People: Castro spearheads Northland drive

Formidable deal-doer Louis Castro is relishing his first days as head of capital markets at Canadian-owned broker Northland Capital, formerly the colourful house of Astaire. The genial Castro, who has advised and funded small and medium-sized companies in resources and other fields for 25 years, has made the switch from his latest billet, Matrix Corporate Capital, having previously starred at Hanson Westhouse, Insinger de Beaufort and Williams de Broë.

For Castro, Northland, which is beefing up its act and recruiting new talent under his friend, executive chairman Stuart Lane, represents ‘a very exciting opportunity’. Poised at Matrix to prepare Nigeria-focused Eland Oil and Gas for an AIM float this summer, he says, ‘I like the people at Northland a lot and I am getting in at the ground floor with a blank sheet of paper.’

Northland’s ‘Canadian hat’ will be useful, especially in resources, suggests Castro, who intends to build up the company’s 30 corporate clients and win business there, here and in other markets, notably the Far East. He expects a few more recruits will be needed to swell the ranks already strengthened recently by Tim Metcalfe, corporate finance chief and co-founder of Westhouse Holdings, who has joined to head Northland’s corporate finance team.