Shahid joined Pollen Street in January 2023. Prior to joining Pollen Street Shahid worked at Alvarez & Marsal where he supported the Financial Investors Group, focussing on advising Private Equity funds on topside and acquisition structuring, and supporting with both fund and investor level reporting.

Shahid holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics and an MSc in Finance from Queen Mary, University of London. Shahid is currently working towards his ACA accounting qualification.

Gilad joined Pollen Street in May 2018 as an Entrepreneur in Residence, and came on board as Digital Operating Partner in September 2020 with a focus on supporting the digital transformation of the portfolio companies and supporting the Private Equity team with the pre/post deal tech-related activities.

Prior to PSC, Gilad was the Head of Fintech at Lloyds Banking Group. Prior to joining Lloyds, Gilad worked in a variety of roles as a founder, CEO, CFO, director and advisory board member in multiple fintechs and cyber including EZBOB, Satago, Paze, Insightix and others. 

Gilad is a Chartered Accountant and an E&Y alumni (hi-tech and M&A practice).

Julian has extensive accounting and administration experience in the private equity industry, having begun his career in 1997. He has previously worked for several private equity houses including CVC Capital Partners and Lloyds Development Capital. Julian holds a Degree in Economics from the University of Nottingham, an MBA from Leicester University and he is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

James joined Pollen Street in 2018 as part of the Investment Team bringing with him extensive experience in both private equity and investment banking. As well as financial services, he has been active across a number of sectors including TMT, business services and healthcare. Prior to joining the team, James spent four years at Evercore in the financial services M&A practice. Prior to that, he was at Edmond de Rothschild and began his career at Rothschild & Co. James holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.

James joined Pollen Street in 2018 to help lead the real estate investment strategy. James has sourced and set up a number of funding arrangements with real estate lending platforms and focuses on the origination and structuring of new opportunities as well as the ongoing underwriting of loans and portfolio management.  James has 15+ years of real estate related experience including a variety of assets and structures in Europe, the US and Australia. Prior to joining Pollen Street, James’ experience included RBC Real Estate Capital Partners and M&G Investments in their origination, credit analysis and structuring real estate debt teams, Linklaters, Berwin Leighton Paisner and also Hargreaves Lansdown as an investment consultant and stockbroker. James has a law degree from the University of Bristol.

Patrick Carey joined Pollen Street in September 2021. Prior to Pollen Street, Patrick worked at Toscafund Asset Management, where he was a Principal in the Private Equity team. Previously, Patrick worked at Jacobs Asset Management in New York, most recently serving as Director of Private Investments, and at Deutsche Bank in London, where he was an Investment Banking Analyst and Associate in the Financial Institutions Group. Patrick has focused on the financial services and financial technology sectors since 2006, and has worked as a private equity investor in the industry since 2011.

Patrick holds a BA in Mathematics and Philosophy, summa cum laude, from Boston College and an MBA from Columbia Business School, and was a US Fulbright Scholar at Georg-August Universität in Göttingen, Germany.

Anna joined Pollen Street in 2019 as part of the Investment Team. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Anna worked at Deutsche Bank in the Credit Structuring for Financial Institutions team, where she helped to structure and execute European asset-backed credit transactions. Anna graduated from University College London with a First-Class Honours BSc in Economics.

Magnus joined Pollen Street in 2016 as partner, Fundraising and Investor Relations. He is also a member of the Investment Committee. Magnus has extensive fundraising and IR experience having raised over USD 9 billion in his career since 1989. Prior to joining Pollen Street Capital, Magnus was previously at TPG’s Fundraising group, where he was part of the global team responsible for Europe. Prior to joining TPG in 2011, Magnus served as Managing Director and Head of Europe for Jefferies Fund Placement Group.

Between 2002 and 2010 he was a Partner and member of the management committee at Atlantic-Pacific Capital Inc. and in 2000, was a Principal at NM Rothschild's private equity business in London. He also has work experience as a strategy consultant from Indevo and Bain & Co. He received his BSc in Economics from the University of Uppsala, Sweden in 1989. He is also a Reserve Lieutenant in the Royal Swedish Navy. He is native in Swedish and fluent in English and German and is a member of the YPO Gold London Chapter and served as Chairman for the Chapter in 2020-21.

Shweta joined Pollen Street in July 2022. Shweta has spent the majority of her professional career in finance, investment banking and strategy roles within the UK challenger bank industry.

