Ingenious was founded in 1998 by Patrick McKenna. The company is independently chaired by Peter Shawyer and Duncan Reid is the Chief Executive. As a private company, we are able to take a long-term strategic view on markets and opportunities that we believe to be in the best interests of our investors.

Our board comprises expertise from across our sectors, combining extensive industry experience with institutional-grade investment processes and governance.


Board


Patrick McKenna | Founder


Prior to forming Ingenious in 1998, Patrick was chairman and chief executive of The Really Useful Group and, before that, was a partner at Deloitte, where he ran the media group.

Patrick is chairman of a number of companies in the media sector, including the award-winning television company Hat Trick Productions. He is chair of the advisory board of the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICCE) at Goldsmiths in the University of London and was formerly a member of the Creative Industries Council (CIC), chair of the Young Vic Theatre Company and chair of the National Film and Television School (NFTS).

Patrick was previously a board trustee of NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), where he chaired its Creative Economy Committee, and a trustee of the British Council. He is a fellow of the RSA and a member of BAFTA.

Peter Shawyer | Chairman


Peter is the chairman of Ingenious. He joined Touche Ross & Co (later Deloitte) in 1972, where he qualified as a chartered accountant and became a partner in 1982. During his 32 year career at the firm, Peter held numerous senior leadership positions, being the partner in charge of the London office, managing partner and European tax leader.

Peter also served on Deloitte’s UK, European and Central European boards and represented the firm on the boards of Liberata and Walbrook International where he was chairman until a management buyout in late 2003.

Peter has also held senior roles across the banking sector. He was on both the board and audit and risk committee of HSBC Bank and was the chair of HSBC Jersey. He was a non-executive director at M&S Bank and HSBC France. 

Peter is chairman of a number of companies financed through private equity.

Duncan Reid | Chief Executive Officer


Duncan has overall responsibility for the group’s fund raising, investment and operating activities. He is also a member of the Ingenious audit and risk committee, investment committees and the boards of number of investee companies.

Duncan has been with Ingenious since its first day of operations. He started his career in the music business before obtaining an engineering degree at Imperial College and qualifying as a chartered accountant with Touche Ross (later Deloitte). Duncan was then business development manager for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group and finance director of The Really Useful Theatre Company prior to becoming financial director of Nottingham Forest Plc during its flotation.

Tom Brown | Managing Director, Real Estate


Tom leads the origination, assessment and management of investments within the real estate sector.

Tom is the lead contact as part of Ingenious’ membership of the UK Green Building Council, showing the team’s commitment to supporting a sustainable built environment.

Prior to joining Ingenious, Tom spent 27 years at The Royal Bank of Scotland working extensively within the real estate finance sector, supporting developers and investors. More recently, Tom was a key member of the bank’s Capital Resolution Division, negotiating the divestment of a portfolio of the bank’s non-core real estate lending. Assets included residential, commercial and hotel-backed loans in locations across England and Scotland.

Tom began his career at NatWest Harrow Weald branch in North West London, working in various retail banking roles, before joining the bank’s corporate banking division as a team head in 1998. Since 2000 Tom has worked almost exclusively in the real estate lending sector.

Sarah Cruickshank | Client Service Director


Sarah holds a range of operational and project responsibilities across the business which are focused on ensuring that all of our clients receive the highest standards of service.

Sarah joined Ingenious in 2006 as group company secretary, a role which has given her far-reaching exposure to both business operations and the investment opportunities offered by Ingenious. She has worked on a number of key operational projects and added leadership of the Ingenious Client Services Centre to her responsibilities in August 2013, before becoming the division’s client services director in 2015.

Prior to joining Ingenious in 2006, Sarah was a senior manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers where she advised clients and managed team members in the delivery of company secretarial professional services. Sarah qualified as a chartered secretary with Deloitte, holding roles within its client-facing company secretarial team between 1995 and 2001.

Peter Touche | Senior Investment Director


Peter is the senior investment director of the Media Division, leading the origination, assessment and management of funds within the media sector.

Having graduated from Oxford University in 1990 Peter decided to focus on the business side of the media sector. He qualified as a chartered accountant through the media division of Deloitte and then enjoyed production finance and business development roles at the BBC, the British Film Institute and the Walt Disney Company. Peter became operations director of Ingenious Media in 2001 where he oversaw the closing of a large number and a wide variety of film and television finance transactions with both independent companies and US studios. In 2008 he moved to the USA with his family where he produced and financed a number of independent films through his own company. Peter returned to London and to Ingenious in 2017. Peter is a member of BAFTA.

Pieter Vorster | Chief Financial Officer


Pieter is the chief financial officer of Ingenious and chief investment officer for Ingenious Estate Planning, responsible for the investment strategy and governance of investments. He has previously held various senior roles within the organisation, since joining in 2007 and served on the board of Ingenious Asset Management until it was sold to Tilney in 2016.

Prior to joining Ingenious, Pieter spent a number of years in investment banking at Credit Suisse and qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG.

Key Contacts


Business Development

Simon Harryman
Senior Business Development Director


Simon is responsible for relationships with investors and their advisers. Since joining the financial services industry in 1984 he has worked with a number of the UK’s most pre-eminent financial institutions, developing a deep understanding of regulated advice and investment management. Simon is both a chartered wealth manager and a fellow of the Institute for Securities and Investment (FCSI).

