Private Capital Sustainability Conference

Alex Shadbolt

Investment Manager & Impact Lead, Future Planet Capital

Alex Shadbolt is an Investment Manager and leads Future Planet Capital’s impact efforts. With a background in research, most recently with the University of Cambridge’s Keynes Fund, exploring instances of market failure, mispricing and incentive systems within VC, Alex is driving Future Planet Capital’s formalisation of impact for investment decisions, internal operations and portfolio management. In 2025, this work was recognised by the BVCA and FPC were presented with the 'Excellence in Impact’ Award.

Previously, Alex spent time at the Open Data Institute, creating and embedding the groups Impact Framework, successfully bidding for key government contracts and co-authoring the company’s five-year strategy.

He looks to bring this deep impact knowledge to investments, on both the Blue Ocean Fund and Global Growth Fund, as part of the Origination Team, investing into the likes of REGENT, Pragmatic Semiconductors and XFuel. Additionally, Alex heads up ESG at Future Planet, as well as co-authoring Future Planet Capital’s impact reports and chairing the BVCA’s Green Finance Task Force. Alex holds a first-class degree from Exeter in Liberal Arts, majoring in Economics, as well as completing the Venture Capital Executive Programme at UC Berkeley.

Askhat Rathi

Senior Reporter, Bloomberg News

Akshat Rathi is a London-based senior reporter for Bloomberg News. His first book Climate Capitalism has been named one of the best books of the year by The Times and The Economic Times. It’s the subject of his 2024 TED talk. He has also edited a book of essays from young climate leaders.

Akshat has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Oxford, and a BTech in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. You can sign up to his weekly Zero newsletter, subscribe to his weekly Zero podcast, and follow him on BlueSky and LinkedIn.

Previously, Akshat was a senior reporter at Quartz and a science editor at The Conversation. His work has been cited widely, including in New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and The Guardian. He has won numerous awards for his journalism.

Akshat has won fellowships from Columbia University and City University of New York to enhance his reporting work. He has also served on the advisory panel of the 2019 Cairncross Review on the sustainability of high-quality journalism in the UK.
 

Beverley Gower-Jones MBE

Managing Partner, Clean Growth Fund

Beverley Gower-Jones MBE is Founder and Managing Partner of Clean Growth Investment Management, a venture capital fund manager that  invests in the UK's most promising early stage cleantech companies that have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. She is also CEO of Carbon Limiting Technologies (2006), a cleantech consultancy for corporates, financiers, government officials and SMEs. Prior she was she was a founder and Vice President, Shell Technology Ventures.

Beverley is a thought leader in early stage cleantech investments and commercialisation with over 40 years’ experience in the international energy sector. She specialises in accelerating innovation to market and scaling companies by providing strategic insights, developing industry partnerships and identifying novel ways to overcome barriers to entry. Her ambition is to create a better, sustainable world and she firmly believes that this will be achieved through climatetech innovation playing a transformative role in the global economy. In 2023, Beverley was awarded an OBE by His Majesty King Charles III for services to Net Zero innovation.

She is a NED and Chair of Investment Committee at Great British Energy and previously an independent member of the UK’s cross-government Net Zero Innovation Board chaired by the chief science advisor, Dame Angela McLean. Beverley is a Fellow of the Energy Institute. She holds a BSc in Mining Geology from University College Cardiff.
 

Bill Esterson MP

Sefton Central and Chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, Labour Party

Bill Esterson MP was elected as Chair of the Committee in September 2024,. This role includes leading parliamentary scrutiny of the Government’s approach to net zero and energy security, championing policies that support lower bills, green jobs and the deployment of world leading clean technologies.

Caroline Truong

Impact & ESG Manager, Lightrock

Caroline Truong joined Lightrock in 2022. Prior to Lightrock, Caroline worked at impact investment boutique iGravity, was a research associate at the Centre for Sustainable Finance & Private Wealth of the University of Zurich, and worked for a global accelerator supporting sustainable start-ups in the water space.

Caroline holds an MA in International Relations and Economics from the University of St. Gallen.
 

Hannah Gilbert

Director Sustainability, British Business Bank

Hannah Gilbert is responsible for developing the Bank’s approach to sustainable finance, with a particular focus on equity investment.

