News and Insights - ECI Partners - UK private equity firm

For 2026, the theme for International Women’s Day is Give to Gain - a call to move beyond statements of support, and recognising that if you want to support progress, you have to share time, influence and opportunity. Mentorship and advocacy sit at the heart of this – talent rarely moves forward solely on its own.

Mentorship and advocacy in the private equity industry

Fiona Moore, Head of ESG, ECI

ECI are a founding sponsor of Level20, the leading industry body for women in private equity. The team have been both mentors and mentees across multiple cohorts, and I’ve found out firsthand as a mentee the benefit of having space to talk things through, sense check decisions and discuss career planning openly with someone who knows the private equity industry well, but in a confidential forum.

Mentorship on its own is not enough, however. Research from Level20 and LSE finds that advice is helpful, and guidance can help shape careers. However, the most important way to actually change outcomes for female talent is through advocacy. Careers accelerate when senior leaders are willing to use their influence to open doors, challenge bias and actively sponsor talent. This is something leaders do by default, taking individuals under their wing, bringing people into projects, and singing some people’s praises in meetings. Thoughtful advocacy involves considering if you are doing this fairly across the team, beyond highlighting those that look and work in a similar way to you.

That insight continues to shape how ECI think about people management, and in 2025, ECI included specific questions aligned to the Level20 framework in its engagement survey to better understand performance on inclusivity, including questions about whether there is someone at work who encourages development and if leaders are inclusive in how they support people across the organisation. We know there is a long way to go at ECI and in the private equity industry, however, transforming advocacy within organisations is likely to be one of the most impactful levers we can pull.

The power of having a voice

Mariana Valle, CEO, Insurance Insider

Female CEOs are still the exception to the rule. In fact, the latest figures show just 6% of FTSE 250 CEOs are women. Since we are, well, pretty rare, I get asked all the time, how did you do it? The truth is, being CEO was never a goal. Growing a business was. And the path was never clear or straight, but if I look back, three key factors got me here.

The first is a combination of grit, determination and drive. The longer my CEO tenure goes, the more I feel these are the absolute key attributes to lead a business. The second is curiosity, not just related to your market and your clients, but people. The third is opportunity, and here is where I feel the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day really speaks to me. You make your own luck with one and two, and a good dose of hard work and charm. But without the advocacy of others, it is a tough climb. Add to that some time away from work for maternity leave, and women are not starting from zero; they are at -5.

In my career, I had amazing mentors and advocates who believed in me before I did, and influenced opportunities that were essential in my journey to here and beyond. I can’t emphasise enough the importance of connections, as well as the power of having a voice – to ask for advice, guidance and learning opportunities. And this year’s ‘give to gain’ theme reinforces this message, that to instigate change, we need to give women a platform to be heard, the resources to help them get there, and advocacy to ensure they thrive.

A good mentorship dynamic

Joanna Knight OBE, CEO, Leaders.inc

It’s important to look for mentorship rather than wait for it. People don’t tend to tap you on the shoulder and say, ‘I see something in you, let me help.’ You have to scan the room, think about who you admire, and be brave enough to ask for time. That also doesn’t have to be another woman or minority – it’s more about who you can learn the most from in that moment.

As a mentor, I find people get the most value out of your help when you’re human and honest. If you’re considering mentoring someone, remember that some of the most valuable learning comes not from what leaders got right, but from the mistakes they’re willing to share. That openness builds trust, which allows people to really grow.

If you feel you don’t have the time to support someone, think about what else you can do to help them. Signposting, connecting people, or helping others step into mentoring roles themselves. Progress happens when we all take responsibility for supporting talent, not when we wait to be asked or assume someone else will do it.

Setting up success from the start

Scarlett Salamon, IR Analyst, and Georgia Ling, Investment Analyst, ECI

How can you set talent up for success from day one? A well-designed buddy system and induction process can make sure people find their footing and their confidence quickly. ECI established this in the last 12 months, having a named Buddy for each new hire.

Scarlett Salamon, who joined as an Analyst in the IR team in 2026, comments: “Joining ECI has been an incredibly welcoming experience. From day one, people have taken the time to introduce themselves, and I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with teams across the firm to understand not only their individual roles but how they collaborate with one another. The buddy system has been particularly valuable - having a friendly face in the office and someone you can turn to with any question, no matter how small, makes a real difference. Georgia, who joined around six months before me, has been a great support as my Buddy, sharing practical insights and advice on what she found most helpful as a new joiner.”