Prior to joining Pollen Street, Shweta worked at an early stage fintech company as the Chief Commercial Officer and as the Strategy Director / Chief of Staff to the CEO of Shawbrook Bank. She also worked on both sides of the transaction, acquisition and asset disposal of a landmark deal directing the sale of Lloyds Banking Group’s assets.  Before moving to the UK, she worked at McKinsey and HSBC in India. 

Shweta completed her under-graduate studies at University of Delhi, Shri Ram College of Commerce with Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) and holds a MBA in Finance.

Francesco joined Pollen Street in 2023 as an Investment Director in the Credit team. Francesco has over 20 years of experience in banking and structured finance, with extensive experience in structured credit, asset backed lending and securitised products. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Francesco was UK Head of Financial Institutions and Securitised Products Solutions at IMI CIB (Intesa Sanpaolo), where he focused on providing asset backed funding solutions for fintech platforms, credit and hedge funds including fund finance solutions. 

Giacomo joined Pollen Street in January 2022. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Giacomo worked at Premium Credit in the Management Information and Business Intelligence Team. Giacomo graduated from the University of Bologna (Italy) with a Master in Quantitative Finance and from FH des BFI Wien (Austria) with a Master in Quantitative Asset and Risk Management.

Alison joined Pollen Street in 2018. She leads the development and management of the Pollen Street Hub – to accelerate growth and value by leveraging assets, expertise and ideas across the portfolio. Alison also has responsibility for running Pollen Street’s ESG programme, and is Chair of the ESG Committee. Prior to joining the team, Alison spent 12 years at Experian in a number of roles including Strategy and Global Sales Operations. During that time, she was involved in a number of business and performance improvement programmes. Previously she worked in Strategy and Investor Relations at GUS Plc and qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Arthur Andersen. Alison holds a degree in Arabic from Oxford University.

Peter joined the Pollen Street in October 2022. Prior to joining the team Peter spent his time working for various outsourced IT support companies serving a broad range of businesses. Peter is Microsoft and CompTIA qualified and is constantly working on new qualifications to stay on top of the fast moving tech world.

Chris joined Pollen Street Capital in 2018 as part of the Finance and Operations team focusing on the firm’s private equity funds. Prior to joining the team, Chris spent five years at KPMG in the Asset Management department within the audit practice. During this time he specialised in working with a range of private equity, venture capital and real estate clients. Chris holds a BSc (Hons) in Accounting and Finance from the University of Warwick and is an Associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Chris is also currently working towards obtaining the Investment Management Certificate from the CFA.

Ferran joined Pollen Street in November 2023 with extensive experience in both private equity and investment banking. 

Prior to joining Pollen Street, Ferran worked at BlackFin Capital, where he was a manager in the buyout team focused on the financial services sector across Europe. Before that, Ferran worked at WTW Securities, focusing on insurance M&A, and at PwC, where he provided corporate finance advisory services to banks. He began his career as a strategy consultant specializing in financial institutions.

Ferran holds an MBA from INSEAD and dual bachelor's degrees in Economics and Actuarial Science from the University of Barcelona.

David has been in the private equity industry since 2006, with a focus on the financial and business services sectors. Prior to joining the team at Pollen Street Capital in 2014, David qualified as a Chartered Accountant in KPMG’s Transaction Services team before joining Apax Partners. Recent investments include niiio, Proactis, Assessio, Autopay, Punkta, Aro, Lumon, Capitalflow and Oplo.

David holds a BA in Economics from the University of Nottingham, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

George joined Pollen Street in January 2024. Prior to joining Pollen Street, George worked at Reditum Capital as part of the real estate investment team with a primary focus on UK joint venture equity and special situations financing. George graduated from the University of Warwick with a BSc Hons in MORSE (Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics, and Economics).

Raj joined Pollen Street as a Managing Director in Feb 2023. He has over 25 years experience in the financial services industry, with extensive experience in credit, fund-raising and IR in the alternatives space.

Prior to joining PSC Raj was Chief Commercial Officer for Fasanara Capital responsible for global distribution and managing the sales team. Raj has held senior business development roles at alternative asset-managers including Lombard Odier, Oxford Asset Management, and Union Bancaire Privee. He has engaged institutional clients across investor types on a global basis. He spent the first decade of his career in capital markets, where he was a Vice-President at Salomon Brothers, and an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, in fixed-income credit sales.

