In our latest Quick Fire, we chat with ECI’s Origination Analyst, Sam Veevers, about his journey into private equity, the reality of AI adoption, and why his browser tabs are getting out of hand.
Q: What made you want to join ECI?
I’ve always been someone who values learning and development, so I was immediately drawn to ECI’s approach. It was clear that personal growth was something they took seriously, and they’ve absolutely delivered on that promise. Ten months in, I’ve picked up more skills than I can count and, with ECI’s support, I’ve recently enrolled in an AI/ML programme at Cambridge.
I was also really impressed by how connected the teams are here. The Origination, Commercial and Investment teams don’t work in silos, they operate as one, and wins are shared across the board. That kind of collaboration really stood out to me.
Q: How do you leverage AI as part of your role?
Personally, I use AI to streamline the origination and research process. Whether it's classifying companies, structuring web data, or enriching our pipeline with real-time insights, I’ve built several LLM-powered workflows to help us cut through the noise and identify high-fit opportunities at scale.
At a broader level, ECI has taken a proactive approach to embedding machine learning across the business through Amplifind™, our AI-powered origination engine that uses proprietary data to source, prioritise and assess leads. Over the past year, we’ve expanded it with modules like Amplifind™360, which uses AI to drive better decision making and collaboration for our portfolio on M&A prospects and pipeline. We’ve also introduced agentic tools that can intelligently source and compile relevant information. The goal is to eliminate low-value manual work and free up time for what really matters: critical thinking and decision-making.
Q: What have been some of the biggest changes you've seen with AI in the wider market since you joined?
It’s been exciting to see how much the landscape has shifted even just in the past year. We’ve moved beyond basic chatbot-style tools to much more sophisticated, workflow-integrated AI solutions. I think that shift has been driven by two things: better access to low/no-code platforms and a big jump in general AI literacy across the workforce.
That said, one major bottleneck for many businesses is still the quality of their internal data. As they say, bad data in, bad data out. What gives ECI a real edge here is that we’ve spent years investing in how we structure and store data. That head start has allowed us to use AI tools more effectively and get meaningful outputs much faster.
Q: What are your predictions for the M&A market in 2025?
Coming into 2025, many in the market felt that it was likely to be a busier H2, and so far, that reflects what we have seen. Q1 was relatively quiet across the board, as many businesses were still grappling with uncertainty whether that was around inflation, interest rates or wider macroeconomic conditions. That quieter period gave us, and many others, space to focus on strategic priorities, including embedding and supporting our four new portfolio companies from a busy deal period at the end of last year.
Now, it feels like momentum is building across the market. The pipeline is stronger, conversations are more advanced, and processes that may have been paused last year are beginning to move forward again. That said, there’s still a sense that some sellers are waiting for that “perfect” moment perhaps due to economic uncertainty or timing. Hopefully a calmer and more positive economic and political backdrop will lead to more confidence that now is a good time to come to market.
Q: Where would you like to be in 10 years?
Honestly, that’s a tough one to answer... If the past 10 years have taught me anything, it’s that your path can take a lot of unexpected and exciting turns. For me, the focus isn’t on a specific title or destination it’s about staying challenged, learning new things, and being part of something that feels impactful. As long as I’ve got that, I’ll be happy.
Quick Fire with Sam:
Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
Definitely an introvert.
What's the best bit of advice you have received?
“Everything happens for a reason.” It’s something my mum drilled into me growing up. I didn’t always appreciate it back then, but it’s stuck with me. When things don’t go your way, it’s easy to spiral so that little reminder helps me pause and put things in perspective.
Where are we likely to find you on a Friday night?
Fridays are usually a quiet night for me – working out, nice food and general ‘me time’ are among the typical agenda. With the level of quietness being largely influenced by Thursday nights activities – after all Thursdays are the new Fridays!
What is your worst habit?
I tend to hoard Chrome tabs throughout the day ‘just in case’ I need them later. Fast forward a few hours, and I’ve got 237 tabs open across five windows, wondering why my laptop’s fan sounds like a jet engine.