Georgia Ling, who joined the investment team in 2025 and has been a Buddy to Scarlett since she joined, comments: “Having joined ECI not too long ago, I found the buddy system to be a helpful forum to discuss any 'silly' or 'obvious' questions I had about the firm, the job, etc. I’ve enjoyed being able to provide that same space for Scarlett, even if I may not have all the answers yet!”

Shared lessons across private equity networks

Rich Pearce, Partner, ECI

Private equity firms are uniquely placed to create meaningful networks across their portfolios. By bringing talent together, individuals can learn from one another, rather than having to navigate similar challenges in isolation. This is a foundational principle of our ECI Unlocked programme, bringing business leaders together to share experience, practical insight and lessons learned across the portfolio.

In 2026, ECI is launching a Rising Stars programme designed to identify and support high‑potential talent across the portfolio. It will give talent access to coaching on topics such as leadership and self-awareness, facilitate networking with others going through the PE journey, and help participants develop the confidence and capability needed to progress into senior roles over time Importantly, while the programme is open to all high‑potential individuals, portfolio leaders are encouraged to think carefully about diversity when making nominations, helping to broaden access to development opportunities and support more equitable progression across the portfolio.

What can I do to help?

Tamsin Webster, Head of People, ECI

Sylvia Ann Hewlett’s 2013 book ‘Forget a  Mentor, Find a Sponsor’ was transformational for me in my thinking of how to best support the next generations of talent in organisations to progress to senior positions. Many of us seek out mentors in our careers, as a helpful way to learn from others’ experiences and encourage us in our career steps.

This isn’t unhelpful, but securing sponsorship rather than mentorship is a much higher-stakes initiative. Finding someone who is prepared to recommend you and support you, and risk their own reputation in doing so, takes much more time and considered effort.

What can you, an individual reading this who presumably wants to support talent through your organisation, do to help? Ask yourself the question – can you nurture relationships with more junior people in your organisation that over time may build beyond advice to truly connecting them with opportunities?

If you are an individual looking for more sponsorship and advocacy, the question is are you investing in relationships around you, building long-term trust and demonstrating consistent reliability, initiative and capability? If you don’t have someone who would risk their reputation on you, what relationships do you need to spend more time on to prove that it is worth doing?

Both parties in a sponsor relationship don’t operate in isolation. Organisations should create opportunities across teams and geographies. In larger companies, these can be formal programmes, but smaller companies can create a culture where individuals are expected to consider how they’re helping others reach their potential.

Insights

05/03/2026

Read Time: Min

The importance of mentorship and advocacy to promote diversity and inclusion

TOPICS: ESG People & Culture

Even CEOs who have been through private equity deals before often find the world of PE opaque. The rules, incentives and language can feel like a black box – so we recently hosted an event for CEOs where they could get a clear candid explanation in respect of how our world works, whilst being given a safe forum to ask questions. This guide shares some key topics that can catch CEOs and managements off guard during PE investment cycles:

1. The CEO-PE dynamic: It’s not about pleasing the investor

Many management teams assume that post-investment, their main job is to keep their private equity backer happy. This can actually create a misalignment between the parties as successful partnerships are built on transparency, robust challenge, open debate and mutual respect. The old adage that a problem shared is a problem halved applies here. That means, most PE investors would prefer to hear bad news quickly, rather than leadership teams dwelling on issues or waiting for problems to resolve before the subject is communicated. PE investors often have a lot of situational experience of things not quite going quite to plan and therefore can help and draw on a wealth of experience of other comparable situations. The growth plan set out at the start of an investment rarely identical to the one you see at the point of exit (Covid, Brexit, tariffs and the mini-budget were all curveballs for example), so it's important not to let a good crisis go to waste and to use the skills of both operators and investors to build better businesses over the medium to long term.

The dynamic in a good PE relationship is not parent-child, it is partner to partner. The importance is shared alignment on increasing value, and if the investment period is typically three to five years, short term issues or targets are not as important as the right direction of travel. That is only achieved through transparency and shared focus.

2. The J-Curve: Why things often get tougher before they get better

Ideally, all founder, managers and shareholders would like a straight or accelerating line of top and bottom-line growth post-investment. However, experience has told us that the reality is often a dip before the climb. Nobody wants this, but it is often the reality. The J-curve is real - performance can soften after a deal due to the distraction a M&A process can cause.

What surprises many: the best PE partners aren’t typically phased by this and support management through it. The journey is rarely linear, and understanding this dynamic helps CEOs focus on the long-term prize, not just the first few quarters of performance.