Raj holds an MA and a First-Class Honours degree from Oxford University in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Michael is a partner of Pollen Street and joined the team in 2006. He leads the private equity investment team and serves on the firm’s investment committee. Michael has been operating in the financial services sector for 20 years, with investments spanning each of Pollen Street’s core subsectors of insurance, lending, technology, payments and wealth. Michael sits on a number of portfolio company boards including Markerstudy, Aryza, Pair Finance and Lumon.

Prior to Pollen Street, Michael held roles at RBS and OC&C strategy consultants.

He has First-Class undergraduate and a masters’ degree in Chemistry from Oxford University.

Kellie joined Pollen Street in November 2021. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Kellie spent one year at IQ EQ where she provided a mix of accounting and administrative services to a global Real Estate client and spent five years at PwC within the audit practice. During this time she specialised in working with a range of private equity, venture capital and real estate clients. Kellie graduated from the University of Strathclyde with a BA (Hons) in Finance and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).

Tom joined Pollen Street in February 2022. Tom graduated from the University of Manchester with a BSc in Mathematics with Finance, during which he spent a year in the Energy Statistics team at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy where he was responsible for analysing domestic energy prices.

Howard is a Partner of Pollen Street Capital having re-joined the team in 2015 having left in 2012. Prior to 2012 he was a Partner in the team where he started in 2000. Howard is focused on investing in credit opportunities and financial services businesses with current responsibility for BIK and Deko as well as a number of credit investments including, Caledonian Finance, 3J Finance, Credit Step and Sancus. Howard was previously responsible for Banca Sistema and Arrow Global.Prior to re-joining the Pollen Street team in 2015, Howard assisted the Swedish credit institution Hoist Finance to enter the UK debt collecting and npl debt purchasing sector, supporting the acquisition of a number of UK companies and debt portfolios in both a structuring and operational role. Howard has a 1st class honours degree in Mathematics from University College London.

Ian is a partner of Pollen Street Capital and joined the team in 2007. He has focused on insurance, payments and a range of credit businesses. Ian is currently responsible for Specialist Risk Group and Cashflows together with credit investments in a number of loan portfolios. Previous responsibility for Arrow Global and Catalina Re. Prior to joining the team, Ian worked at OC&C Strategy Consultants.

Ian is an economist by background with a First Class Honours degree in Economics from London School of Economics and an Mphil in Economics with distinction from Cambridge University.

Prior to joining Pollen Street Capital at the beginning of 2017, Duncan spent seven years focused on financial services mergers and acquisitions, principally advising private equity firms on the disposal and acquisition of mid-market portfolio companies. He is qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst and accountant which he gained whilst at EY. Duncan has an honours degree in Economics and Finance from Loughborough University.

Samuel joined Pollen Street in 2018, to drive efficiencies, leverage joint opportunies and share best practise as part of the Pollen Street Hub. Samuel supports the Executive Committee across strategic company objectives and management activities spanning the investment strategies, with a focus on portfolio management and realisation of cross-portfolio opportunities through-out the investment lifecycle.

Prior to joining Pollen Street, Samuel worked in debt portfolio sales for financial services consultancy firm Rocket Performance Group. Before transitioning into financial services, Samuel worked for BAE Systems as an Electronic Engineer, designing and testing safety critical flight hardware. From this Samuel brings a deep understanding of technical development and process optimisation. Samuel has a Masters in Electronic Engineering from Durham University.

Chris joined Pollen Street in 2017 and has always worked in financial services across banking, insurance and consumer credit. Since 1997 Chris has concentrated on consumer credit. He has worked with organisations including Provident Financial and Non-Standard Finance. He also worked with Cattles plc where he was brought in as a member of the team to turnaround and subsequently sell Shopacheck Financial Services. Chris also worked with Albemarle and Bond after the business was bought out of administration and subsequently sold. Chris’s experience covers operational, customer service, collections, business change and marketing and commercial roles. He has an MBA, a BSc in Managerial and Administrative Studies and the Diploma of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

David joined Pollen Street in 2019 in the Finance Team. Prior to joining Pollen Street, David worked at PwC where he was part of their external audit team. David’s portfolio was heavily focused around Financial Services. David holds a BSc (Hons) in Accounting and Finance from Heriot Watt University and is currently studying for his professional accounting exams.

