Foresight's Scotland team grows following fund launch success

The new hires reflect Foresight’s commitment to delivering time and resources to identify funding opportunities in every region of Scotland. In January 2023, Foresight announced the first close of its Foresight Scotland Fund at more than £60 million; this was launched to enable smaller Scottish companies to achieve their business ambitions and create high-quality, local jobs. This fund is the second of its kind in Scotland, following the £32 million Foresight Scottish Growth Fund, which has been supported by the Scottish Government since 2019. Among Foresight’s most successful recent investments in Scotland was Codeplay, the Edinburgh-based AI software innovator which enjoyed strong growth with Foresight’s support and was acquired by a US Corporate buyer, generating a 15.7x return in June 2022. Harry Staples, the most recent addition to the team, joins as an Investment Manager. Having previously worked at Maven Capital Partners, Harry brings with him a wealth of experience in devising flexible funding solutions for established and entrepreneurial businesses at any stage of their growth cycle. Harry joins Claire Firmston-Williams, Ryan Finesy and Duncan Thorburn, who have all joined over the last 12 months. These four recent hires join Daniel Haliday and Graeme Mckinstry, longstanding Scottish Foresight team members.

Daniel Halliday, Director of Private Equity for Foresight in Scotland, said: “Our primary focus has always been on providing Scottish business owners with solutions to realise their growth ambitions, and investing in our team means we can reach every corner of Scotland from The Borders to Aberdeenshire.

“The Scottish economy is incredibly diverse with some outstanding new tech businesses coming to the fore alongside Scotland’s long-standing market leadership in food and drink manufacture, marine and offshore services, and increasingly clean energy. “Each new member of our team brings with them a wealth of experience from well-respected institutions, and we look forward to working with them and with the Scottish business community to help founders and management team to achieve their investment goals. “Following the successful launch of our most recent fund, we’ve seen a significant increase in interest across Scotland – and as a sector-agnostic investor, we want to use our increase in resources to further demonstrate our commitment to any and all opportunities for growth.”