3. Positioning and multiple arbitrage: Value is more than just numbers

It’s not just financial metrics that drive value in a PE-backed business. CEOs are often surprised that how a business is positioned can matter as much as its growth metrics. A high multiple, which is driven by several things (some tangible some slightly intangible), but is most highly correlated to a company’s growth prospects - can be achieved by repositioning a company’s strategy. This can’t just be a lick of paint; it has to have substance and reflect the high-level strategy and operational reality of the business. If a business is successfully repositioned in line with a compelling growth strategy it can deliver tangible material value to shareholders. For example, Peoplesafe underwent significant digital transformation during our partnership, transitioning from a device‑led service to a modern, platform‑first tech company. This led to a successful exit delivering a 2.7x return. Clearly the business also grew substantially and had a great team, but that strategic repositioning enhanced its prospects resulting in a different multiple.

The lesson: It’s not just about rear-view mirror growth but about where the business sits in its market and its prospects for the future. The clarity of vision and market positioning ensures that a business is seen in the best possible light by the market.

4. Sweet Equity: The most misunderstood (and lucrative) incentive in private equity

Sweet equity is a special class of shares for management, structured to deliver outsized returns if the business outperforms (so-named because management’s deal is sweeter than that of the investors). The catch, it only has value after the investors and reinvesting individual shareholders achieve a minimum return (the “hurdle”). Typically, this hurdle is 10% a year. This reflects the private equity mindset of rewarding management teams through capital value achieved through the growth in the value of the shares of the company. This is why investors reward management teams with sweet equity rather than large amounts of cash comp (as might be found in a corporate). The advantage of this is that management teams can make generational wealth through creating long-term shareholder value through profitable growth. High management or employee cash comp, reduces profits and therefore the value of the shares and sweet, which has the potential to be far more valuable over the medium term (and is importantly is taxed at a much lower rate than salaries and bonuses).

What surprises many: non-founders can build significant personal wealth through multiple PE cycles, sometimes eclipsing the capital value realised by founders if the structure is right and the business delivers. The rules are nuanced, and the upside only materialises if the business performs (it’s not always easy!), but there are significant rewards available for management teams that back themselves to deliver.

5. What is the role of the Investment Committee?

The Investment Committee is the ultimate decision-making body for approving investments in private equity firms. They also have a governance responsibility for the overall funds within which individual investments (i.e. businesses) sit.

This can make it appear as a shadowy board operating in the background that gives Roman style thumbs up or a thumbs down to individual business decisions. This typically isn’t the case, but it is something worth understanding with any prospective investor. It isn’t uncommon to hear of Founders who have had positive mood music from their deal lead, only to get turned down at IC approval well into the process. At ECI, there is an IC member involved on every deal from the outset, to avoid that exact misalignment. Furthermore, our model at ECI is that the deal partner is heavily empowered, so your company Board upon which an ECI Partner sits, remains the decision-making forum for the business, not the ECI investment committee. Ultimately, a PE fund doesn’t have the desire, experience or capacity to be involved in day-to-day company operational decisions but does want to be consulted about big strategic decisions a business might make (e.g. opening an international office, completing M&A, or changing the capital structure). A PE investor can help here having seen success and failure in respect of these initiatives (more common than you might think) across multiple businesses, so they can bring a wealth of experience in respect of the growing pains companies can face as they scale.

Conclusion – the foundation of successful partnerships

The best PE partnerships are built on trust, alignment, and a shared focus on long-term value creation.

The Jargon Trap: A CEO’s guide to private equity terms

What is a typical capital structure in private equity?

A typical private equity capital structure combines equity from the PE fund and management with debt from banks or specialist lenders. The equity is usually split between ordinary shares (with unlimited upside) and preference shares (which accrue a fixed return, usually +/- 10%). Debt is used to enhance returns for all shareholders but must be set at a level the business can comfortably service. Management are given “sweet equity” to incentivise performance and make their deal better than the investors. The whole capital structure is carefully balanced to align interests and support sustainable growth.

What is Sweet Equity?

Sweet equity is a special class of shares solely reserved for management, structured to deliver outsized returns if the business performs, but only after investors achieve a minimum return (the “hurdle”). It’s a powerful incentive for management to drive value.

What is an investment/shareholders agreement?

An investment or shareholders agreement sets out the expectations and responsibilities of both the private equity investor and the management team following an investment. It covers key areas such as board composition, information rights (what information an investor is entitled to), decision-making thresholds (where investor wants to be included in a strategic conversation and where it doesn’t), and the warranties given by management (about their knowledge of the business at the point an investor invests). While these agreements are painfully long and can appear highly formal, in practice they are designed to ensure healthy communication, alignment of interests and protect all parties, while allowing pragmatic, day-to-day decision-making.