Karl joined Pollen Street in 2018 as part of the Group Finance Team. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Karl spent two years at Workman where he focused on property management finance. He then moved to URICA, one of the credit fund's investments. Karl graduated from Lancaster University with a Master’s degree in Accounting and Financial management and is a finalist with the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants.

Prior to joining Pollen Street in 2018, Jonathan spent 7 years working at mid-market private equity firm Vision Capital, where he gained experience across a range of sectors including financial services, retail and industrial. He started his career at Ernst & Young and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2008, before moving to Nomura in the UK Financial Institutions Group investment banking team. Jonathan holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Warwick.

Suzie joined Pollen Street in 2018 as a member of the Operations Team. Prior to joining Pollen, Suzie worked at Grimshaw Architects before moving on to URICA, where she worked for 3 years as an Operations and Payments Analyst. Suzie graduated from Monash University (Melbourne) with a Masters in Financial and Legal Translation.

Sarah Haji-Gholam joined Pollen Street in April 2022. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Sarah worked at Macro Advisory Partners where she was the Team Assistant and supported the Director of Operations. Sarah has held various administrative posts in the financial sector, including Executive Assistant to the CFO at a reinsurance company, and three years as Team PA at an emerging markets hedge fund.

George joined Pollen Street's Investment Team in 2018. Prior to joining, George spent seven years at PwC where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant before working across both the Corporate Finance and Transaction Services departments. During his time at PwC, George primarily focussed on mid-market transactions in the Financial Services sector. George holds a BSc in Geography from Newcastle University.

Lucy joined Pollen Street in January 2021. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Lucy worked as Communications Manager at IWP UK where she was responsible for all internal and external communications. Previously she was part of the Global Corporate Communications team at advertising agency group Dentsu. Lucy started her career in the PR agency world working with consumer, legal, and technology clients.

Lucy graduated from Royal Holloway University of London with a BA and an MA by Research in Comparative Literature.

Glenn joined Pollen Street in September 2024 .Prior to joining Pollen Street, Glenn spent 6 years working at KPMG in the Private Equity Department within the audit practice. During this time he specialised in working with a range of private equity, venture capital and real estate clients.

Glenn graduated from Newcastle University with a BA (Hons) in Politics and Sociology and is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

Matt joined the team in 2018 and leads the development of Pollen Street's internal business intelligence systems. Prior to joining the team, Matt spent the previous 16 years working in London for a number of the city's leading financial services organisations, as well as smaller consultancies and start-ups. His most recent role was leading the Market Risk DevOps transformation at Rabobank. Matt studied Business and Computing at the Christchurch Institute of Technology, and worked in New Zealand prior to moving to London in 2001.

Ben joined Pollen Street in 2019 with over 20 years’ experience in financial services, predominantly specialising in the management of both performing and non-performing real estate loan books. He is responsible for credit evaluation and portfolio management for a number of the property Pollen Street supported lending platforms. Prior to joining, Ben ran the property development team at Amicus Property Finance and also managed the workout loan book. Prior to this, he was an Asset Manager at Hatfield Philips with responsibility for a portfolio of defaulted European CMBS loans. Ben graduated from Bournemouth University in Business Information Technology, and is currently studying to become a chartered surveyor.

Natasha joined Pollen Street Investor Relations Team in 2021. Natasha has 20 years experience in Investment Banking, focused on Structured Finance and Securitisation marketing and solutions. Prior to joining the team Natasha 10 years at RBS in Global Banking & Markets, followed by 5 years at Chalkhill Partners, a Real Estate and Structured Finance boutique. Natasha has also spent 5 years in management team of an SME finance broker. She started her career at Societe Generale in Fixed Income Sales.

Sally joined Pollen Street in 2019 as a Personal Assistant. Sally provides day-to-day executive, administrative and logistical assistance to Michael England. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Sally spent 18 years working as a PA in the finance sector of international and best-in-class boutique executive search firms, where she was responsible for executive and senior-level PA support and also driving PR and event management projects.

Geoff joined Pollen Street in 2018, with a primary focus on credit operations, while assisting with the wider operations functionality across the business. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Geoff worked across a broad range of credit-oriented products – most recently at CQS Management Ltd, where he was responsible for all operational aspects of syndicated loans. Geoff graduated from the University of Sheffield with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics & Philosophy.

David joined Pollen Street in September 2020 with over 20 years’ experience in executive roles in digital technology and strategy. 

