Ama Capital Appoints Three Industry Heavyweights To Its Board

Ama Capital is delighted to announce the appointment of three non-executive Partners to its Board and Investment Committee. Andrew Tyler, Alistair Hardie and Tony Buffin bring extensive operational experience, having spent highly successful careers as executive and non-executive leaders of institutionally-backed businesses.

Since announcing its launch in November 2024, Founding Partners, Miles Otway and Ed Ransome, have built a board team embedding proven real world leadership skills and understanding at the heart of Ama’s organisation.

 

Ama Capital Invests In Strategic Hires

 

The addition of these high quality non-executive Partners not only brings greater capability to Ama’s strategic plans and investment and portfolio management processes, it also provides access to market-leading business acumen for Ama’s prospective investee companies.

Founding Partner, Miles Otway, explains: “Ed and I were not looking to create a typical investment firm. With these appointments we have embedded proven CEOs and Chairs at Ama’s core.

“Our non-executive Partners have owned and run successful companies, multiple times. Alongside our flexible capital, Andrew, Alistair and Tony enable us to bring genuine lived experience and hands-on support to SMEs, rather than just sitting in an ivory tower with limited appreciation of what it takes to actually run a business.”

 

 

Expanding Specialist Engineering & Industrials and Business Services

 

With over 35 years in executive and non-executive C-Suite positions in a wide range of organisations from small start-ups to major Government agencies and global public firms, Andrew Tyler joins the firm to support Ama’s activities across Specialist Engineering & Industrials and Business Services.

He brings with him a wealth of experience in senior leadership roles including Group CEO of Algeco (now Modulaire Group), COO of the UK Ministry of Defence and European Chief Executive of Northrop Grumman; now as a Chair and Board Advisor, working with investors such as Blackstone, Epiris and CBPE.

About his role, Andrew said: “The team at Ama is approaching SME investing in a new and exciting way. They look beyond just the numbers and dig deeper into the DNA of a business, what makes it successful and how it can scale. They bring truly value-additive capabilities. I’m delighted to be involved.”

 

More Support For UK SMEs

 

Alistair Hardie has led a wide range of financial and professional services businesses, with a particular focus on commercial growth and buy-and-build strategies. Alistair has held multiple CEO roles, including owning and successfully selling travel insurance assistance firm, CEGA, to Charles Taylor.

Most recently he was CEO of Jensten Group, the Livingbridge-backed £650 million premium insurance broker, where he oversaw more than 30 acquisitions in four years. He has been a non-executive director of The Astrum Alliance, and Chair of JCRA, an interest rate and forex hedging advisory firm.

Alistair said: “I have spent over 20 years in institutionally-backed leadership roles and seen the good and the bad of the investment industry. Ama is filling a gap in the market for SMEs. Many need practical support and guidance in achieving their goals, based on actual knowledge as opposed to something that has been taken from a textbook. I’m really looking forward to working with Miles and Ed and helping create an antidote to the more traditional private equity model.”

As an experienced public and private markets executive, non-executive and entrepreneur, Tony Buffin has built and/or led a variety of businesses in the finance, building products, data analytics and consumer sectors.

He previously held a range of C-suite roles as CFO, COO and/or CEO at Loyalty Management Group, Coles Group, Travis Perkins and Holland & Barrett, before founding Tesca Group, where he is currently Executive Chair. Tony is currently the Chair of Highbourne Group and Nobia AB.

About his new role, Tony added: “Having run startups to major global companies, and sat on various institutionally-backed boards, I’ve learnt that it is important to get advice from people who have been there and got the t-shirt.

“With the knowledge and experience we possess, we can invest more effectively, with patience and an appreciation that growth is sometimes not linear. There will rarely be a challenge that we can’t help our investee companies navigate; something far more valuable than purely bringing money to the table. This is the start of an exciting journey with Ama.”

To find out more, visit www.amacapital.co.uk