Top 50 Movers & Shakers

Growth Company Investor reveals its definitive annual list of the most important people in the growth company sector

Richard Feigen
1. Richard is more immersed in AIM than any other player in London. He has led Seymour Pierce for over a decade and, since its MBO in 2003, he has sharpened Seymour Pierce’s focus, reinvigorated its sales operations and enhanced its regulatory controls. The result is plain and simple: his firm is the number one broker on AIM. 2009 ended with a fundraising flourish of £15 million for Tottenham Hotspur, and the IPO and deals pipeline suggests Seymour Pierce is unlikely to be pushed from the AIM broking pinnacle in 2010.

Neil Kirton
2. Kirton is chief executive of Arbuthnot Securities and has led its charge up the leader board to become AIM’s second most active broker. A former ABN AMRO high-flyer, his outfit entered the fourth quarter with an improved corporate finance pipeline, having poached a useful pair of lieutenants in head of corporate finance Nick Tulloch from Altium and head of sales Simon Wickham from Dresdner Kleinwort.

Alex Snow
3. Former Harlequins rugby star Snow is the CEO of Evolution, the Williams de Broë-owning investment bank that has more than survived the economic scrum. Profits for 2009 are set to smash forecasts and under Snow, who locked horns with Martin Johnson in his salad days and has the ear of shadow chancellor George Osborne, Evolution recently swept back into the FTSE 250. Hiring rather than firing, it had almost £70 million cash in its coffers at the interim stage.

Andy Stewart
4. Racehorse enthusiast and snappy dresser Andy Stewart has the distinction of being a founder of two stockbroking houses, Collins Stewart and Cenkos Securities, where he is now executive deputy chairman. The broker, which not so long ago attempted a cheeky bid for investment bank Close Brothers, specialises in UK small- and mid-cap companies and recently helped raise
£30 million for JP Morgan Private Equity.

Oliver Hemsley
5. Oliver Hemsley, the former Lloyd’s marine insurance underwriter who runs a tight ship at broking group Numis Corporation, has steered it skilfully through recent market blizzards. The company ended the year, despite £10.5 million losses, with £78 million cash and 122 corporate clients with an average market value of more than £200 million, higher than at the 2007 market peak.

Jonathon Brill
6. ‘Over the past five years, we’ve made a steady impact on AIM and the small- to mid-cap market,’ exclaims MD Jonathon Brill, who, alongside energetic colleague Billy Clegg, has played a key part in keeping Financial Dynamics in the leading PR spot by number of AIM clients. When not pitching clients or chivvying journalists, the duo can be found ferrying their young children to various events, sporting and otherwise.

Sam Smith
7. Tactful, charming and strategically astute, it was no surprise that Smith bagged a ‘Businesswoman of the Future’ award this year. She heads one of AIM’s fastest-growing and most active brokers – thus far in 2009 FinnCap has raised over £80 million for clients. The vacant chairman’s seat has got to be one of the most attractive jobs in the small-cap space. When not successfully building a top ten AIM broking house, she’s out running, golfing, hiking, playing tennis, shooting and fishing. Oh, and helping the Tories win the next election.

Lorna Tilbian
8. The City’s most respected media analyst, Lorna Tilbian heads broker Numis’s media team and has sat on the Plc board as an executive director since 2005. Educated at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Tilbian is a qualified teacher with a PGCE from Southampton University. Preferring to teach investors rather than infants, she has worked for 25 years as an analyst, at Sheppards, SG Warburg, WestLB Panmure and Numis, which she joined in 2001.

Tim Cockroft
9. Cockcroft led the buy-out of Singer & Friedlander Capital Markets from the administrators last spring when its Icelandic parent company (Kaupthing) went belly up. A former stock market jobber, Cockcroft was enlisted by Charlie Peel when he launched Peel Hunt, staying onboard for Peel Hunt’s meteoric rise, and subsequent purchase by (the now troubled) Belgian bank KBC. He ascended to the CEO chair at KBC Peel Hunt in 2003 and hoisted profits 400 per cent before leaving in 2006. It was then that he became the CEO of Kaupthing’s ill-fated foray into London. Much water has obviously passed under the bridge, but Cockcroft’s rescue of a few venerable names, his keen eye for a deal and incomparable network are likely to see Singer Capital Markets continue its resurgence.

Jamie Matheson
10.From his role in the executive chair, Scotsman Jamie Matheson has steered a steady course for broker Brewin Dolphin through rough recent waters, with the business making £22 million pre-tax on income upped 2.8 per cent to £212.3 million last year. Despite facing ongoing headwinds, the Ayrshire-based family man says Brewin’s reputable investment banking division has maintained its unbroken profitable track record.

