Introducing our expert team

Keith Bristow QPM

Keith is Executive Chairman of Heligan Group and a member Heligan’s Investment Committee. Prior to Heligan, Keith enjoyed a 32-year career in law enforcement with roles including Chair and Director General of the UK’s National Crime Agency, Chair of the G8 (now G7) Law Enforcement Group, Chair of the 5-Eyes international law enforcement partnership, Head of Crime for the UK's police chiefs, Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police and Director of the UK’s National Criminal Intelligence Service. 

Keith holds a master’s degree in Organisational Development, a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies, and a Diploma in Applied Criminology from the University of Cambridge. 

Keith is FCA authorised and holds Developed Vetting (“DV”) security clearance from HMG.

David French

David is a Partner with Heligan Group, focusing on growing Heligan’s Venture Capital division, leveraging his experience from serial entrepreneurism and venture capital investment.

David founded Harwell Capital, a specialist venture capital investor in the technology sector.

Prior to Harwell Capital, David had a career that included Wealth Management and independent financial advisory in Asia. Previous to this, David was in law enforcement.

Graeme Monce

Graeme is an expert in the insurance sector and a Chartered Loss Adjuster who joined Heligan Group as a Partner in early 2022 to bring insurance sector experience to the group as well as supporting with deal origination and business development.

Prior to Heligan Group, Graeme spent over 35 years in the Insurance sector, founding and successfully evolving a specialist Chartered Loss Adjusting practice after many years working for both Aviva Insurance and Sedgwick’s Chartered Loss Adjusters.

Martin Baines

Martin is a Partner at Heligan Group and joined to focus on private equity investment and fund-raising activities across the Group.

He brings extensive Private Equity experience, in both Executive and Non-Executive roles. He led the buyout of Quilter from Morgan Stanley and subsequent sale to Old Mutual Wealth Group in 2014. After a group name change to Quilter, there was an IPO in 2018, valuing Quilter at around £3bn. Martin’s Wealth Management experience will be invaluable as Heligan expands its future operations. Martin holds a BA (Hons) in Economics and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment Institute. 

Martin is FCA authorised.

Nick Leitch

Nick joined Heligan as Managing Partner, Heligan Investments in 2025. Prior to Heligan, Nick has enjoyed a career with leadership roles in investment, advisory and banking with Barclays, Lloyds TSB, Ernst & Young, Endless LLP and more recently Shawbrook Bank. As Managing Director at Shawbrook he played a pivotal role in growing award-winning financial products, supporting transaction-based, working capital and growth funding needs across a diverse range of corporate sectors. Nick’s experience and success is founded on a deep understanding of how to build and lead businesses that become the financial partner of choice for management teams, shareholders, advisors and investors in private equity and debt markets. 

Amy Ates

Amy joined as a Finance Business Partner in 2022 to provide dedicated financial support to our Private Equity portfolio companies and has since been promoted to Financial Controller to deliver financial reporting, budgeting, financial analysis, and financial governance/controls across the Group.

Amy joined from a private equity-backed business and has held roles as Finance Manager and Management Accountant at private equity and privately owned businesses, across a range of sectors

Azam Iqbal

Azam joined Heligan Group as an Associate in 2023 and was promoted to Senior Associate in 2024. He joined us following four years at EY where he qualified as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant.

During his time at EY he gained extensive experience auditing clients, with a particular focus in the Government & Public Sector.

Ben Addley

Ben is Head of Research for Heligan Group. He joined Heligan in March 2023 after a career spanning 25-years in the Defence and National Security community. 

In his time within Government Ben led on digital transformation, innovation and leadership change, and future capability development. He holds a first-class honours degree in Computer Science from London Southbank University and diplomas in internet security. Between 2018 and 2021, he was an Associate Professor at the UCL School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Public Policy.

Having recently left the UK Government, Ben is currently waiting for his Developed Vetting security clearance from HMG to be re-issued.

Charles Armitage

Charles has over 15 years investment management experience, with a background in managing discretionary and advisory mandates for a diverse clientele. His experience includes significant roles at Brown Shipley and Brewin Dolphin. Charles holds the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) Diploma and is a Chartered Fellow of the CISI.

Dan Burgum

Dan joined Heligan Group in 2025 as a Corporate Finance Analyst. He holds a BA in Economics from Durham University and previously worked at Aldi, managing multiple stores and driving regional sales growth. He also completed a Retail Management Placement, auditing operational processes. Dan is a keen sportsman, having captained both rugby and football teams at school and university, and represented his county in rugby.