Before Pollen Street, David was Head of Digital Distribution for NatWest Group, where he led the delivery and oversight of secure commercial banking digital channels, including the largest UK commercial banking platform, Bankline.

David previously served as a Senior Technology Consultant to Standard Life Aberdeen, specifically focused on their Cyber Security programme, where he worked on the implementation of their new IAM and network monitoring applications. Prior to this, David was Head of Digital for the Swiss Private Bank, Lombard Odier.

Michael joined Pollen Street in 2017 and is a partner. He has 17 years of experience in credit investing and structured lending. Michael co-leads the European credit team and is a member of the Credit investment committee. Michael has led a wide range of credit investments at Pollen Street, including Iwoca, and has responsibility for origination, execution, and monitoring.

Prior to joining Pollen Street, Michael was a director and founding member of the Shawbrook wholesale lending team where he helped build a successful franchise. Prior to this, he held asset backed credit investment roles in Royal Bank of Scotland, Eiger Capital, and Agathe Capital.

Michael holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Finance from the Warwick Business School, a BSc (1st class) in Economics and Econometrics from Southampton University, and is a CFA Charterholder.

Adrian is Pollen Street's CTO and joined in 2016 with over 20 years’ experience in the Financial Services sector. Prior to joining the Pollen Street team Adrian worked for a number of organisations to develop their technology and operations functions, and most recently with 118 118 on their entry to the UK Consumer Lending market. Adrian holds a degree in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge and went on to complete a masters' degree in computational chemistry.

Surya joined Pollen Street in October 2023 as part of the private equity investment team. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Surya worked at Fenchurch Advisory Partners where he was part of the FIG M&A team. He began his career at Morgan Stanley where he was a bond trader. Surya graduated from the University of Cambridge with an BA in Economics in 2019 and an MA in Economics in 2023.

Anastasia joined the team at Pollen Street in 2016 with considerable experience in consulting and investment banking. As well as financial services, she has been active across a number of sectors including technology, business services, and consumer. Anastasia previously spent two years at Bain & Company focusing on strategy and private equity projects across a range of industries. Prior to that, she qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst and as a Chartered Accountant with PwC and spent four years in their Corporate Finance Department focusing on mid-market transactions. Anastasia holds a BA in Business from Simon Fraser University in Canada, and an MBA with Honours from IMD in Switzerland.

Yves joined Pollen Street in 2018. Prior to this, Yves worked as a paralegal at Norton Rose Fulbright and Gide Loyrette Nouel, working on a number of matters including international arbitration and financial disputes. Yves has a first-class degree in Law and Business (Honours) LLB from Edinburgh University and a master’s degree in public international law from Leiden University. Yves also did a six-month placement in the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Holly Lee-Kemp joined Pollen Street in January 2023 as a Team PA. Prior to joining the company Holly spent the last 10 years as an EA in the financial sector, most recently at Citadel LLP, a multinational hedge fund and financial services company, where she supported a large team of investment professionals.  

Dennis joined Pollen Street in March 2022. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Dennis worked at Waystone Compliance Solutions UK as a consultant where he supported asset managers with their compliance function. Dennis graduated from the University of York with a Bachelor of Laws degree and completed his LPC at BPP University.

Linnea joined Pollen Street in October 2021 in the investment team. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Linnea spent four years at EY, where she worked in the UK and Denmark with financial due diligence across a range of industry sectors, primarily within business services, technology and media. Linnea holds a MSc in Accounting and BSc in International Business from Copenhagen Business School.

Rory Manley joined Pollen Street in August 2024. Before joining Pollen Street, Rory worked at Bain & Company focusing on strategy and Private Equity diligence in financial services and software sectors. Prior to that, Rory worked at UBS in Equity Capital Markets covering UK corporates. Rory graduated from Kings College London with an LLB degree in Law, Philosophy and Politics in 2016.

Connor joined Pollen Street in 2018 as part of the Investment Team. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Connor worked at Bluestone Capital Management in both the UK & Australia. During his time at Bluestone, Connor was focused on purchasing performing & non-performing loan portfolios and the securitisation of Bluestone originated loan portfolios. Connor is a CFA Charterholder.

Lindsey founded Pollen Street in 2013 and is the CEO as well as Chairman of the investment committee. Lindsey has been a private equity investor for 25 years with a particular focus on the Financial Services sector.