Richard Ford
11. Ford has endured a challenging time since becoming CEO of smaller company broking and investment concern WH Ireland last year. In that time, the 42-year-old barrister and fund manager has had to cope with an aborted merger with Edward Vandyk’s Blue Oar (now Astaire Group) and the acrimonious departure of lynchpins Laurie Beevers and David Youngman. Remaining undaunted, Ford has kept his cheerful demeanour.

Gordon Banham
12. In less than a decade, Hargreaves Services’ CEO, Gordon Banham, whose childhood ambition was to become an RAF pilot, has steered the business he floated on AIM in 2005 to new heights. He has transformed the company from a dour Durham haulage play into a fast-growing and diversified energy support services group with the help of acquisitions. Banham’s favourite film is It’s a Wonderful Life – investors who have witnessed recent profits growth and fatter dividend cheques may well agree.

Philip Secrett
13. A lynchpin at Grant Thornton, Secrett has played a pivotal role in making his firm AIM’s leading auditor (and by some margin) by client number, with circa 200  businesses on the books. Focused (and with a fondness for scuba diving), he is a member of the London Stock Exchange AIM Advisory Group and chairs the Quoted Companies Alliance Nominated Adviser Committee.

Marcus Stuttard
14. Softy spoken, quietly confident and categorically unflappable, Marcus is the recently appointed head of AIM at the LSE. Although relatively youthful (39), he has over 15 years’ experience under his belt, three of which as deputy to Martin Graham.
His remit is to provide the overall strategy for AIM as it seeks to strengthen its role as the global growth market par excellence – a not inconsiderable task given the failure of governments, here and in Europe, to understand the market, let alone assist its progress. Marcus is ably assisted by the energetic Claire Dorrian, AIM’s product manager.

Josef El-Raghy
15. Josef El-Raghy, an Australian broker and financier of Egyptian extraction, has gone back to the land of his forebears to resurrect Egypt’s gold mining industry on a scale not seen since the days of the Pharaohs. He heads Centamin Egypt, founded by his geologist father Sami and based in Western Australia, which is turning the Sukari project in Egypt’s Eastern Desert into a world-class gold producer. Centamin, which the El-Raghys floated on AIM at 6p a share in 2001, has joined the main London Stock Exchange with a price tag of £1.4 billion at 140p.

Richard Oldworth
16. Presiding over Moorgate-based financial communications outfit Buchanan – part of Martin Sorrell’s WPP empire and wielding huge influence in terms of AIM clients – is senior partner Richard Oldworth. When not proffering his particular expertise in the media and financial fields, Oldworth feels the need for speed – he has a love of both flying and motor racing.

Mor Weizer
17. Accountant Weizer joined Isle of Man-based Playtech, the second-largest company on AIM by market cap,
not long before the company’s £34 million IPO. He was given the chief executive’s reins less than a year later due to his experience of managing complex client relationships. Under his direction the group has grown strongly to become the world’s largest publicly traded online gaming software supplier.

Barbara Merry
18. One of the few top women in the London insurance market, Hardy Underwriting Bermuda CEO Barbara
Merry has grown the business, re-domiciled it from England to the insurance tax haven of Bermuda, seen off takeover approaches and, crucially, launched a Middle East joint venture and maintained underwriting discipline during different market cycles. Less flamboyant than many of the men who characterised the Lloyd’s ethos, Merry brings the insight and contracts built up previously when she worked with the Corporation of Lloyd’s.

Gavin Oldham
19. Oldham, who founded The Share Centre and is chief executive and majority owner of its AIM-quoted parent, Share Plc, has seen its Sharemark auction-based trading offshoot pick up business as companies embrace a dual-listing move or opt for a tertiary facility over a full public quote. An enthusiastic self-made apostle for wider share ownership who progressed from the shop floor at British Aerospace to Barclays Stockbrokers before branching out on his own, Oldham is also an active churchman and a former chairman of the Christian Ethical Investment Group.

Kate Bleasdale
20. Forthright former nurse Bleasdale is the award-winning entrepreneur behind AIM success story Healthcare Locums, at which she now occupies the executive vice-chair. Recession has slammed the broader recruitment sector, but blessed by the leadership of Bolton-born Bleasdale, ‘HCL’ has continued to nurture exciting growth
rates at home and overseas through its expanding international permanent placements arm.

Simon Hayes
21. Durham-educated, Hayes is the very determined CEO of investment bank KBC Peel Hunt. This year he has guided his firm to record results in terms of new client wins and transactions, with the ‘wall of equity issuance’ he predicted a year ago finally coming to pass. When not burning the midnight oil at his Old Broad Street base, Hayes, who maintains his pilot’s licence, can be found at Stamford Bridge roaring on his beloved Chelsea.
Of course, his attempts to lead an MBO of Peel Hunt from its indebted Belgian parent company is somewhat restricting the hours he can devote to his fun-time passions at present.