Dylan Kennedy

Dylan Kennedy has over two decades of expertise in the United Kingdom’s leading international Law Enforcement Agencies, Global Correspondent Banking Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Investigations, and Global Express Courier Logistics sectors. He is an accredited intelligence analyst & investigator, and advanced OSINT collector. Since 2019, Dylan has worked in the corporate intelligence sector and is also a sought-after trainer, having delivered Internet Intelligence and Investigations training to UK and international law enforcement agencies, NGOs, investigative journalists, as well as the private sector.

Fin Bristow

Fin joined Heligan Group in 2024 as an Analyst in our Corporate Finance team. He graduated with First Class Honours in Business Economics from the University of Exeter and previously interned at Heligan during summer 2022.

Harry Spencer

Harry joined Heligan Group in 2024 and works in the Corporate Finance Team as an Analyst. He graduated from the University of Bath with a degree in Economics with first Class Honours and is training to become an ICAEW Chartered Accountant. He also gained valuable experience at J.P. Morgan in Economic Research and PIMCO in Portfolio Management during his degree.

Joe Carbery

Joe joined Heligan Group as a Manager in 2025. Prior to Heligan, Joe qualified as a Chartered Accountant at KPMG before joining BDO's M&A team where he worked on a range of mid-market transactions across a variety of sectors.

Jude Miranda

Jude joined Heligan Group in 2025 as a Corporate Finance Analyst. He graduated with a First in Mathematics from the University of Birmingham, excelling in Mathematical Finance and Optimisation. Jude interned at Commerzbank and in Trade Operations, where he improved pricing models and ensured regulatory compliance. A talented athlete, he ranked top 50 nationally in the 400m hurdles (U20), and enjoys padel, badminton, swimming, and painting.

Kieran Duffy

Kieran has over 11 years of experience in finance, firstly as a corporate banker with RBS before transitioning into wealth management with Coutts and UBS. Kieran is a Law with Business graduate from University of Birmingham, a Chartered Fellow with the CISI as well as being a Qualified Financial Advisor (QFA) with the Irish Institute of Banking.

Laura Downing

Laura joined Heligan Group in 2025 as a CRM Manager. Having graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor’s in Advertising Management, she’s worked with a diverse range of organisations, including national nonprofits and large-scale financial institutions. In 2021, she acquired two accreditations from the American Marketing Association and the Digital Marketing Institute before moving to the UK in 2022.

Martin Wilson

Martin, a consultant for Heligan Wealth Management based in the US, focuses on tax optimisation and wealth protection. A Chartered Tax Advisor and former lawyer, his experience includes wealth structuring at Grant Thornton and senior roles at Coutts Private Office and Signia Wealth. 

Michael Easton

Michael is the Chief Executive and COO of Heligan Wealth Management, playing a pivotal role in its operations and client relationships. He has over 20 years of experience in private banking and wealth management, having previously spent 5 years at wealth management boutique Signia Wealth, where he was a member of the Executive Committee and served as a Client Director specialising in European UK resident non-domiciled UHNW clients in addition to heading the firm's £400m liquidity management proposition. 

Prior to Signia, Michael held multiple front office and relationship manager roles with London based private bank Coutts & Co, including heading the offshore banking business for the Coutts Private Office. Michael holds the Investment Advice Diploma and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments. 

Mike Howell

Mike joined Heligan Group as a Senior Associate in 2024, having previously worked at a corporate finance house where he gained valuable experience executing transactions in a variety of sectors across the mid-market. Prior to that he qualified with BDO as an auditor, focusing on the Investment Management and Financial Service sectors.

Minsha Kapoor

Minsha has 11 years of experience in wealth management and private banking for high-net-worth clients including Indian UK resident non-domiciled clients. Minsha has a Post Graduate Diploma in Finance from ICFAI Mumbai and holds the Investment Advise Diploma from Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) UK. Her background includes roles working in relationship management and client services.

Nigel Bromley

Joining the Group in 2024, Nigel has over 30 years experience in marketing, working across consulting, creative agencies and client side leadership roles. During this time, he has worked across most sectors from Automotive to FMCG and Software to Professional Services. 

His last corporate role was as Head of Brand Marketing at Lotus Cars. He has won over 25 creative awards including a Marketing Society Gold Award for Effectiveness, and an AutoCar Awards for Best Product Launch.

