luxury and design in jewellery and silver. They built Links of London to sales of over £50 million before selling the company to Folli Follie SA in late 2006.

Annoushka is currently the Creative Director of the new jeweller that takes her name occupying a largely uninhabited position in a market presently polarised between High Jewellery and the traditional jeweller. She is the driving force behind this exciting new concept that perfectly captures the mood of the moment by bringing a new dimension of fun, freedom and self-expression to the world of fine jewellery and one that reflects her own background, experiences, tastes and travels.

Annoushka is known for her energy and enthusiasm in her pursuit of endless creativity and her exploration of new ideas. With her gift for instinctively understanding the needs of the market and dreams and desires of the client Annoushka is dedicated to continual innovation and ingenuity, from design and manufacture, through to marketing, packaging and communications.

She takes an active role in searching out and nurturing young creative talent, instigating and overseeing a very successful annual jewellery design project with students at Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design.

Annoushka's work has been widely recognised and rewarded with various awards and accolades; amongst others she was winner of several prestigious jewellery industry awards, including Jewellery Designer of the Year, Gift Designer of the Year, Brand of the Year (twice), and she was short-listed for the Veuve Cliquot Businesswoman of the Year.

John Ayton

Chairman Annoushka and Bremont

John graduated in Modern History from Oxford University in 1983, subsequently practicing corporate law in London and Hong Kong. Leaving the legal profession in 1995 he served on the Board of Halston Borghese Inc., a U.S. based Cosmetics Company, and was responsible for restructuring their Japanese and German operation.

John is an established player in the world of luxury goods, having founded Links of London with his wife, Annoushka Ducas, in 1990, one of the great success stories of the 90s and the new millennium, a pioneering venture that spearheaded the democratisation of luxury and design in jewellery and silver. With his gift for instinctively understanding the needs of the market and dreams and desires of the client John is dedicated to continual innovation and ingenuity, from design and manufacture, through to marketing, packaging and communications. They built Links of London to sales of over £50 million before selling the company to Folli Follie SA in late 2006. John stepped down from the company in October 2007.

Upon leaving Links of London, John invested in a new-start up business, Bremont Watch Company alongside Nick & Giles English, subsequently becoming Chairman of the Company. In under 18 months Bremont has become a key player in the luxury watch industry, recently expanding into the United States and Asia.

In July 2009 he and Annoushka Ducas launched "Annoushka" a fine jewellery brand. Annoushka's designs are sold exclusively through its own boutiques in Harrods, Selfridges, Liberty and Harvey Nichols. The brand recently opened a design studio and flagship store at 42 Cadogan Gardens, adjacent to Sloane Square.

John is a director of Walpole, the organisation and community aimed at serving and promoting British luxury brands, and founder of Walpole Brands of Tomorrow, mentoring and supporting the best of emerging British talent in the luxury sector. Launched in 2007 the bespoke mentorship and coaching programme helps aspiring British luxury brands of the future to fulfil their potential. These include the jewellery brands Astley Clark, Shawn Leane and Maui.

John is also Chairman of the Pallant House Gallery Development Board - winner of the Museum of the Year Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries in 2007 and nominated for European Museum of the Year 2009.

Nick English

Founder Bremont

Nick English read Geography at Manchester University and subsequently joined Coopers and Lybrand in 1993 where he qualified as an accountant.

A professional aviator at heart, Nick lived in and around aircraft since childhood, following a fatal accident which killed his father Euan English and left Nick with multiple injuries, he joined his brother Giles English to restructure North Weald Flying Services LTD an aviation fixed based operator (FBO) and aircraft restoration business. Following the successful restructuring of the business the brothers left in 2000 and founded Virtue Broadcasting, a company specialising in digital content distribution for the record industry which they sold to the telecoms provider Interoute in 2005. The bothers Nick and Giles English remain today as Directors of North Weald Flying Services.

Following the tragic accident, as a result of their combined passion for watches and aviation, Giles and Nick started Bremont Watch Company where they spent five years perfecting their timepieces, manufacturing and testing at their workshop in Switzerland. The first Bremont watch was launched onto the market in 2007 and one year later in 2008 they were named best British Emerging Luxury Brand by the Walpole organisation and in the same year continued their growth in to the US and Asia. Today Bremont has become a very well respected luxury watch brand and continues its impressive growth.

Giles English

Founder Bremont

After qualifying in 1995 with an Engineering degree from Southampton University Giles joined Williams de Broe's Corporate Finance team where he specialised in small cap IPO's within the Engineering sector.

A professional aviator at heart, Giles lived in and around aircraft since childhood, following a fatal accident which killed his father Euan English and left his brother Nick with multiple injuries, he joined his brother Nick English to restructure North Weald Flying Services LTD an aviation fixed based operator (FBO) and aircraft restoration business. Following the successful restructuring of the business the brothers left in 2000 and founded Virtue Broadcasting, a company specialising in digital content distribution for the record industry which they sold to the telecoms provider Interoute in 2005. The bothers Giles and Nick English remain today as Directors of North Weald Flying Services.

Following the tragic accident, as a result of their combined passion for watches and aviation, Giles and Nick started Bremont Watch Company where they spent five years perfecting their timepieces, manufacturing and testing at their workshop in Switzerland. The first Bremont watch was launched onto the market in 2007 and one year later in 2008 they were named best British Emerging Luxury Brand by the Walpole organisation and in the same year continued their growth in to the US and Asia. Today Bremont has become a very well respected luxury watch brand and continues its impressive growth.