Who would you most like to have dinner with?
Probably the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu (commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza). So many questions, so many YouTube videos to debunk.
News
05/06/2025
“Quick Fire” with Sam Veevers
Croud, the digital-first marketing company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Steve King as its new Chair of the Board. King will play a key role in guiding Croud through its next phase of growth — helping to lead with innovation, scale the business, deepen client partnerships, and strengthen Croud’s position as a leader in delivering data-driven marketing.
Steve King brings over two decades of global leadership experience, having founded Zenith in the UK and the US, establishing its presence on both sides of the Atlantic. He served on the Board of Publicis Groupe for more than 20 years, where he led the global launch of Publicis Media and later served as Global Chief Operating Officer.
King takes over from advertising veteran Jerry Buhlman, who steps down after five transformative years. He played a key role in the business as it expanded its reach geographically with several US acquisitions, and across capabilities, acquiring Born Social, Vert Digital and MetaGeni. He oversaw Croud’s growth trajectory which resulted in the successful investment by ECI in October last year. Jerry will continue to be involved in the business as a special advisor to the Board.
This new leadership appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Croud as it launches its market-leading AI-powered platform, powering the new proposition to ‘Deliver a Return on Intelligence’. The proposition fuses its people, technology and AI capabilities organised to deliver incremental and commercial returns. The company has invested heavily in key leadership and new technologies, integrating these into its brand and performance media, as well as creative offering.
He joins Croud, as the company leads with:
- Market-leading tools and technology: Croud OS, a proprietary operating system that’s fully embedded into client delivery and designed to drive measurable marketing effectiveness, with key tools like Brand AI and SEO.Max.
- The Croudie Network: A standout model offering a globally distributed, flexible, scalable resource aligned to marketing plans – a level of sophistication unique in the industry.
- Top-Tier leadership: The recent appointment of Debbie Ellison, as EMEA CEO, Char Hamill as new EMEA COO and Kris Tait stepping up into the new role of Chief Business Officer, having built a strong base for the US business to grow. The appointments follow an objective over the last 12-18 months to bring in strategic leaders from across the industry.
News
04/06/2025
Read Time: 1 Min
Croud signals next chapter of growth with advertising leader Steve King named as Chair
We are delighted to welcome Simona Everts as a new associate in our Commercial Team. Simona joins to further strengthen our ability to support our portfolio expand internationally, with a focus on European growth.
Prior to joining ECI, Everts worked at OC&C Strategy Consultants where she was a consultant for the past three years. She worked with private equity and corporate clients across Europe on strategy and due diligence projects in the FMCG, TMT, and B2B Services sectors. Prior to this she spent two years at Baringa Partners, an Energy & Resources management consulting firm, having previously graduated in Chemistry at Oxford. Simona is a fluent English and Dutch speaker.
News
29/05/2025
Read Time: 1 Min
ECI Partners strengthens international capabilities with Commercial Team hire
Developing a customer-led product strategy allows companies to drive retention by embedding customer feedback into their technology development roadmap. By building customer-focussed software products, a company can successfully: enhance customer satisfaction and consequently reduce churn, launch and monetise new modules driving upsell and cross-sell and differentiate itself to the competition.
So, it’s no surprise that having such a strategy is crucial to enhancing growth. But how can you develop a successful strategy with the right balance between evolution and overextension? Peoplesafe, the workforce safety tech provider, recently won the Tomorrow’s Health and Safety Awards for both their cloud-native software platform and their mobile application. Specifically, Peoplesafe has developed its platform so that it can roll out new scalable tools quickly that specifically address customer needs. We chat with Naz Dossa and Will Solomon, CEO and CTO at Peoplesafe, to find out how they have successfully moved their product forward.