Robin Sherwood

Robin joined Heligan Group in 2022 as Business, Communications and Marketing Manager. 

Robin has a wealth of prior experience in operations management, project management, communications, and marketing from previous roles with Genting Casinos and Enterprise Inns amongst others. 

Robin works with portfolio companies advising on external communications and marketing. He is a member of the IPM.

Ryan Kang

Ryan joined Heligan Group in 2025 as a Corporate Finance Analyst. He graduated with a First Class Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Leeds, and a Master’s in Economics from the University of Warwick. Ryan interned at Barclays in its Sell Side M&A and Activism Defence teams, where he worked on a range of deals in the Healthcare and Technology sectors.

Sim Gill

Sim joined Heligan Group in 2022 as an Associate following her time with Deloitte where she qualified in audit and specialised in auditing across the Investment Management and Private Equity sectors.
Whilst at Deloitte Sim worked with some of the world’s largest PE firms including Blackstone.

Ben Turner

Ben is a corporate lawyer and is head of the national M&A and PE teams at the law firm, Shoosmiths. He has 25 years+ of transactional experience advising corporates across M&A (both domestic and international) and is recommended by both Legal500 and Chambers as well as being a Thomson Reuters Stand-Out Lawyer in both 2022 and 2023. 

He has been involved with Heligan since 2016, acting as a trusted advisor to the Board on a variety of issues. He was appointed as a Senior Advisor to the Heligan Board in April 2023.

Brian Blakemore

Brian is a Senior Advisor to the Heligan Group board and chairs Heligan’s Investment Committee with a distinguished 40-year career in investment and banking.

Brian’s previous roles have included Regional Head, and subsequently, Global Head of Fundraising and Investor Relations of Barclays Private Equity (now Equistone), raising multi-billion funds for investment; and Chairman of a leading Midlands-based Venture Capital business.

Brian is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and is FCA authorised.

Lord Stanley Fink

Lord Fink is a well-known figure in the world of financial services, in particular fund management, having been active in the industry for over 25-years. He is a Non-Executive Director of Marex Spectron and Chairman of Hay Hill Wealth Management and holds several other Non-Executive directorship positions including Bud Financial Limited and EToro’s UK subsidiary. 

He is the former Chairman of systematic hedge fund ISAM, and former Chairman of Zenith Hygiene Products. He established his reputation in hedge fund management during his time at Man Group plc where held the positions of CFO and subsequently CEO. He presided over the company’s rapid growth in an illustrious career dating from 1987 to 2008. 

Lord Fink also enjoys a reputation for philanthropy. He is President of the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, as well as a longstanding Trustee of ARK. He is Co-Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and a Council Member of the Association of British Neurologists (ABN). Lord Fink was also a Trustee of the Mayor’s Fund for London between 2008-2017 and Chair Emeritus of the Governors at Burlington Danes School which he sponsored through ARK. Raised to the peerage in 2011 as Baron Fink of Northwood, Stanley is also active in politics. He was Conservative Party Treasurer and Co-Treasurer from 2009, standing down in 2013, prior to which he served on a number of policy committees for the party.

Michael Perry

Michael has over 40 years experience in advising on technology and risk assessment to a wide range of businesses. He was an early member of Warwick University Angels Committee and has held various posts as CEO and Non Exec Directorships.

Michael began his career as a rocket thermodynamicist on the UK Black Knight and Blue Steel engines, then later the NASA Apollo 11 Eagle Moon Lander engines. He holds an M.Sc and chaired his UK company Polytechnic Electronics Plc, who developed the early GPS CA Code civilian navigation modules, followed by P Code GPS for the Trident Missile, and has won the Queens Award for Technology. More recently his family company, FIC Newborough Investments - a Heligan Partner, provided early funding to Heligan and also manages and advises on a diverse range of P.E. investments covering Climate Change, Finance, Property Development and Defence activities.

Walid Kamhawi

Walid has 30+ years of experience in finance and investments. His experience includes a number of corporate private equity investments while at Blackstone, as well as senior advisor to a newly established sovereign wealth fund, and co-founder of a late-stage technology investment firm. 

Collectively, he has been involved in control investments with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $25 billion, focused mainly on the TMT sectors. He has also made a number of direct investments personally and has sat on a number of Boards, both on behalf of Blackstone and in a personal capacity. 

He was appointed Senior Advisor to the Heligan Board in 2023.