GUIDING COMPANIES TO Success ON THE PRIVATE MARKETS
Gara has a clear mission: we prepare private companies to be successful public companies.
We believe that IPOs are the life blood of any stock market and that a vibrant stock market is a critical part of a resilient and growing economy.
about Us
Our proposition
Gara Strategic Advisory advises private companies on how to prepare themselves for life as a listed company, recognising that an IPO is a step on that journey not a destination.
We help to establish the foundations for sustainable success in the capital markets well in advance of any public transaction.
We deliver this through a holistic package of independent advice that addresses all the key areas that impact a company in the public markets.
Our objective is to create a “win/win” for the company, as well as for its current and future shareholders.
Our team
We have decades of experience in working with companies on how to manage their relationship with the investment community on an ongoing basis.
The team is independent and advice-driven with broad-ranging capabilities.
Gara Strategic Advisory advises companies on how to prepare themselves for life as a listed company, recognising that an IPO is a step on that journey not a destination. Our objective is to create a “win/win” for the company, as well as for its current and future shareholders, by helping to establish the foundations for sustainable success in the capital markets well in advance ofany public transaction.
Simon Hardy
Simon has spent over three decades advising UK listed companies across equity capital markets, M&A and corporate broking. He has led over 150 IPO’s and significant market transactions. Simon has advised clients from a broad range of industries with a particular focus on technology and high-growth businesses. He started the first half of his career at UBS Warburg with the latter half at Hoare Govett/Jefferies. He qualified as an accountant with Price Waterhouse.
Simon founded Gara based on the simple conviction that better prepared private companies will be more successful public companies.
Camilla Hughes
Until September 2023, Camilla led the ESG advisory work in the investment banking division at Rothschild & Co. Prior to this role, she had a diverse career in corporate broking and equity capital markets, advising FTSE 350 companies specialising in tech, consumer, real estate and industrials and leading IPO’s across all sectors, at UBS Warburg and Credit Suisse. She has also worked in fintech at Marketpipe, a SaaS business now owned by S&P Gobal, and has advised private SME’s. Camilla is an experienced Plc NED; she is currently on the board of Glenveagh Plc, one of Ireland’s leading listed homebuilders, and chairs the ESG committee, and she sits on the Remuneration Committee at Lincoln College, Oxford University.
Linda Main
Linda is a Chartered Accountant who retired from KPMG LLP in September 2023 after a long career leading their Capital Markets Advisory Group. Linda has advised on well over 100 IPOs and significant transactions by listed companies of all sizes ranging from start ups to members of the FTSE 100, across a wide range of sectors including consumer, technology and financial services. She was also a member of the UK board of KPMG where she chaired the Risk Committee and sat on the Audit Committee. Linda is a director of the Quoted Companies Alliance which champions smaller quoted companies and is also the Senior Independent Director at AIM-quoted EARNZ plc.
Iain Hunter
Iain has been advising businesses and their leaders on a wide variety of business matters for more than 30 years, both as an external advisor and from within business. This includes more than 20 years as a corporate finance partner at Clifford Chance, and more recently, until summer 2024, as Chief Legal Officer in a regulated, VC backed, capital markets focused Fintech business, with operations in the UK, the EU and the US. Iain's experience covers a wide range of sectors including, in particular, financial services and technology.
An alumnus of the Cambridge Judge Business School, Senior Management Programme, and a graduate of the FT's Non-Executive Director Diploma, Iain now provides board level advisory services to businesses at various stages of maturity. His experience includes IPOs and other public and private capital raising, public and private M&A, restructurings and a broad range of regulatory and corporate advisory matters, including corporate governance and risk management. In addition to the UK, Iain has worked extensively across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He has also been a Certified Function holder under the FCA's SMCR.
OUR Team
We are a team of successful and senior professionals who have advised listed companies on hundreds of IPO’s and significant market transactions. We have decades of experience in advising companies on how to manage their relationship with the investment community on an ongoing basis. The team is advice-driven and independent with broad-ranging capabilities across all the key areas that impact public company life.
Simon has over three decades of experience in advising UK listed companies across equity capital markets, M&A and corporate broking. He has led over 150 IPO’s and significant market transactions. His client base covered a broad range of industries with a particular focus on technology and high-growth companies. The first half of his career was spent at UBS Warburg and the latterhalf at Hoare Govett/Jefferies. He qualified as an accountant with PriceWaterhouse.
Until September 2023, Camilla led the ESG advisory work in the investment banking division atRothschild & Co. Prior to this role, she had a diverse investment bankingcareer at Credit Suisse as a strategic member ofits Capital Markets andAdvisory coverage team, specializing in tech, consumer, real estate andindustrials and at UBS Warburg in its EMEA Equity Capital Markets division. Shealso worked with Marketpipe (then a fintech startup and now part of IHS Markit) as its Head of Strategy and Development prior to its successful sale to Ipreoin 2007. Camilla currently sits on the board of Glenveagh Plc, one of Ireland’sleading listedhomebuilders, where sheis chair of the ESG committee. She is also a member of the Remuneration Committee of Lincoln College, Oxford University.
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