1. What drives successful product extension?
Understanding customer needs and solving them through technology is the key to any product strategy and the engineering sprints that follow. Will Solomon explained that they saw customers were increasingly asked by their employees if they could use Peoplesafe’s personal protection app for their commute rather than just whilst they were at work. Peoplesafe’s customers also ran a survey asking their employees for direct feedback on the new features of the app, and this confirmed concerns around incidents happening on the way to or from work. “TravelSafe was designed to help commuters by allowing a user to specify their destination. We can then work out if the journey is taking longer than expected or not going as planned and automatically raise an alarm should an individual fail to reach their destination on time.”
Similarly, Peoplesafe was looking to target new markets which had specific needs. Naz Dossa, CEO of Peoplesafe, discusses the forestry sector as an example. “This is a sector where one of the key challenges for workers is losing signal and therefore the ability to request assistance in the event of an incident. This led to the development of the Peoplesafe’s RoamSafe feature, which uses a second eSIM on the phone which can allow the Peoplesafe app to connect to any of the mobile network operator networks available, improving land coverage from ~83% to around ~94% ensuring the best likelihood of raising an alarm when needed most. That is key for workers in more remote areas and gives Peoplesafe the right to play in certain verticals.”
2. Prioritising your roadmap
Overcomplicating things is a key temptation and challenge when considering product evolution. Whilst it is important to listen to customer feedback, you don’t want to build an overcomplicated product that therefore lacks utility. Not only will that potentially irritate a lot of customers (and your engineers!) but your sales team also need to clearly understand what they are selling and the value it brings. Will explains, "It's definitely a choice on value and effort. All feedback and ideas are brought into the product team, where they are assessed for feasibility and market potential. We have a product review board that meets every six weeks to prioritise these opportunities based on our business strategy and goals.” This structured approach ensures that only the most valuable and strategically aligned features are developed, preventing the product from becoming overly complex and difficult to use.
3. Successfully testing in the market
Has your solution answered the customer need you are trying to solve? Product strategy and then development are only the first couple of steps towards successful delivery – it is important once beta versions of a product are ready to test that they are working as intended, ideally before it gets rolled out fully to the market. Will shares how this works at Peoplesafe. “Because of the modular nature of the app, we can turn on the feature for certain companies as a trial first, often for a subset of their workforce. We can then review employee usage and behaviour, which allows us to see if it really is a solution, before selling it as such.”
Peoplesafe asks for direct feedback on new features through customer surveys. By involving customers in the process and iterating based on their feedback, they ensure that their products are well-received and effective in real-world scenarios. Will comments, “By listening to customers we’ve been able to understand what features are most valuable. Not only does this better service customers, but we’ve also halved the battery consumption of our app by learning how it’s being used.”
4. Selling benefits to customers and driving adoption
Driving adoption of new products requires clear communication of their benefits. To encourage Peoplesafe’s customers to activate new features there are webinars, product information and marketing campaigns. Naz mentions, “We have a very active customer team who have weekly webinars to highlight how customers can get more value from the product and see what else is on offer. Modules can also be packaged in ways that make sense, for example if you adopt the TravelSafe product there is a logic that you might want vehicle crash detection. Bundles allow you to create a tailored solution for certain end users.”
While the new features allow Peoplesafe to target new users or markets, Will also highlighted that it has transformed their renewal process. Without additional features on offer a renewal conversation can be purely functional or come down to discussions about price. If you can show new features as part of that discussion, then you can either demonstrate improved value for the same price or use that touchpoint to upsell additional features that are useful for the customer. “We also look at the data to see if a customer is underusing new features that we believe are relevant to their needs. That way we can deliver early intervention ahead of renewal such as training to drive adoption – that ensures customers are getting value well ahead of that conversation.”
Peoplesafe are continuing this product evolution mindset with AI, for example summarising very detailed user alarm reports that can take some time to understand, into a short paragraph to save customers time in understanding incident reports and the risks in their employee bases. Will explains, “We have a lot of sensitive data so all AI projects start and end with privacy, but that data can offer valuable insight, such as high accident or fall locations, to offer better insight back to customers in an ethical way.”
