James Hutchinson

Investment Director
London & South East

James is an Investment Director responsible for originating and completing investments in London and the South East. He is also a voting member of HGP’s Investment Committee.

James is an investment professional whose principal sector focus has been housebuilding and residential development. He has a passion for fostering sustainable growth in entrepreneurial companies by getting under the skin of a business and providing simple yet effective financial solutions.

James holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland and is a CFA Charterholder. He sits on the Business Advisory Board at Harris Academy St Johns Wood, regularly guest lecturing and organising business skills workshops for A-Level students.

James is married with two kids. He is an avid traveller, crossfitter and skier, all of which he does a lot less of since becoming a dad.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Simon Bou Khalil

Investment Manager
London & South East

Simon is an Investment Manager responsible for deal origination and completing transactions in London and the South East.

Simon is a financial service professional with experience across commercial lending, retail banking and risk. Prior to joining Lloyds Banking Group, Simon successfully gained an Economic degree from the University of Manchester.

In his spare time, Simon enjoys travelling and following sport and, like a true Londoner, is a Manchester United fan!

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Felicity Geary

Senior Analyst
London & South East

Felicity is a Senior Analyst responsible for supporting deal origination and transactions in London and the South East.

Felicity has passed all of her CFA exams (awaiting charter) and has completed the Markets Graduate scheme at Lloyds Banking Group. Prior to this Felicity worked in technical sales at IBM and gained a first class degree from the University of Leeds in International Business and Economics.

Having worked in both portfolio management and new deals at HGP, Felicity is a data geek when it comes to monitoring sites and understanding what makes a good site outperform.

Felicity spends her spare time volunteering for her local foodbank and her weekends trialling the new London fitness fads. With a passion for travelling, Felicity speaks fluent Spanish and is trying (and failing) to learn German.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Arnaud de Blay

Investment Director
South West

Arnaud is an Investment Director responsible for originating and completing investments in the Midlands and Wales.

Prior to his current role, Arnaud worked for several years in Lloyds Bank in a specialist unit helping to support housebuilder clients through the recession. Prior to this Arnaud worked in a number of leveraged finance roles in London and New York where he developed a passion for understanding business models to provide bespoke and sustainable funding solutions.

Arnaud is French and speaks English and Italian fluently. He holds a B.S. in Business and Administration and a Masters in Corporate Finance. He has a keen interest in sustainable development and in particular renewable energy. During his spare time, he also enjoys cooking and organic gardening.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Chris Bailey

Investment Manager
South West

Chris is an Investment Manager responsible for the origination of investments in the South East of England.

Prior to his current role, Chris worked as a Relationship Manager covering Challenger and Specialist Banks within Lloyds Banking Group’s Financial Institutions division. Chris joined Lloyds Bank on the Finance Graduate Scheme, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with the ICAEW and working in numerous divisions across the Bank including Retail, Group Audit and Commercial Banking. He holds a BSC in Economics from York University.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Arnaud de Blay

Investment Director
Midlands

Arnaud is an Investment Director responsible for originating and completing investments in the Midlands and Wales.

Prior to his current role, Arnaud worked for several years in Lloyds Bank in a specialist unit helping to support housebuilder clients through the recession. Prior to this Arnaud worked in a number of leveraged finance roles in London and New York where he developed a passion for understanding business models to provide bespoke and sustainable funding solutions.

Arnaud is French and speaks English and Italian fluently. He holds a B.S. in Business and Administration and a Masters in Corporate Finance. He has a keen interest in sustainable development and in particular renewable energy. During his spare time, he also enjoys cooking and organic gardening.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Matthew Smith

Investment Manager
Midlands

Matthew is an Investment Manager responsible for supporting deal origination, transaction execution and portfolio management in the Midlands and Wales.

Matthew has over 8 years of banking and finance experience, at Santander and more recently Lloyds Bank. Matthew has worked within a variety of pricing, forecasting and strategy roles across banking, including within mortgages.

Matthew is married and has recently had his first child. Most of his time currently is being spent renovating the new family home and getting up to speed with being a new father! He also enjoys all things sporting and even once ran the length of Hadrian’s Wall.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Kiran Mehta

Senior Analyst
Midlands

Kiran is a Senior Analyst responsible for supporting deal origination, transaction execution and portfolio management in the Midlands and Wales.

Kiran completed the Commercial Banking Graduate Scheme at Lloyds Banking Group, working in roles in Mid Markets Coverage, SME Risk and Commercial Portfolio Management. Prior to joining Lloyds Kiran graduated with a Degree in Business and Management and an MBA.

In his spare time Kiran enjoys following football and cricket, keeping fit and travelling.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

John McKeon

Investment Director
North West

John is an Investment Director responsible for new investments and supporting HGP partners in the North West of England and Northern Ireland.