Business Systems

David Johnson
Business Systems Director


David is responsible for all of Ingenious’ business systems, which includes implementing and managing our core Microsoft Dynamics system and related business processes. His background is in financial services, starting his career at Brooks Macdonald Asset Management where he held the roles of business analyst, project manager and subsequently lead developer. David graduated from Aston University with a degree in Computing for Business.

Client Services

Sarah Cruickshank
Client Services Director


Sarah holds a range of operational and project responsibilities across the business which are focused on ensuring that all of our clients receive the highest standards of service, both now and in the future.

Sarah joined Ingenious in 2006 as group company secretary, a role which has given her far-reaching exposure to both business operations and the investment opportunities offered by Ingenious. She has worked on a number of key operational projects and added leadership of the Ingenious Client Services Centre to her responsibilities in August 2013, before becoming the division’s client services director in 2015.

Prior to joining Ingenious in 2006, Sarah was a senior manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers where she advised clients and managed team members in the delivery of company secretarial professional services. Sarah qualified as a chartered secretary with Deloitte, holding roles within its client-facing company secretarial team between 1995 and 2001.

Client Services

Helen Edwards
Senior Client Services Manager


In her role as senior client services manager, Helen is focused on ensuring that our clients receive the highest standards of service. She is supported by the wider Client Services Centre; a team which is dedicated to providing service to clients throughout the life of their investment. Prior to joining Ingenious in 2016, Helen has held dealing, operational and client service roles in financial services organisations including the International Petroleum Exchange, Cantor Index and Valbury Capital.

Compliance

Annie Wiberg
Head of Compliance and MLRO


Annie joined Ingenious as senior compliance manager in January 2020. She is responsible for compliance and anti-money laundering for the regulated firms in the Group. Prior to joining Ingenious, she worked at CDC, the UK’s development finance institution. She has extensive experience from working in the financial services sector in UK, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.

Communications

Martin Smith
Special Adviser


Martin is special adviser on public policy and corporate communications. He also works with Patrick McKenna on a portfolio of social investment, philanthropic and education projects and is a visiting fellow in Creative Industries at Goldsmiths in the University of London. Prior to joining Ingenious, Martin was a partner at Brunswick Group LLP.

Finance

Pieter Vorster
Chief Financial Officer


Pieter is the chief financial officer of Ingenious and chief investment officer for Ingenious Estate Planning, responsible for the investment strategy and governance of investments. He has previously held various senior roles within the organisation, since joining in 2007 and served on the board of Ingenious Asset Management until it was sold to Tilney in 2016.

Prior to joining Ingenious, Pieter spent a number of years in investment banking at Credit Suisse and qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG.

Estate Planning

Neil Blackley
Chairman, IEP


Neil is the independent chairman of Ingenious Estate Planning, responsible for providing judgment and advice on issues of strategy, performance, resources and standards of conduct. Previously, he was chairman of the Media Advisory Board for Apax Partners, and was on the board of Freud Communications, a leading PR agency. Prior to that, Neil worked as European media analyst at James Capel, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.

IT

Chris Duncan
IT Director


Chris is responsible for all the IT systems, infrastructure and office facilities used by the group.  He was an IT consultant before joining Ingenious in 2002.

Media

Peter Touche
Senior Investment Director


Peter is the senior investment director of the Media Division, leading the origination, assessment and management of funds within the media sector.

Having graduated from Oxford University in 1990 Peter decided to focus on the business side of the media sector. He qualified as a chartered accountant through the media division of Deloitte and then enjoyed production finance and business development roles at the BBC, the British Film Institute and the Walt Disney Company. Peter became operations director of Ingenious Media in 2001 where he oversaw the closing of a large number and a wide variety of film and television finance transactions with both independent companies and US studios. In 2008 he moved to the USA with his family where he produced and financed a number of independent films through his own company. Peter returned to London and to Ingenious in 2017. Peter is a member of BAFTA.

 

Real Estate

Tom Brown
Managing Director


Tom leads the origination, assessment and management of investments within the Real Estate sector.

Since 2020, Tom has been the lead contact as part of Ingenious’ membership of the UK Green Building Council showing the team’s commitment to supporting a sustainable built environment.

Prior to joining Ingenious, Tom spent 27 years at The Royal Bank of Scotland working extensively within the real estate finance sector, supporting developers and investors. More recently, Tom was a key member of the bank’s Capital Resolution Division, negotiating the divestment of a portfolio of the bank’s non-core real estate lending. Assets included residential, commercial and hotel backed loans in locations across England and Scotland.

Tom began his career at NatWest Harrow Weald branch in North West London, working in various retail banking roles, before joining the Bank’s Corporate Banking division as a team head in 1998. Since 2000 Tom has worked almost exclusively in the Real Estate Lending sector.

Technical

Simon Palmer
Group Technical Director


Simon has overall responsibility for the tax affairs of Ingenious’ managed investment funds and services and of Ingenious’ group companies. Simon previously spent 21 years with Ernst & Young, including 8 as a partner, and 5 years providing tax consultancy services. Simon started his career as a tax inspector with the Inland Revenue (now HMRC) and was a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

The information on this page is correct as at the time of writing, but may be subject to change.

Want to know more?