5. Evolution at the heart of growth
Naz explains the impact of the product roadmap on Peoplesafe’s growth projections, “The growth is twofold. We’re able to differentiate against competitors, giving us stickier revenues. Now people are getting more than one service, and that drives better longevity. Secondly, we can address new markets – both in terms of new verticals, but also extension within existing customers. A notable example is Pret A Manger – they had already adopted workforce safety technology to activate audio recording device to capture incidents, with Peoplesafe’s Alarm Receiving Centre listening in and escalating to 999 where needed. The feedback was that their staff were being threatened when they left the stores, on their way home for example, so now they are also rolling out TravelSafe to their staff to provide that additional reassurance.”
With a greater total addressable market, and stickier customers, it’s clear that making product evolution work, is a great driver of growth and business value.
Find out more how we can support management teams with understanding customer needs and enhancing their product offering.
Insights
27/05/2025
How to successfully evolve your product to grow your business
We're delighted to announce our partnership with The Wilderness Foundation UK, a fantastic charity dedicated to preserving wild spaces and providing nature-based therapy and mentoring to children, teens and adults.
Based in Essex, the foundation offers nature-based outreach programmes, environmental education and nature therapy camps, alongside wilderness trails that enable adults and young people to explore unspoilt wild places. Their 45+ accredited therapists seek to bring about measurable, positive change and improved mental health within disadvantaged and vulnerable young people and adults, enabling them to lead a healthy and active life. The foundation also works to preserve wild spaces by educating young people on the benefits of protecting nature and the value of time spent outdoors.
The Wilderness Foundation UK was founded in 1976, coincidentally the same year as ECI, meaning both our organisations will celebrate their 50th anniversaries next year.
We look forward to supporting this fantastic charity over the next year through different initiatives and activities. You can discover more about their programmes and their dedication to connecting people with nature by visiting their website: https://wildernessfoundation.org.uk/
News
14/05/2025
ECI announce new charity partner, The Wilderness Foundation
At ECI we’re fortunate to meet a lot of CEOs and founders, and for those contemplating raising investment, they often have similar questions or anxieties they’re hoping to address. Here we’ve pulled together the six most common questions that are front of mind for CEOs:
1. What impact will investment have on my team, and how can I incentivise them?
First of all, we see helping businesses to build their teams for future success as one of our most important roles. We often work with investee companies to help them identify areas where they need more strength – they might need to appoint a chief technology officer for the first time, for example – and we have access to a broad network of talent that might be a good fit.
As for incentivisation, our deal structures typically contain “sweet equity” – share options and other instruments that enable the business to reward key individuals with shared ownership. A chunk of this will typically go to the CEO, with the remainder available for other members of the senior team, and where relevant a provision for new hires and rising stars.
One thing we’ve observed over the years is that CEOs often feel they have to allocate most of this equity straight away. Our advice would be to keep back a proportion of the pot to reward staff who deliver over time; those allocations may go to the same staff who received the initial awards, but if you don’t keep some back, it is difficult to reward performance/contribution on an ongoing basis.
Another way we can help business leaders prepare the team for the future is by helping them with succession planning if it’s something they’re considering. Whether it’s identifying top talent within your business and creating a roadmap for them or exploiting our network to help you identify potential candidates, succession planning is often something front of mind for CEOs as they consider the next investment round. For example, in 2017 we delivered a succession buyout for Jonathan Elliott, CEO of Make it Cheaper, allowing him and his co-founder, Chris Cole to gradually transition towards a Non-Exec position and introducing CEO, Paul Galligan, former CEO of Comparethemarket. Jonathan and Chris were still active in the business they had built, the newly rebranded Bionic, and as well as value from the initial sale had a significant minority stake at the next exit which delivered a very strong 4.8x return.