What is EBITDA?

EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortisation. It’s a proxy for operating cash flow, key measure of operating performance and the primary metric for valuing businesses in private equity.

What is Multiple Arbitrage?

Multiple arbitrage is the process of increasing a company’s valuation by getting a higher multiple on exit than that was achieved when an initial investment was made. This can be achieved in many ways, but often through strategic repositioning thereby enhancing growth prospects, international expansion, or business model evolution to enhance resilience or cash generation.

What is the J-Curve?

The J-curve describes the typical pattern in private equity where shareholder value growth stalls in the immediate period post investment, before rising thereafter. This isn’t desired by anyone, but is fairly typical and is not a cause for undue concern.

What is an Envy Ratio?

The envy ratio compares the return on management’s equity (including sweet) to the return on the PE fund’s money. It is called an Envy Ratio because the investor is envious of management’s better returns!

What is management rollover?

Management rollover refers to the requirement for management or founders to reinvest a portion of their proceeds - often around 50% - into the new capital structure when a business is invested in by private equity. This ensures management has “skin in the game” and remains aligned with the PE fund, sharing both risk and reward as the business grows under new ownership.

Insights

26/02/2026

Daniel Bailey

Read Time: Min

What no one tells CEOs about private equity: From the J-Curve to the jargon

TOPICS: Daniel Bailey

News

26/02/2026

Read Time: 1 Min

Paragin Group welcomes Colin Tenwick and Fredrik Nylander to Supervisory Board

TOPICS: HR & Edtech Paragin Rory Nath

Expanding into the US remains a key ambition for many European growth businesses. With a large, dynamic market, the US offers significant opportunities - but also unique challenges. Drawing on the experiences of ECI portfolio companies, ECI’s North American Growth Specialist, Brett Pentz, shares his secrets to building a successful US growth strategy in 2026.

1. Consider acquisition versus organic carefully

The first question when considering your US route to market is whether to enter organically or via acquisition. Each path offers distinct advantages depending on your goals, capabilities, and timeline.

For example, leader in digital-first, tech-enabled marketing, Croud, initially pursued an organic strategy, relocating key business development and client leadership talent. This allowed them to build a US client base from scratch, leveraging existing UK systems and technology to deliver high-quality service. Over nearly a decade, this approach led to consistent growth, with a mix of UK clients with US presence and additional new US-headquartered logos. As the business matured, Croud shifted to an acquisitive strategy to deepen service offerings and expand into new talent and technology hubs. The acquisition of Vert Digital (now Croud Atlanta) in 2024 marked the beginning of this next phase.

Commify, by contrast, recognised early on that scale was essential to succeed in the US business messaging market. In 2024 they acquired Text Request, adding 10% to global revenues and significantly expanding their US footprint. The acquisition provided not only scale but also a strong operational base to drive future US growth. 

2. Move people over - but do it with purpose

Relocating talent from the UK to the US can be a powerful way to embed company culture and accelerate learning. But it’s important to do so with a clear strategy. When MiQ was looking to expand in the US, Founder Gurman Hundal and his family moved over for four years, and that meant he could hire and train people the MiQ way and get a better first-hand understanding of the workings of the US market. Working in the weeds in the US, he saw, for example, the difference in US and UK sales cycles. Whereas US buyers might have more process such as RFPs, pitch decks, the people they wanted to meet etc, they were also more likely to commit and sign up for longer terms than their UK equivalents.

3. Consider your base carefully

There are some key determining factors when thinking about your ideal base in the US, such as where your ideal customer profiles are most concentrated, whether the location is within a tax-friendly environment, or if there is a strong local talent pool for recruitment.  Choosing the right base of operations in the US can have a significant impact on long-term success. For Croud, New York was the right first base due to the prospective customer targets identified. Over time, they complemented this with acquisitions in lower-cost regions like Atlanta, enabling them to expand capabilities and access new talent pools while maintaining cultural alignment.

It’s also important to keep your end-customer front of mind. When Moneypenny opened its US HQ in Atlanta, it was identified as a popular area for its existing and potential client base in legal, finance and accounting, and healthcare. Other considerations included ease of access to the UK, with Atlanta a key international flight hub. Lastly, having opened in Charleston and then experienced significant hurricane-related disruptions, they were keen to ensure they had a HQ with minimal disruptions to their critical communication services. It is important to consider all possible criteria to prioritise the right launchpad in the US. 