Simon Brickles
22. With the liveliest of minds, ex-barrister Brickles continues to infuse his energies into stock exchange operator PLUS Markets. Under CEO Brickles, PLUS, with recent backing from the Middle East, continues to compete with his erstwhile employer the LSE. It now offers investors coverage of the whole small- and mid-cap market, having succeeded in its ambition to be able to trade AIM shares ‘without regulatory encumbrance’ – an impressive 36 billion shares were traded in the first half of 2009, up more than 200 per cent year-on-year.

Richard Plackett
23. Richard Plackett, manager of BlackRock’s UK Special Situations and UK Smaller Companies funds, controls more AIM shares by value than any other fund manager (close to £800 million at the last count). His emphasis has shifted even more towards smaller companies of late, with his £750 million Special Situations fund weighted almost three-quarters towards small- and mid-caps.

Andy Brough
24. Schroders’ legendary Andy Brough, a keen cyclist and much sought-after commentator throughout
the credit crunch, and colleague Rosemary Banyard adopt a bottom-up fund management style, and stash their money in profitable companies with strong brands or unique products with palpable demand.

Andy Crossley
25. Contrarian investor Andy Crossley, alongside more conservative colleague Richard Smith, oversees investment at Invesco Perpetual, the second most powerful AIM investor with almost 100 investments worth close to £700 million. Neither Crossley nor Smith are particularly bullish about the UK economy at present, but Crossley is putting his funds’ money into information technology and pharmaceuticals, while Smith believes he can find ‘global leaders in niche markets’.

Richard Power
26. Polite, amiable and always on hand to proffer his opinion on a small-cap stock or two, Richard Power is an integral member of Octopus Investments’ quoted team, whose funds include award-winning, AIM-focused VCTs. Power, an affable Exeter University old boy, earned his early stockpicking spurs with Close Brothers and Duncan Lawrie.

Gervais Williams
27. Garrulous Gervais Williams is the opinionated and influential head of small-cap investment at Gartmore. He has been vociferous this year in his insistence that AIM companies ought to pay dividends, while his UK and Irish Smaller Companies fund has bounced back from a depressed 2008 with a 60 per cent rise this year.

Neil Johnson
28. Shrewd Canadian has tuned Canaccord into a major force in the London market

Tim Ward
29. CEO of the Quoted Companies Alliance, the only organisation fighting on behalf of smaller listed companies

Howard and Graham Shore
30. The brotherly duo behind robustly performing boutique investment bank Shore Capital

Peter Ashworth
31. Amiable, popular and quick-witted Charles Stanley analyst

Martin Newson
32. Poached from Dresdner Kleinwort in October to lead the charge at Religare Hichens Harrison, the London investment banking arm of Indian giant Religare

Peter Gyllenhammar
33. Activist Swede with over a dozen significant stakes in small quoted companies

Ian Rosenblatt and Emma Kane
34. High-achieving husband and wife, respectively founders of award-winning lawyers Rosenblatt Solicitors and innovative PR agency Redleaf

John East
35. Wily, music-loving leader of broker Merchant John East Securities

John Dodd and Mark Niznik
36. Artemis fund managers who are the sixth most active investors in AIM

Chilton Taylor
37. Baker Tilly’s tax specialist sports the most immaculate bouffant in the small-cap arena

William Staple
38. Barrister and boss of small- and mid-cap focused broker Hanson Westhouse

Michael Jackson
39. A slew of small-caps – Synchronica and Intelligent Environments among them – have sourced the Sage legend’s skills

Martin Thomas, Paul Tetlow and Raul Grable
40. Key small-cap-focused trio at legal eagle Hunton & Williams

John West
41. Relatively youthful PR boss has kept ferociously sociable Tavistock on an even keel through economic gloom

Bob Holt
42. Seasoned support services sector legend keeps delivering the goods in the care and social housing space

David Blackwell
43. Brusque and bearded small-cap wordsmith at the Financial Times

Bob Morton
44. One of the few entrepreneurs to emerge from the recession smelling of (very profitable) roses – AIM chairmanships include Armour Group, Tenon and St Peter Port Capital

James Henderson
45. Fun-loving financial spin-meister leads the newly created Pelham Bell Pottinger

Jon Harris
46. Corporate partner at leading international law firm Pinsent Masons

Ginny Stevens
47. Audit partner at highly influential AIM accountant KPMG

Edward Vandyk
48. A former GP, Vandyk is CEO of acquisitive broking house Astaire Group

Geoff Foster
49. Arsenal-supporting, pun-loving financial markets reporter at the Daily Mail

Trevor Bass
50. Aged almost 80, Threadneedle’s Trevor Bass is the City’s most experienced PR man