2012 Judges

Peter Ashworth - Charles Stanley Securities

Peter joined Charles Stanley in 2002, having worked previously for Teather & Greenwood, Albert E Sharp, Citicorp Scrimgeour Vickers and SG Warburg. He has specialised in the smaller companies sector for over 25 years, first as a salesman and subsequently as an analyst. He has focused on a number of sectors including Industrial Transportation (Shipbroking, Shipping and Marine Services sectors) as well as Distribution, Construction and Building Materials and Property Services among others. He covers a broad range of both Full List and AIM companies.

Andy Brough - Schroders

Co-Head of Pan European Small and Mid Cap Team
- His investment career commenced in 1987 when he joined Schroders as a UK equity fund manager, becoming Co-Head of our UK Small Cap Team in 2002.
- He joined Price Waterhouse in 1985, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
- Degree in Economics.
- Andy writes the Ask Andy column in the Mail on Sunday, and is co-host of Jazz in the City on Jazz FM.

Andrew Buchanan - Octopus Investments

Andrew Buchanan launched the first AIM orientated fund in 1994 and has been investing in small companies for most of his 36 years in the City. He was the inaugural winner of The Lifetime Achievement Award.

Leslie Copeland - Vitesse Media

Leslie has worked in the media sector for over 12 years in an array of roles, including journalist, analyst, editor and executive director. He joined Vitesse in 1997 as a journalist on Growth Company Investor, ascending to the role of editorial director of Vitesse Media Plc by 2000, with responsibility for the delivery of Vitesse’s products across all platforms – online, events and print. He was appointed to the role of chief operating officer in March 2008 and to the role of chief executive officer in July 2009.

Giles Hargreave - Hargreave Hale

Giles is the chief executive of Hargreave Hale. He commenced his career in 1969 with James Capel as a trainee analyst. In 1974, he joined Management Agency and Music as a private fund manager.
In 1986, he founded Hargreave Investment Management, which was merged in 1988 with Hargreave Hale & Co, a provincial stockbroking firm controlled by other members of his family. Since then, Giles’s reputation within the industry has grown, and with the help of his team, his performance with the Marlborough Special Situations Fund has been exceptional.

Gareth Henderson - Winterflood Securities

Gareth Henderson is a senior market maker at Winterflood Securities. Gareth joined Winterflood in 1998 and spent his early career making markets in AIM listed securities before moving on to specialising in the Small Cap arena.

Winterflood Securities is one of the leading liquidity providers and market makers in London and offers over 10.000 tradable instruments. Winterflood is a subsidiary of Close Brothers plc.

Judith MacKenzie - Downing LLP

Judith MacKenzie is Investment Director at Downing, responsible for AIM-quoted investments within the Downing funds. Downing has c. £200m under management, predominantly in Venture Capital Trusts. Prior to joining Downing Judith was Partner at Acuity Capital LLP with a specific responsibility for AIM-quoted VCT and IHT investments and a small-cap activist fund. She also spent six years as a senior investment manager with Aberdeen Asset Management Growth Capital as co Fund Manager of the 5 Aberdeen VCTs, again focusing on for AIM, as well as a portfolio of private equity technology and media investments.

Miles Nolan - Growth Company Investor

Miles Nolan has recently joined Growth Company Investor as Editor. He has previously held the post of Smaller Companies Editor at the Investors Chronicle and has worked as an analyst and fund manager. Miles was a past winner of the Best Research category at the AIM Awards and has served as a judge at previous award ceremonies.

Philip Rodrigs - Investec

Philip is portfolio manager of the Investec UK Smaller Companies Fund. He started his career at Invesco before moving to T. Rowe Price as a Pan European Associate analyst specialising in small and mid cap stocks. He joined Investec Asset Management in 2005. He is also an integral part of the Investec 4Factor UK Equity team, where he specialises in analysing the technology sector.

Philip Secrett - Grant Thornton

Philip is a Corporate Finance partner at Grant Thornton UK LLP. He is a chartered accountant, an authorised Nominated Adviser and full list Sponsor with twelve years experience providing advice on a wide range of quoted public company transactions including on AIM and the Official List, acquisitions and disposals, reverse takeovers and public company takeovers. He is a specialist in structuring and listing closed-end funds having advised over 50 transactions with a value of over US$6 billion. Philip is Chairman of the London Stock Exchange AIM Advisory Group and advises the Exchange on all matters affecting the operation and regulation of AIM.

Graham Shore - Shore Capital

Graham is one of the founders of Shore Capital Group, the investment banking group. He is chairman of Shore Capital’s corporate finance department and is heavily involved in managing Shore Capital’s Puma VCTs and St Peter Port Capital, the AIM-listed pre-IPO fund. Graham was previously a management consultancy partner of Touche Ross (now Deloitte & Touche) and previously worked as a government economic adviser.

Gervais Williams - MAM Funds

Gervais Williams has been managing client portfolios since 1985. In particular, he is noted for sustaining his clients’ willingness at Gartmore to support smaller quoted businesses in the UK and Ireland, contrary to the general market trend over the last 10 years. He also attracted interest over his strong views prior to the credit crunch.
He has won a large number of investment Awards, most recently being voted Investor of the Year for the last two years running.
It was recently announced, that on 1st March, Gervais will be taking up the role of Managing Director of MAM Funds plc, a listed fund management company with £1.7bn of client funds.

Sara Williams - Vitesse Media

Sara founded Vitesse Media Plc in 1997 and is its executive chairman. Her role includes developing the company’s growth and acquisition strategy. Sara is a well-known business author. Over two million copies of her book, The FT Guide to Business Start Up (formerly the Lloyds TSB Small Business Guide) have been published. Her former roles include accountant and investment analyst.