Finally, it is worth saying that some teams can worry that investors such as ECI will put pressure on the company to grow more quickly. They may worry about what happens if they don’t deliver? Our view is that it’s the CEO’s role to make those decisions, just as it was before the investment. We can share our insights from a wider market view, but our advice tends to be that the CEO should trust his or her instincts.
2. Will I stay in the business until the next exit?
Our experience is that most CEOs stay on at the business after we’ve invested, continue through to our exit, and are still there well beyond that point. Those looking for investment usually recognise the exciting growth trajectories of their businesses, and they want to be part of that for the long term.
CEOs may have heard that private equity firms look to change leadership teams, but that couldn’t be further from the truth from our perspective. We make investment decisions based on our belief in the CEO and their ability to deliver on their strategy. It’s true that investment will accelerate the pace of the business’s growth, but most CEOs thrive in that environment and don’t just deliver but outperform their objectives.
CEOs can worry about knee-jerk reactions to bumps in the road. At ECI we don’t make snap reactions to challenges, as we take a long-term perspective. It's also worth saying that we’ve been investing in businesses for over 49 years, so we know that growth is not always linear. There will be challenging times, but we stay calm in the face of adversity – we pride ourselves on not overreacting when problems come up; we work with the team to solve them.
That said, there are a number of CEOs we have worked with who proactively wanted to move into a new role during our investment. For those that plan to exit at the same time as we do that might mean moving into a Non-Exec role, but for others, we sometimes see they want to refocus on what made them fall in love with the business from the start.
For example, at insurance broker, Clear Group, the CEO, Howard Lickens, had successfully delivered 24 acquisitions before our investment. As the business scaled, he recognised that he wanted to carry on focussing on that M&A strategy and leveraging his network in the insurance space. We introduced a new CEO to support that transition, and Howard’s renewed focus significantly accelerated Clear’s rate of M&A, delivering fantastic results by the time of exit. Similarly, Mobysoft founder Derek Steele had founded and developed Mobysoft’s predictive analytics software product. Derek is now able to use his expert product knowledge to support the team's initiatives around best in case technology and Tech for Good proposition as Non Exec.
Whatever the case, we can help work with the CEO to plan a smooth transition for the company, and for those looking for succession planning, we work together to make sure they are benefiting from the growth of the company and ensuring a sustainable future.
3. If you take a minority stake, will I retain more control?
At ECI we are happy to take both majority and minority stakes in businesses. All investments will contain some rights, whichever private equity firm you choose. What we tend to see is that the impact of that depends far more on the approach of the firm and how they work with management teams. It’s why we’re agnostic as to whether we’re a minority or majority investor. We see our role as providing support to the management team as it pursues growth.
We will provide challenge, and we have some important capabilities that we can share, such as our Commercial Team, who can provide support on projects that drive value. But we work with our investee businesses to agree what will maximise value, and we don’t have a playbook we roll out as standard – you know best for your business.
In specific circumstances, it may be that you want additional help. For example, we have lots of experience managing M&A transactions, so if that’s part of your growth strategy, you may look to us for a more proactive approach. That strategy has worked really well at Moneypenny, for example, where our New York office has supported them to complete four US acquisitions since investment. Similarly, for teams that want to leverage data to enhance decision-making, we can provide hands-on support using best-practice data science. At MiQ we worked closely with the team to build a high-performance global BI team from scratch in 100 days – find out how they did it here.
Whatever it is you’re looking for though, the aim is always to support the business rather than control the process.
4. What happens in the first year after you invest?
First, we always hold strategy sessions following an investment. The idea is for everyone to share their experiences and observations from the deal process and to collectively agree strategic priorities. These are easily some of the most impactful and valuable days. They get everyone involved so that we can work out together what will move the needle and set a trajectory for the investment period.
From the strategy day, we develop roadmaps together in key priority areas – new hirings, product launches or technology investments, say. The sooner those plans can be defined the quicker we can help you make an impact.
You will have already met your ECI team during the deal process. We introduce you to our investment, origination and commercial teams – we call this the “power of three teams” – from the get-go, rather than parachuting people in after the transaction is completed. However, in the first year, we’ll also make sure you’re introduced to other businesses in the ECI portfolio network and invite you to join the ECI Unlocked programme.
