Our people
Our board of directors
Paul Latham
Non-executive Director
Paul has had various general management and internal consulting roles across a number of sectors and brings with him a wealth of industry and business experience, including building key elements of the infrastructure for Capital One Bank (Europe) plc as it grew from a start-up business to a company with 2,000 employees. Paul has worked at Octopus Investments since 2005.
Email
[email protected]
Peter Barlow
Non-executive Director
Peter has almost 30 years’ experience in international financing of infrastructure and energy. As the director of finance/corporate finance for International Power, Peter was responsible for fundraisings, bank relationships and treasury activities. He has spent over 20 years working in Europe, the US, Australia and Asia for HSBC, Bank of America and Nomura, financing acquisitions and greenfield projects in the energy and infrastructure sectors. He is also a non-executive director of InfraCo Africa, a donor-funded infrastructure development company.
Email
[email protected]
Keith Willey
Non-executive Chairman
Keith is an associate professor of strategic and international management and entrepreneurship at London Business School as well as a senior lecturer at University College London. He also holds various non-executive directorships and advisory roles. His career has spanned academia, consulting, investing and hands-on operational roles within industry and the venture capital world.
Email
[email protected]
Sarah Grant
Director
Sarah has worked at Octopus Investments since 2013, she has a particular focus on debt raising and relationships with banks and other lenders, which she coordinates across the Octopus group. She also chairs the Octopus Investments Investment Committee and is a director of Octopus AIF Management Ltd. Octopus Investments is a key supplier of resource and expertise to Fern.
Sarah’s dual role ensures that the relationship between Octopus and Fern works well and always operates in the best interests of Fern’s shareholders. She has over 25 years’ experience and previously held roles at SocGen and Rothschild.
Email
[email protected]
Tim Arthur
Non-executive Director
Tim is a chartered accountant with more than 25 years’ international experience as a finance director of both public and private companies. He successfully completed two IPOs on the London Stock Exchange and one major MBO. Initially he worked for Price Waterhouse in Birmingham and Chicago. More recently he was Chief Financial Officer of Lightsource Renewable Energy Ltd, a global leader in the funding, development and long-term operation of solar photovoltaic projects. He has also held board positions with ip.access Limited, INCAT International plc and Abekas Video Systems Ltd.
Email
[email protected]
What does the board do?
As with any company, our experienced Board of Directors is responsible for determining the strategy of our
business, and accounting for our activities to our shareholders.
Our employees
We employ more than 600 full time staff across the businesses that we own and operate. We also indirectly provide employment for hundreds more people via contracts that we have in place.
Find out more about the teams behind our businesses:
Jurassic Fibre
Bringing fibre broadband to underserved communities and regions.
Rangeford Villages
Builds retirement accommodation for sale and operates retirement villages on behalf of its residents.
One Healthcare
Builds and operates private hospitals in the South East of England.
Swish Fibre
A full-fibre broadband provider, bringing exceptional connectivity services to homes and businesses in the South of England in 2020.
Melton renewable Energy PLC
owns and operates biomass and landfill gas sites.