Before she founded Pollen Street, Lindsey led the team managing the £1.1bn Special Opportunities Fund within RBS and spent six years as a Partner at Cabot Square Capital, focusing on operating investments in real estate and other asset backed investments, together with investments in the Financial Services sector.

Lindsey serves as non-executive director of several portfolio companies including Shawbrook Bank, Cashflows Europe and BidX1. She has a First-Class Honours degree in Accounting and Finance and studied for an MPhil in Finance from Strathclyde University. Outside of work Lindsey is a keen runner having successfully completed the Marathon Des Sables in 2007 and 2011. She also supports several charities with a particular focus on mentoring children in state schools, supporting climate action initiatives through producing documentary films as well as supporting the speech and language charity, Auditory Verbal UK, that provided early years therapy to her daughter Grace.

Mads joined Pollen Street in April 2022. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Mads worked at Alantra in their Credit Portfolio Advisory team, where he helped structure and execute loan portfolio sales and fundraising mandates for financial institutions across Northern Europe. Mads holds a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Newcastle and an MSc in Engineering with Finance from University College London.

Aedin joined Pollen Street in November 2021. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Aedin worked at J.P. Morgan where she covered UK financials. Aedin graduated from University College Dublin with a BSc Economics and Finance in 2018.

Chris joined Pollen Street in 2015 as General Counsel, and took on compliance oversight in summer 2020. He had previously spent 7 years in private practice at Linklaters LLP, with a focus on structured finance, capital markets and corporate work. During his time at Linklaters he also undertook secondments to Citigroup Global Markets and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

Prior to joining Pollen Street, Chris spent a further three years at RBS where he advised on a range of legal matters relevant to corporate and commercial banking and was heavily involved in a number of financial services regulation and balance sheet management workstreams.

Chris has a law degree from Cambridge University and completed his LPC at Nottingham Law School.

Nikki Partridge joined Pollen Street in July 2024 and leads Human Resources. Before becoming a part of the Pollen Street team, Nikki served as the Talent Director at Triton Partners, where she was responsible for talent development, performance management, recruitment, employee engagement, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives. Prior to Triton Partners, she held several senior talent and HR roles at Bank of America, collaborating with leaders and their management teams to develop and execute people strategies aligned with business objectives. Nikki holds a degree in Marketing from Bournemouth University.

Matthew joined Pollen Street in 2009 and is a partner. Matthew leads the Credit Strategy and is responsible for all asset based lending at Pollen Street. He has more than 15 years’ experience of credit and private equity investing and is a member of the Pollen Street investment committee.   

Matthew has led a number of credit investments across a range of asset classes and structures. He also has responsibility for investments in Shawbrook (leading UK challenger bank) and Tandem (UK green consumer bank), and has previously represented the firm on the Board of Banca Sistema (Italian specialist bank), OPLO (mortgage and consumer lender) and Capitalflow (Irish SME lender). 

Prior to RBS, Matthew qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC and spent four years in their Corporate Finance Department focusing on mid-market transactions. Matthew has a First-Class Honours degree in Economics and Finance from Bristol University

Natalie joined the team at RBS as a Personal Assistant in 2006. Natalie provides project based as well as day-to-day executive, administrative and logistical assistance to Lindsey McMurray and the senior team. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Natalie worked in a range of administrative roles, most recently at Dresdner Bank where she was the Personal Assistant to the Head of FX. Natalie holds a Degree in Hair & Make-up from the London College of Fashion and spent five years working in Film and TV as a Hair & Make-up Artist.

Violetta joined Pollen Street in November 2021. She has a background in business administration, having obtained a Diploma in Hotel Management. Prior to joining the company, Violetta worked as an administrative assistant at Trinity House.

Esme joined Pollen Street in December 2023. Esme has a background in administration; prior to joining Pollen Street, she worked in dentistry as a patient care co-ordinator. Esme also holds a Level 3 Diploma in Business Studies.

Ethan joined Pollen Street in 2018 and is responsible for origination and execution of structured lending facilities to non-bank financial institutions Pollen Street.

Prior to Pollen Street, he was an early member of the Shawbrook Bank Structured Finance team, where he helped build a book over £300m and Fitch Ratings, where he was focused on securitisations and the global property markets.

Ethan is a Dean’s List graduate, holding a BSc in Statistics from University College London.