John has been with HGP since 2017 and has an extensive career of over 20 years in the finance sector, predominantly in equity investment and real estate finance.  In his various roles, John has worked closely with a large number of management teams and particularly enjoys getting to understand their business models and helping tailor bespoke funding solutions.

John is married with twins aged 9. When not attending to his children’s busy social agenda, John likes to spend his spare time watching and participating in a number of sports, in particular football, tennis and golf.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Fraser Watts

Investment Manager
North West

Fraser is an Investment Manager responsible for new investments and supporting HGP partners in the North West of England and Northern Ireland.

Fraser is a qualified accountant with over 12 years of banking and finance experience.  Fraser has worked in a variety of roles throughout Lloyds Banking Group including 3 years in the Commercial Real Estate team along with roles in Finance, Risk and Insurance.

Outside work Fraser enjoys playing a variety of sports and is also getting married later this year!

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Scott Sanderson

Senior Analyst
North West

Scott is a Senior Analyst responsible for new investments and supporting HGP partners in the North West of England and Northern Ireland.

Scott has over 15 years of banking and finance experience. Scott has worked in a variety of roles throughout Lloyds Banking Group including Commercial Real Estate team along with roles in Joint Ventures, Credit, Risk and Infrastructure & Energy.

Outside work Scott enjoys spending time with his family and trying (badly) to beat his son at golf.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Vic Hepburn

Investment Director

Vic is an Investment Director responsible for originating and completing deals in Scotland and the North. He is also a voting member of HGP’s Investment Committee.

Vic is an investment professional with over 20 years’ experience spanning a wide variety of real estate and corporate transactions including development capital, management buyouts and project finance. He enjoys meeting management teams, learning about their businesses and identifying how HGP can support their goals.

Vic likes to spend his spare time with his family and friends. Married to Lynsey he has two sons who typify the expression “trying to herd cats”. He enjoys keeping himself fit and playing a bit of golf.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Colin Bennett

Investment Director
Scotland & North East

Colin is an Investment Director responsible for originating and completing deals in Scotland and North East England. He is also a voting member of HGP’s Investment Committee.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Ross Baird

Investment Manager
Scotland & North East

Ross is an Investment Manager responsible for originating and completing investments in Scotland and the North East.

With more than 15 years’ experience in originating and structuring debt and equity investments in support of a wide range of property and corporate clients, he is well placed to help HGP housebuilding partners meet their growth ambition.  Ross is passionate about the industry and enjoys working with management teams to ultimately increase the supply of new homes.

Ross is married with one daughter.  He enjoys time with family, travelling and also following sport (his playing days are long gone)!

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Scott Sanderson

Senior Analyst
Scotland & North East

Scott is a Senior Analyst responsible for supporting deal origination and transactions in Scotland and the North East.

Scott has over 15 years of banking and finance experience. Scott has worked in a variety of roles throughout Lloyds Banking Group including Commercial Real Estate team along with roles in Joint Ventures, Credit, Risk and Infrastructure & Energy.

Outside work Scott enjoys spending time with his family and trying (badly) to beat his son at golf.

LATEST INVESTMENTS:

Jenny Crorie

Director of Portfolio & Finance
Portfolio & Finance

Jenny is a Director of Portfolio & Finance and focuses on portfolio management.

She is a chartered accountant and has spent much of her career working on the origination and restructuring of residential and commercial real estate transactions.

Jenny is a keen sailor and has taken part in a leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. Jenny also likes cakes, both baking and eating!

James Miller

Finance Manager
Portfolio & Finance

James is a Finance Manager responsible for providing financial support and oversight to HGP and its investments.

He is a Chartered Accountant with several years’ experience in financial services.  Prior to joining HGP he worked in several divisions within Lloyds Banking Group including Joint Ventures, Commercial Banking and Insurance.

In his spare time James enjoys cooking, music and travelling.

Andy Hulme

Chief Executive Officer
Board

Andy is the Chief Executive Officer & Head of Fund for the Housing Growth Partnership.

Prior to joining the Housing Growth Partnership Andy spent fifteen years in Banking where he held senior positions in three different banks. As part of his responsibilities Andy has lent over £250bn to UK mortgage customers, managed a European insurance business and was accountable for UK lending strategy.

Jerry Perritt

Board Member
Board

Jerry joined the Bank of Scotland in 1979 and spent a number of years in the branch network before moving to a Business Banking role in 1986. Since then he has developed experience in managing corporate customers of all sizes and complexity from SME’s to FTSE 100 listed corporates in a wide range of sectors.

In 2006 Jerry took up a position leading a business with responsibility for a Real Estate portfolio and since then has specialised in this sector with spells leading teams managing good book and distressed customer relationships. In 2015 Jerry took up the position as Head of the Corporate Real Estate Credit team in the Bank’s Risk division

Jerry is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland and a former President of the London Centre. He is married with three children and interests include football, golf (badly!) and cycling (slowly!).