The team

Directors

In Memoriam, Ian MacKay : 1959 - 2009

Passionate, a true visionary and persevering, Ian has been an inspiration and good friend to many, both socially and professionally.  Ian loved life, his family, friends and colleagues, always laughing and making others laugh with his remarkable wit, he will be sadly missed. 

Mission: Kindness - Integrity - Humility - Loyalty - Courage

Allan McLaughlin

By profession, I’m a Chartered Accountant who has specialized in two main areas; Corporate Finance and Transaction Funding to help distressed and underperforming companies achieve their full operating potential. I’ve had lots of interesting UK experience and also three years international consultancy - mostly handling MBOs and MBIs - while living and working in Melbourne and Sydney.

My client portfolio covers a broad range of industries, and includes Leisure plus Manufacturing, right through to Oil and Gas and even White Goods production. Frequently, I’ll deal directly with boards and executive teams, consulting with incumbent management to develop and suggest strategies to improve the performance of their business and its balance sheet. Some names from my CV you might recognize are Ernst & Young, Mann Judd Gordon, PE International and Matrix Management (a Scottish consulting company I joined back in 1991). I like to think of myself as not just a numbers man, because my consultancy expertise also includes managerial development such as creativity, customer service and leadership. Married with a son well into secondary school, I like to spend quality spare time reading, playing sport or travelling.» Email now

Paul Slater

I’ve worked internationally for most of my life - in the USA, France and the Middle East. It’s been an interesting time spent designing and implementing large-scale business re-engineering and transformational change projects. Mainly, I’ve worked with the subsidiaries of large multi-national companies and private equity-led businesses facing debt, cashflow and structural problems. The international theme developed early: just when I graduated from Glasgow Uni a few aeons ago. Joining Deloitte, Haskins and Sells as an accountancy graduate, I was seconded to the Middle East as an Audit Supervisor, and was eventually lured to international brand house Johnson&Johnson as Divisional Marketing chief and Financial Controller.

Aside from the financial remit, my responsibilities there included the marketing and franchise activities relating to nine constituent businesses in the Pan-Arabian area. Since then, my specialist accounting experience has been complemented by broader corporate advisory roles, plus several leadership positions including Chief Executive for a major aerospace engineering firm. In the last seven years with Deloitte & Touche, I operated at Board level to create value for investors, lenders and other stakeholders. I worked with under-performing and financially distressed businesses to address both operating and financial issues, focusing on strategy development, business planning and performance improvement. Away from work, I wouldn’t be Scottish if I didn’t enjoy football, golf and hillwalking, So I do, and also value any time I get to share with my family.» Email now

Mark Barry

I graduated in Law at Glasgow University specialising in private and contract law which fuelled my initial interest in business and commerce. After a year working and travelling in East Asia and Australia, I joined KPMG to train as a Chartered Accountant and earned my stripes in the audit department.

At KPMG, I worked with both owner-managed businesses and multi-national blue-chip companies before moving into corporate recovery and restructuring. During this time, I worked throughout the UK on both formal insolvencies and also financial advisory assignments, including commercial and operational reviews, early exit disposals and MBO/MBIs across a wide range of industries.

To supplement my advisory work, I spent 6 months working in-house at a major lender helping to develop and implement turnaround strategies for their portfolio of distressed companies before joining Symphony in 2008.

Outside of office hours, I enjoy running, travelling, going to as many gigs as I can. Time permitting, I also plan to fashion something resembling a passable golf swing in the near future.» Email now

David Armour

My professional career has been spent working at board level, primarily with owner managers and their financial backers, with a focus on the creation, growth and realisation of shareholder value. My strengths are in quickly understanding the dynamics of a business and its management, building robust sales/marketing, operational and financial plans to support overall business strategy and the willingness to get my sleeves rolled up to help in their implementation.

Having trained at KPMG, my desire to work with SMEs has taken me to be a founder member of two businesses. I was a partner at AMCo from 1995 to 2001, helping build the leading independent Corporate Advisory practice in Scotland. I was responsible for the firm’s transactions management and due diligence practice, counting all leading Scottish institutional investors and banks within our client list and acting as lead adviser on over 50 venture capital and/or banking deals.

From 2001 to early 2009, I was a partner at Pentech Ventures, a leading early stage technology investor, taking a leading role in all investments and exits made by the Pentech funds. I played an active part in raising over £60m of investment funding and also provided portfolio companies with commercial & business advice in a variety of dynamic, high growth technology sectors.

Spending time with my wife and 3 young children dominates my leisure time although I do have the odd opportunity to enjoy sports travelling and DIY.» Email now