Laura joined Pollen Street in May 2019 as part of the Business Support Team. Prior to joining the team at Pollen Street, Laura spent four years working at Charles Taylor as a PA. Laura holds a BA Hons degree in English Literature from John Moores University.

James joined Pollen Street in 2018 to oversee the groups treasury needs, and spends a lot of his time focused on the credit funds where he has responsibility for some of the portfolio assets also. James has spent almost 20-years working in financial services across a range of businesses, including asset management, hedge funds and more recently a number of successful fintech start-ups. During this time he has built out a number of Treasury functions from a blank sheet of paper to a fully operational function managing multi-billion-pound balance sheets. James has a BSc in Mathematics and Economics.

Ben joined Pollen Street in 2017. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Ben spent over two years with US FinTech Avant, working on their UK lending platform across both Marketing and Product teams. Ben graduated with a BSc in Computer Science from Queen Mary University of London.

Polina joined Pollen Street in September 2022. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Polina worked at Goldman Sachs in Credit Risk, covering asset financing in EMEA across a range of asset classes and jurisdictions. Polina graduated from University College London with a First-Class Honours Degree in Economics.

Linton joined Pollen Street Capital in August 2021. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Linton worked in asset management within a Middle-Eastern firm where he managed the accounting for the UK group of companies made up of SPV's (special purpose vehicles).

Linton graduated from King's College London in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in International Relations and is currently studying towards becoming a member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants

James rejoined Pollen Street in April 2024 as Finance Director (FD) after previously leaving the firm in 2020 to become the Head of Operations and Finance at ARA Venn. James started his career at Grant Thornton where he qualified as a chartered accountant. Following this James spent 3 years at Close Brothers within the Bank Financial Control team before becoming the Head of Operational Finance for the retail finance business. Following this James joined Pollen Street and became the Head of Finance Credit.

James is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds a MA in Contemporary History and a degree in Geography from the University of Bristol.

Charlotte joined the Pollen Street Finance Team in 2018. She works on the credit funds, assisting in the preparation of the financial statements. Prior to joining the team, Charlotte qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Close Brothers Group where she spent four years working for the Premium and Retail Finance businesses. Charlotte has a degree in Psychology from Lancaster University and is a member of the ACCA.

Mick joined Pollen Street Capital in 2019 as a Senior Associate in the Investment Team. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Mick worked for a number of years at Archer Capital, an Australian mid-market private equity firm. At Archer, Mick spent time working on investments across a range of sectors including financial services, business services and healthcare. Prior to this, Mick worked at Deutsche Bank focusing on financial services M&A and capital markets transactions in Australia and New Zealand. Mick holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Accounting) and a Bachelor of Business Management (International Business) from the University of Queensland.

Marvin joined Pollen Street in 2019 as a Senior Associate. Prior to joining Pollen Street, he spent two years at AnaCap Financial Partners as an Associate in the Private Equity team. Before AnaCap, Marvin worked as an Analyst at Stephens Europe and Nomura International, both these roles focused on Financial Services across Europe. Marvin holds a Bsc in Economics from the University of Heidelberg and an MSc in Management from Cass Business School.

Megan joined Pollen Street in the investment team in 2023. 

Prior to joining, Megan worked at Synova and in the Private Equity Transaction Services practice at KPMG with a focus on mid-market private equity across a range of industries.

Megan is a qualified chartered accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Pretoria.

William is a partner of Pollen Street Capital and joined the team in June 2022. William has over 30 years’ experience in financial services, with extensive experience in credit, special situations, and private equity.

Prior to joining Pollen Street, William was the President of Vida Capital, where he focused on insurance risk and special situation investment opportunities. Prior to Vida, William served in senior business development roles at Siguler Guff, Q Investments and The Blackstone Group. In addition, William was a management consultant at The Parthenon Group, and a U.S. Government Bond trader at Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette.

William earned a B.A. in Economics from Middlebury College, and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Simone joined Pollen Street August 2020. Prior to joining, Simone worked as a paralegal at a global investment management firm where she supported the legal and compliance department with a number of regulatory projects, compliance monitoring, commercial contracts and corporate governance matters.

Simone holds a first-class honours degree in Law from the University of Hertfordshire and completed her LPC at the University of Law. Simone is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments having obtained their award in Global Financial Compliance.

Charlie joined Pollen Street in December 2023. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Charlie worked at Currencies Direct Ltd where he worked in the finance department as a management accountant. 

