Simon Willis, BSc, MEng, CEng C Dir a member of the Pool since its formation has been a director of several major companies for over 30 years. He has been a Chartered Director for 10 years and a Chartered Engineer for 30 years. His experience covers construction, and engineering sectors, in Europe, North America and South Africa. Presently he is CEO of a £1Bn Building materials business. Simon specialises in business turnaround and organisational change projects.
David Abbott, FCA, a member of the Pool since its formation, is a director operating in the public,private and third sectors, His experience includes turnarounds in the engineering, media and construction sectors, joint ventures, and asset disposals, as well as corporate reconstructions and refinancing.
He is a Chartered Accountant (FCA), previously with KPMG and is a Sloan Fellow in Strategy. He has also been a lecturer on infrastructure to The Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management at UCL and on finance to the George Washington University.
David Newman, FIOD, MBA has been a member of the Pool since inception. He is a Chartered Director and has previously held positions as CEO, Chair, non-executive and in executive director roles across UK & EU insurance, legal, investment & financial services companies as well as several international advisory roles. He is also a university lecturer in strategic management and an active investor in private equity and venture capital.
Colin Coghlan, MBA, FIOD has been a member of the Pool since inception. He is a Chartered Director with corporate career in the energy industry in the UK and Chile followed by the wireless infrastructure and broadcasting industries culminating in a CEO role leading the turnaround and subsequent sale of a broadcasting business. Since then, he has been a non-executive director, chairman and mentor to various businesses and is an active angel investor.
Paddy Campbell FCA, is a Chartered Accountant and has been a member of the Pool since its inception. He is currently Chair of 2 companies and has spent the last 20 years involved in the turnaround and restructuring of underperforming businesses. Prior to that he had an executive career as Board director in companies both private and quoted. With extensive experience in the Print, Retail and Public sector.
Rodney Hare , B. Bus ACA, founder member of the Pool, is a Chartered Accountant focusing on forensics with a leading law firm. He has extensive commercial experience at the director level in media and arts-related businesses. He currently holds several executive and non-executive director positions in the UK and overseas. Rod qualified with KPMG.
Tim Rose MBA CDIR has been a member of the Pool since inception, participating in all the training seminars. He is a Professional Assessor for the premier director qualification ‘Chartered Director’. Tim holds several Non-Executive Directorships and Chair and turnaround advisory positions across a broad range of industry sectors. He has raised over £100m in SME finance. Tim was the lead SME technical advisor on the award winning World Bank-funded project ‘YouWiN’ -the world’s largest business plan competition awarding £150m grant funding to entrepreneurs.
Tony Wilkinson, FCMA, has been a member of the Pool since inception. Fully qualified Chartered Management Account; with 25 plus years experience as CFO, across a variety of organisation types, holding the responsibility for the financial management ,financial control and governance requirements of Companies. Experience includes rectifying going concern issues; covering financial re-structuring and negotiating with debt and equity funders.
Anthony Sanderson FCA, has been a member of the Pool since inception. He is a Chartered Accountant and has previously held positions as CEO, FD, non - executive and executive director roles principally in UK trading and import and export businesses in the consumer electronics sector. Experienced in assisting struggling enterprises and helping them to face difficult decisions. He is currently a partner in a professional services firm giving financial and management support to small and medium sized enterprises principally in the not for profit sector.
Fraser joined the Pre-Pack Pool in April 2021. Fraser is an experienced senior member of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA)
He was partner and Head of Lending in the European arm of a Joint Venture with a global US hedge fund until August 2017. Previously Senior Managing Director - Investments, at a US-owned retail and consumer products restructuring firm. He has extensive experience in the UK, European and Asian stressed and distressed restructuring across multiple sectors.
He holds positions on the independent professionals’ panel of major accountancy practices. With many years of exposure to complex acquisitions, restructurings, and divestments, holding board level executive appointments, Fraser has worked extensively in corporate insolvency and recovery disciplines, within the UK, Ireland, and German legal frameworks.
Philip Gardner FCA CDir has been a member of the Pool since inception. He is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Director, having held several senior financial and general management positions. These include global multinational and international SMEs businesses involved in research and development, manufacturing and sales.
Apart from being a main board director he has been Chair of Trustees for a large defined benefit pension scheme and been involved in numerous corporate restructuring / M&A transactions.
David joined The Pool in April 2021
David Lawler is a leading forensic and investigative accountant, based in London but working internationally. He has over 30 years’ experience in helping stakeholders understand, simplify, interpret, and respond to complex financial narratives. He retired as MD of Kroll, a division of Duff & Phelps in December 2020, having previously been a leader in both boutique and international firms. He founded Lawler Consulting Ltd in January 2021.
A specialist in the activities of companies facing financial problems, he is regularly retained by boards to lead investigations and business reviews (both proactive and reactive) throughout the world. He has given expert accounting evidence to courts and tribunals on questions of profitability, value, gain, fraud, solvency, and viability in commercial disputes, financial misstatement controversies, and pre-lending and investment decisions.
Mark joined the Pre-Pack Pool in April 2021
Mark is a practicing solicitor who held an insolvency practitioner’s licence for over 20 years. His clients include banks, corporates and accountant insolvency practitioners. Mark acts in advisory, contentious, re-structuring and non-contentious situations.
He often advises purchasers of assets from insolvent estates, often with technology based assets. Mark has acted on numerous sales of assets for and by insolvency practitioners, in both trading and accelerated asset realisation situations.
He helps consider the commercial effectiveness of possible solutions and prepares appropriate contracts ,resolutions, charges and releases.
Mark specialises in domestic turnaround and cross-border recovery matters such as civil enforcement, fraud, misfeasance and asset tracing claims.
Mark has also assisted with major Serious Fraud Office and offshore fraud matters.
He has successfully represented parties subject to tax investigations and prosecutions.