We believe these networks are vital. It can be lonely at the top of a business, so the opportunity to share experiences with peers in the same position at other organisations is valuable. The same goes for all your functional leads; we think that introducing them to their opposite numbers at other businesses is a fantastic chance to share best practice, support and learn from one another.
5. How should I pitch my business to ECI, or another investor?
Every pitch is - and should be - very different. But, as someone on the receiving end of many pitches, there are some things we’ve noticed time and time again. One point is that while business leaders are often very focused on potential value enhancers – M&A activity, international expansion and so on – they often have not spent much time thinking about what might inhibit value creation. Awareness of this shows a maturity around their business – and as investors, we’re expecting that there will be areas which need investment, both of time and money.
Being clear on your customer and their needs is key. Being able to back that up with data will help investors get straight to the most important part of the business. Customer segmentation and how it plays into growth is one area, in particular, that’s worth spending plenty of time on. In every investment process, we’re really keen to see where businesses see their most attractive growth opportunities – and to hear about how they are prioritising sales and marketing efforts accordingly. The more that investors can understand the key growth segments for the future, the better.
6. How should I choose an investor?
Firstly, there is no point in pretending that price and deal economics are not key issues. You need the right fit with an investor to work with them on an ongoing basis, but their upfront valuation of your business and deal structure will obviously be important too. You should have a clear view of what you’re expecting so that you can judge offers accordingly.
If you are aligned on value, in our view the next most important consideration of all is personal chemistry. You’re going to be working with these people for several years to come, often in fast-paced and challenging situations. You need to be sure you’ll feel comfortable picking up the phone for a chat whatever the circumstances.
In that context, it is worth thinking about the values and style you’re looking for from an investor ahead of the process. Do you enjoy working with people with lots of energy and drive? Are you looking for calm amid the noise? How much support are you actually after? Private equity professionals largely look and sound the same at first glance, but every company has its own culture and individuals come with their own personalities. It’s a fantastic investment of time to really get to know your potential investor before you commit. And ask around – the investment industry isn’t that large, a quick personal chat with another CEO or an advisor can tell you a lot about who will actually deliver on what they promise.
Private equity firms should be able to add value. What capabilities of their own will they bring to the investment? That might be a deep-seated expertise in data and analytics or experience in internationalising UK businesses. If there are areas of competency that hold the key to unlocking value at your business, look for an investor able to provide this.
In addition, relevant experience is really valuable. For example, when we met global travel management company, TAG, we had already invested in Reed & Mackay and CarTrawler, giving us deep insight into the travel sector. This gave us a huge advantage in understanding the complexities of business travel, corporate booking platforms and customer experience. That meant we were both looking at the same picture from day one. Similarly, our experience with MiQ in the digital marketing space gave us knowledge of performance marketing, data-driven advertising, and global media strategies, ahead of investing in Croud and supporting them with their global growth ambitions. Of course, every business is different, but an investor who knows your subsector well will not have to waste time getting up to speed on your model or market.
It may be that you need a different type of experience: if your growth plan is built around, say, M&A, expansion into the US, technology integration or some other initiative, an investor who has been through that before will help you to avoid common mistakes. For example, when we invested in Mobysoft, the business was looking to develop new products around its core Rentsense module, to enhance its offering to the social housing sector. Product range extension was a strategy we had already supported at CPOMS, leading to the successful launch of its StaffSafe module. Relevant experience can help to highlight opportunities and challenges to different strategies, helping management teams accelerate growth plans.
It's not just what support investors offer but also how they’ll provide it. Are you looking for help in-house, or on a consultancy basis? Are you happy with multiple points of contact or do you prefer a one-to-one relationship? How will an investor work with the rest of your team? You need to be confident you can build an operational relationship with an investor that works for you. At ECI we make sure that one of our Commercial Team is involved ahead of a transaction and stays part of the team right through to exit, as we find that continuity means you can hit the ground running right from day one and they feel like an extension of your team. That might not be the same everywhere.