Nick Spetch

Commercial Director Parvalux

Although Nick joined us directly from IMI Cornelius, where as European Director he held P&L responsibility for a £40m aftermarket operation, the lion's share of Nick's business experience was earned during a lengthy stay at global electronics distributor RS Components. There, over a thirteen-year period, he specialised in sales, logistics and e-commerce achieving success first as General Manager of wholly owned subsidiary Electrospeed and then as Group Director of Sales for the UK and Ireland responsible for a staff of 500 and a P&L of £350M.

Nick, a qualified Electrical & Electronics Engineer, is a keen advocate of strategic planning and has a hands-on approach to deliver both individual and team success.

Andy Hunt

Director of Logistics Parvalux

Prior to joining Parvalux, Andy's last four years were spent with IMI Cornelius, with responsibility for service and stock levels in their manufacturing and parts businesses based in Yorkshire. He spent the previous eighteen years at RS Components where he had supply chain responsibility for six of their European operating companies.

Responsible for logistics, Andy controls all aspects of our supply chain, from purchasing materials through to final delivery of product, on-time, to our customers. This means ensuring appropriate inventory levels and that material is purchased in a timely manner and to the exacting quality standards of Parvalux.

Chris Reynolds

IT and Production Director Parvalux

Before joining Parvalux, Chris worked for senior IT Management and Consultancy firms specifically within large-scale distribution and manufacturing companies.

In the five years prior to joining Parvalux, Chris in particular worked as a business consultant specialising in examining, analysing and improving business processes through the application of technology. This involved implementing and enhancing IT systems to encourage efficiency gains whilst still improving service levels.

Having initially worked for Parvalux as a business consultant, Chris joined us to head up the integration of a new ERP system. With success under his belt, his role was broadened to manage both IT and Production, applying IT technologies to utilise resources effectively and to ensure products are manufactured on-time and to rigorous quality standards.

Kirit Patel

Chief Executive Officer The Healthcounter

Kirit Patel is the Founder and Chief Executive of the Day Lewis Group, which is one of the largest, independently -owned retail pharmacy chains in the UK and Europe. Kirit acquired his first pharmacy in Southborough, Kent in 1975 and during the last thirty-six years, the company has grown into a progressive group with 187 pharmacies. Day Lewis also has a central, automated warehousing operation. The group has annual sales in excess of £180 million and employs over 1300 people. With a strong family culture, acknowledged by receiving Bronze status "Investors in People", Day Lewis is proud of its core purpose, which is to help people in local communities stay healthy and feel better.

Kirit is a qualified pharmacist. He also completed an MBA from Westminster University in 1988, a Diploma in Philosophy from Brighton University in 1998 and an Advanced Management Programme at Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania in 2006.  He is the past Chairman of the National Pharmaceutical Association, the trade body that represents the professional and commercial interests of the owners of around 11,000 community pharmacies in the UK.  He is also a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain the professional and governing body for pharmacies and a member of PSNC; a body empowered to represent the remuneration and other terms and conditions on behalf of all pharmacy owners in England.  He was also a government advisor on the Small Business Council (2000 - 2003) and the Better Regulation Task Force (2004 – 2006)

Kirit was a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in 2008.  He was also listed as one of Britain's top 100 Entrepreneurs in 2007 and 2008 by Management Today. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Alliance Healthcare Pharmacy Awards Dinner in 2010.

Edwin Bessant

Chief Operating Officer The Healthcounter

Edwin Bessant is a highly successful & proven entrepreneur in building businesses:

• Co Founder & CEO of the Global leading & multi award winning consumer brand outsourcing Group - Ceuta Healthcare - employing approx 200 UK based personnel
• COO - The Healthcounter.com
• Chairman - LTA Flagship Tennis Club – 'The West Hants'
• Non-Exec - 'Street Games' - Legacy organisation re Olympics to assist hard pressed communities of installing sport initiatives

Edwin's career has always been associated with leading Global Blue Chip businesses, commencing with Cadbury Ltd, to Wilkinson Sword Ltd & then to Wyeth Consumer, now Pfizer [Brands - SMA, Anadin, Centrum etc]

Edwin was put on a fast track programme within the world's largest healthcare corporation [Pfizer Consumer] where he headed up Europe's Trade Marketing Dept and worked within Consumer Marketing, Sales, Logistics & given Financial application training. He worked & was based in various parts of Europe working on specific market intelligence based projects.

Edwin is a Fellow of the IOD, Regional Fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine, Deloitte's Director of the Year 2010 for Healthcare & Life Sciences, included in the Presidential Who's Who & accredited by the International Association of Business Leaders - 'Demonstrated a special commitment to sound business practice with Vision, Performance & Strong Leadership'

Marc Clark

Clark Group Board and Managing Director of Clark Estates (UK) Ltd

Marc is a skilled commercial executive capable of recognising opportunities and reacting swiftly and pertinently to (even subtle) market indicators. He has a keen perception of the market forces that influence the value of our investments; a perspective that has been proved to be invaluable in guiding the business effectively through recent market swings.

To Clark Estates Mark brings not only over 25 years of development and construction experience but unique framework for conceptual ideas which are the core strengths that lie at the heart of the strategy that Clark Estates has adopted. In terms of architectural design and the quality of the finished premises he has a proven track record of designing and producing products of the highest standard.

Marc's in-depth technical expertise extends far beyond traditional building; Marc embraces new technology and innovation and pushes back the barriers that constrain many competitors, ensuring new technologies and architectural advances are incorporated in properties so that they are built for the 21st century and beyond.

Marc is both highly creative and astute and has a natural flair for conceptual design, maximising the use of land, building, light and space; his cutting edge designs and high standards for specifications always set the Clark Estates' properties apart. He has a unique and direct style of management born out of a clarity of vision and refusal to compromise on quality. His high attention to detail and uncompromising approach to craftsmanship has ensured that Clark Estates has quickly built and maintained a first class reputation of excellence within the industry.