4. Team culture

Building a strong team in the US is about more than just hiring—it’s about creating a culture that blends local expectations with your company’s core values. When Peoplesafe acquired OK Alone in North America, CEO Naz Dossa noted that virtual meetings alone aren’t enough to foster strong relationships. Face-to-face interactions were key to building trust and smoothing leadership transitions, especially when managing remote teams. Across all these examples, it’s clear that success in the US depends on building a team that’s not only capable but culturally attuned and connected.

5. Commit for the long term

Perhaps the most important secret is this: success in the US takes time, investment, and commitment. It’s not a market where you can dip your toe in and expect immediate results.

All the companies we support with successful US growth strategies demonstrate the value of long-term thinking. Whether through sustained organic growth, strategic acquisitions, or a combination of both, they’ve shown that with the right strategy and team, European businesses can thrive in the US.

Insights

19/02/2026

Brett Pentz

Read Time: 5 Min

The five secrets to a successful US growth strategy

TOPICS: Brett Pentz Commify Croud Internationalisation MiQ Moneypenny Peoplesafe

Each month, we turn the spotlight on the leadership teams in our portfolio to find out what drives them, who inspires them, and the biggest lessons they’ve learned.

This month, we chat with Chris Newton-Smith, CEO of IO, a company changing how global businesses handle data privacy and information security compliance. Since joining IO last year, Chris has brought a proven track record in leading global technology businesses from roles at Boku, iRis Software Systems, and Redknee Solutions Inc.

Chris shares his greatest leadership lesson, what motivates him, and how he fosters innovation across multiple regions.

Q: What motivates you, and why is that a driver?

I’m motivated by building things that make a real difference for customers. Throughout my career, I’ve found that when you start with the customer’s challenges, you build the best businesses.

That motivation is amplified by our purpose at ISMS.online (or IO for short). We help organisations to improve their resilience through compliance and information security. Our customers are dealing with some of the biggest challenges in business today, from protecting data and managing cyber risk to navigating new regulations and emerging issues like AI governance. Helping them tackle those challenges successfully is what drives me every day.

Q: What are you most proud of in your career?

I’m most proud of the times I’ve helped teams achieve things they initially thought were impossible. Whether it was entering a new market, integrating an acquisition, or developing a new solution to meet a customer requirement, it’s about bringing people together around a clear goal and helping them to achieve it.

The opportunity at IO is one of the most exciting I’ve seen. Every organisation is facing growing pressure to prove that they can manage information securely and use AI technology responsibly. Our goal is to help thousands of organisations with the tools and services they need to build this trust with their customers, regulators, and partners.

Q: Which rule do you expect your employees to abide by?

Great teams are built on trust and transparency. This means being open about progress, challenges, and what support you need to succeed. I expect everyone at IO to speak up early, share information, and hold ourselves and each other accountable for what we’ve committed to.

This approach is even more important in our remote/hybrid work set-up, as we don’t see each other face-to-face every day. Clear communication is what helps to keep us connected and aligned. It ensures that we make effective decisions and that we deliver on our commitments to our customers.

Q: What has been the career lesson you've had to learn the hard way?

One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned is that getting strategy right takes time and that it often needs many more iterations than you expect. Strategy isn’t about a single decision. Instead, it’s a series of adjustments that you make as you learn more about your customers, market, and team.

Building success takes persistence. You need to test ideas and sometimes let go of good initiatives to make room for the best ones. The best strategy evolves through trying new ideas, learning from failures, and staying focused on your customers.

Q: Who inspires you?

I’m inspired by the people I work with at IO and their expertise in compliance. Our team really understands compliance and information security, from ISO standards and GDPR to emerging areas like AI governance. Our team is passionate about getting compliance right and I learn something new from them every day.

Q: What is IO's secret sauce that makes it so distinctive?

Our secret sauce is that we make meeting complex compliance and regulatory requirements achievable and sustainable. Most organisations know they need to meet standards like ISO 27001 or NIS2, but they lack the time, expertise, or structure to do it effectively. Our advantage is bringing together a great product with talented people and proven processes, in a market that often focuses only on the latest technology features.

Q: How do you switch off from work?

You’ll find me driving my daughter and son to sports fixtures around the country. My wife coaches junior netball teams, so our weekends and evenings are busy with everyone’s matches. My jobs include the driving, plus carrying kit, setting up gazebos, videoing matches, and generally cheering on the teams. Helping my children prepare and watching them handle the pressure on the pitch or court is really rewarding. I think I get more nervous on the sidelines than they are in the game!

Q: Favourite film?

I’d pick Moneyball – a great combination of baseball, mathematics, an underdog coming up with a winning strategy, and Michael Lewis.