These are just some examples of how it's important to focus on the questions which reflect how you want to work with an investor. Choosing an investor to back you and your business is an incredibly important decision, so taking the time to get to know them is always a valuable investment.
If you’d like to chat with someone at ECI about any of these questions or to discuss how we might be able to help your business, please reach out.
Insights
13/05/2025
George Moss
Read Time: Min
Six questions CEOs ask us
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 Jesper With-Fogstrup, CEO of Moneypenny, a leading provider of outsourced communications. Jesper joined the business six months ago and brings deep experience in digital transformation and customer-centric leadership, having held senior roles across the tech and service sectors.
Jesper shares what motivates him, his thoughts on leadership, and the secret sauce behind an effective management team.
Q: Which one rule do you expect your employees to abide by?
Do the right thing – even when it’s hard. It’s a simple but powerful principle that drives integrity, ownership, and customer focus. Change is constant in most businesses and, I expect our people to act with good judgement, take ownership, and always keep the client’s experience at the heart of what they do.
Q: What motivates you?
Driving meaningful change that creates lasting impact – for our people, our clients, the business and the wider community. I’m motivated by solving tough problems, building high-performing teams, and seeing the tangible results of progress – especially when we move faster, serve client’s needs better, and create a culture people are proud to be part of.
Q: What are you most proud of in your career?
I’m most proud of building strong teams of diverse individuals that deliver real transformation – culturally, commercially, and operationally.
Across my career, whether in startups or large-scale businesses, I’ve led change that not only improved performance and successful exits but created more inclusive, empowered cultures. Seeing people grow, step up, and thrive in that environment is what stands out most.
I am especially proud of my time with GTA (Gullivers Travel Associates) when I built a new product inventory type delivering $110m+ incremental annual run rate revenue 60 days after go-live, changed how the company operated and was a substantial contributor to our successful exit to Kuoni.
Q: What made you want to join Moneypenny?
The combination of a strong purpose, a great culture, and huge untapped potential. Moneypenny has a standout reputation for service and amazing people, and what excited me was the opportunity to scale that magic – through technology including AI, doing more jobs for more clients and optimising our operation. It was clear to me that with that approach and serving even more businesses as their trusted seamless partner, we could unlock the next phase of growth.
Q: How would you like others to describe you as a leader?
Decisive, transparent, and empowering – someone who acts as the Chief Unblocking Officer. I aim to set a clear direction, communicate openly, and create the conditions for others to succeed. I see my role as clearing obstacles, removing friction, and enabling teams to move faster and smarter. I want to be known for driving progress, bringing energy, and caring deeply about both performance and people.
Q: What is the secret sauce for an effective management team?
Trust, challenge, and accountability — with customer obsession and relentless execution. Great management teams operate best when there is a space where leaders feel safe to speak openly, aren’t afraid to challenge each other, and bring fresh ideas to the table. That builds high trust and encourages better, faster decision making, when people aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo.
Accountability is the glue. Shared and individual. Everyone takes full ownership of outcomes and supports each other to deliver. When that’s paired with a deep focus on the customer and a genuine bias for getting things done well, results follow.
Q: Night in or night out?
I lean towards a night in – especially as I travel so much and am often away from home. When I do have time at home, I really value the chance to unwind the two of us, or with friends for dinner. I also enjoy a good book or enjoying a night at the theatre. That said, I’m always up for a night out when there’s something worth celebrating – not too hard to find something to celebrate!
Q: Favourite film?
There are so many great films, but you might not expect this one: Roman Holiday with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn is my all-time favourite. I love its playfulness and charm, but also the deeper themes: freedom versus duty, self-discovery, and the quiet power of simple pleasures over societal expectations. It’s timeless.