Charlie graduated from the University of Liverpool with a Law degree and became a fully qualified accountant with the ACCA in January 2024.

Paul joined Pollen Street in July 2024.  He has held various roles within financial services including ANZ Banking Group, LendInvest and AnaCap Financial Partners.  Prior to joining Pollen Street, Paul worked at Veld Capital, a private credit and real estate investment manager, where he was the Head of Corporate Finance following the carve-out from AnaCap Financial Partners.

Paul is a Chartered Accountant (ACA) and graduated from the University of Kent with a first-class degree in Accounting and Finance

Paul joined Pollen Street Capital in 2019 as an Associate in the Investment Team. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Paul worked at Bluestone where he helped provide capital markets funding solutions for their specialist lending businesses across the UK & Ireland. Prior to Bluestone, Paul worked at Fitch Ratings, focusing on ABS transactions. Paul graduated from Cardiff University in 2016 with a BSc in Economics, and has successfully completed the CFA exams.

Nicola is Group Risk Manager with over 10 years of experience in Private Equity administration, Operations and Compliance roles. Nicola is an Affiliate member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments having obtained the Investment Operations Certificate and the Award in Risk in Financial Services.

Daniel joined Pollen Street in April 2024. Prior to this, he worked at various FinTech startups as a Data Analyst and gained experience in EdTech and Asset Management. He now specialises in ESG analytics across the Private Equity and Credit portfolios. Daniel graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a degree in Economics with International Banking and Finance.

Ben joined Pollen Street in January 2024. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Ben worked in Global FinTech in Finance Business Partnering and Strategy Planning. He graduated from the University of Birmingham with a Distinction in MSc Economics, and has nearly completed his ACCA exams. 

Phoebe joined Pollen Street Capital in September 2022.  Prior to joining Pollen Street, Phoebe worked at Westgrove Partners LLP where she provided administrative support to the Co-Founders and the Sales Director.  Phoebe has 10 years’ experience in providing executive assistance to senior level staff in the Finance and Business sector. As well as supporting a team administratively, Phoebe is responsible for running Charitable Projects and Social Mobility Initiatives for Pollen Street, leveraging her expertise to drive positive social impact. Phoebe holds a Distinction for Level 2 & 3 cILEX Diploma for Legal Secretaries.

Gary joined Pollen Street in July 2021. Prior to joining the team, he held a senior compliance role at SoftBank's Vision Fund in London and was Regional Head of Compliance at Bain Capital based in Hong Kong. He started his career as a consultant with KPMG.

Gary holds a BA in English Literature and Philosophy, and MA in Financial Management from the University of Durham.

Brandon is a Director of Pollen Street Capital and joined the team in February 2023. Brandon has over 17 years’ experience in financial services focused on alternatives. 

Prior to joining Pollen Street, Brandon was Managing Director of Corry Capital Advisors where he led both asset trading and fund structuring. Before Corry, Brandon established Vida Capital’s European presence, and was heavily involved in tax, structuring, and governance of Vida’s offshore (Lux, IRE) entities. After returning from Europe, Brandon was part of the investment/deal origination team.

Brandon started his career managing multi-family tax credit equity investments, as well as bridge and mezzanine lending across all asset classes of commercial real estate.

Brandon holds a B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin.

Alexia joined Pollen in March 2023. Prior to joining, Alexia was an Investment Director with Softbank Investment Advisers leading the Vision fund’s fintech investments in EMEA. Previously she was a Managing Director at private equity growth investor, Apis Partners and prior to that a VP at Anthemis Group, a leading VC focused on investing in early stage technology-led financial services companies. Alexia started her career with Deutsche Bank as an Analyst in the Real Estate and then the Financial Institutions Investment Banking team, where she was engaged in a broad array of M&A advisory projects. Originally from Greece, Alexia has a Bachelors in International Relations and Economics from Tufts University and a diploma in Political Studies from SOAS.

 

Zaira joined Pollen Street in September 2023. Prior to joining Pollen Street, Zaira embarked upon her professional journey in the field of Human Resources within the hospitality industry. Her tenure at various luxury 5-star hotels enabled her to provide HR support and fostered her professional growth, ultimately leading her to transition to the finance industry. Within this industry, Zaira has worked with international investment banks and start-up hedge funds/fin-techs. Zaira holds a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business and a Master of Science degree in HR Management, both obtained at Brunel University.