Insights
08/05/2025
Read Time: Min
“In Focus” with Moneypenny CEO, Jesper With-Fogstrup
In our latest Quick Fire, we chat with ECI’s Origination Manager, Christy Welsh, about her journey into private equity, common misconceptions about the industry, and the importance of Chaka Khan.
Q: What’s been your favourite part of your first half year at ECI?
One of the best things about joining ECI has been the chance to meet so many interesting people. Being in the Origination Team has felt a bit like getting a passport to speak to founders and management teams - people who have built amazing companies and are so generous with their stories and insights about growth businesses. In my previous role in coverage, most of my interactions were with advisors and PE clients who continue to kindly share their pearls of wisdom with me today. Now I get to learn from management teams as well, which has been valuable and genuinely fun too.
Q: What’s one thing about private equity that you think people get wrong?
There’s a common misconception that private equity is just about injecting cash, cutting costs and moving on. One of my first conversations at ECI was with a founder who asked, “Why should we keep talking? We don’t need cash.” It really stuck with me.
What we offer at ECI is so much more than capital. I often say we’re like teammates on the bench. We’re there when you need us, bringing the combined skills of our Origination, Investment and Commercial teams. Everyone here genuinely wants to help build something better. Cash might be the start of the conversation, but it’s not the really exciting part of our stories. There’s a shared passion for creating long-term value, and it’s about helping founders take their business even further than they thought possible, not stepping in to take over but working side by side.
Q: What’s the most interesting part of working with growth businesses?
At this stage, the possibilities really are endless! There are so many ways to help a business grow and create value. What I find especially exciting is M&A. It’s an area where I can have the most impact, from helping shape strategy to using our Amplifind™360 tool to triage opportunities, and meeting even more teams as potential targets.
People might think origination is just about sourcing a deal and stepping away, but with the businesses we back M&A means that we often stay involved throughout the journey. There’s so much energy and potential with growing businesses, and that’s exactly what keeps the job so interesting.
Q: What are your predictions for deal activity for the rest of 2025?
Confidence has been slowly building. Interest rates have started to come down, and we’ve seen more activity coming through in our market. Of course, the market has also come to expect the unexpected; however, if you look back at the last (almost) 50 years that ECI has been investing, normally things aren’t ever quite as bad as we fear or as good as we hope, it usually levels out.
At ECI, we’re focused on finding great businesses with strong growth, resilience and brilliant management teams, and that doesn’t change when there’s market noise. If anything, times like this can bring interesting opportunities, especially on the M&A side.
Q: How does the ECI subsector model work, and are there any particularly exciting trends you see in your subsectors?
I work across three subsectors at ECI: Data, Travel and HealthTech. At ECI our subsector teams immerse themselves in each market. Our focus helps us have strong relationships, develop deep knowledge, and build real conviction.
As you might expect, one exciting trend across all three of those subsectors is AI. What’s been really encouraging is seeing the shift in how people think about AI. It’s less about replacing jobs and more about helping teams make better decisions. There’s a lot of confidence now in using AI day-to-day within an appropriate data governance framework, and the quality of the AI-driven products we’re seeing in our pipeline reflects that. It’s a very exciting time to be in these subsectors.
Quick Fire with Christy:
If you weren’t in private equity, what job would you love to do?
I love sport, travel, and meeting people, so something that combines all three would be amazing. Maybe following big sporting events and interviewing the athletes. Ideally tennis, as I'm a huge fan.
What Scottish food item do you wish everyone would try?
There is a 5th generation family bakery in St Andrews that makes the best fudge doughnuts!
What’s your guilty pleasure TV show or movie?
If you checked my Netflix, you’d find plenty of RomComs and old-school Bond movies. Sean Connery, of course, is my favourite Bond.
What’s one thing you always have in your bag?
Pen and paper. I much prefer scribbling things down by hand. Typing into my phone’s notes just isn’t the same.
If you could instantly learn a new skill, what would it be?
DJ! I’d play Disco and House and there would be a lot of Chaka Khan in the mix!