Hannah’s works at the nexus of technology, innovation and impact.  Starting her career in commercial roles in telecoms and technology, she has pursued a range of innovation, operational and strategy roles for organisations including ‘3’, HM Treasury, ShareAction and Phoenix Group as well as advising sustainability-focused start-ups.

Hannah has a MSc Economics, a Masters in Sustainable Tourism (Distinction) and an Executive MBA (Distinction) and CFA certificate Climate and Investing. She is passionate about governance and decision-making along the finance value chain to deliver better outcomes for all.  Hannah is also an angel investor and qualified yoga teacher.
 

Harriet Assem

Head of Sustainability, UK Private Capital

Harriet Assem is UK Private Capital’s Head of Sustainability. Her role is focussed in supporting industry/market practice and delivering on strategic projects/initiatives with policy related work on new international sustainability standards (and other emerging initiatives).

Prior to joining UK Private Capital she spent a number of years in environmental consultancy. 
Her most recent role included leading a team which provided ESG related strategy services to cross sector clients including private equity. She also played a lead role in developing and publishing the ESG Transparency A Private Equity and Venture Capital Index.

Previous to that, her career started in environmental due diligence where she worked on several high-profile merger and acquisition deals, providing environmental due diligence advice.

Jeremy Brown

Head of Climate Strategies and Investment Principal, Anthemis

Jeremy Brown is an Investment Principal at Anthemis and leads on the firm's climate and energy initiatives, focused on early investments across Europe. He is a former geophysicist and has been a venture investor in Silicon Valley, Berlin, and London. He has a background in deep technology investments spanning construction/built environment, energy, manufacturing, and climate.

Jeremy holds a Ph.D in geophysics from Stanford University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
 

Jon Pollock

CEO, Elbow Beach Capital

Jon Pollock is the Chief Executive and Managing Partner at Elbow Beach, an early-stage investor focused on climate technologies that improve industrial productivity, efficiency, and outcomes at scale. With 20 years of commercial leadership experience in the tech and telecoms sectors - including senior roles at BT Group, the FTSE 100 media and telecoms company JP brings a sharp focus on customer value, scalability, and economic impact to cleantech investing.

Inspired by COP26 and a belief that the sector needed a more commercially grounded approach, JP co-founded Elbow Beach to invest in technologies that improve customer outcomes while delivering meaningful climate impact. Under his leadership, the firm targets transformative innovations in advanced manufacturing, green computing, automation, electrification, and low-carbon materials.

JP believes the future of cleantech lies at the intersection of commercial viability and climate benefit. He encourages founders to focus on delivering real customer value - technologies that reduce costs, improve performance, and drive adoption at scale will define the next generation of climate solutions.
 

Laura Callaghan

Head of Advisory, EMEA, Novata

Laura Callaghan has over 9 years of sustainability experience. She is a Chartered Environmentalist and Certified Climate Risk and Sustainability professional advising companies and investors across the globe and a range of industries.

Laura began her career in technical environmental due diligence, then moved her focus to supporting clients from a strategic perspective including ESG materiality, climate risk, strategy, and implementation as well as alignment to core regulations such as the CSRD, SFDR, TCFD, and more.
 

Laurie Cameron

Director of Sustainability, PAI Partners

Laurie Cameron is Director of Sustainability within PAI Partners’ Portfolio Performance Team. He is responsible for value creation and risk mitigation activities across the portfolio through a sustainability lens, working closely with investment professionals and portfolio company leadership teams. His other responsibilities include oversight of PAI’s ESG performance ratings, the sustainability linked loan programme, and regulatory compliance processes.

Laurie has over a decade of experience in the deals and sustainability space. He joined PAI in 2022 from PwC, where he worked in the Sustainability practice focusing on ESG due diligence and climate risk management for financial institutions. Prior to this, he spent four years in PwC’s Transaction Services team, qualifying as an ACA Chartered Accountant and leading financial due diligence projects.

Laurie holds a BA in Economics from the University of Kent and a postgraduate qualification in Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health from the University of Edinburgh. He is an IEMA qualified environmental practitioner and holds IOSH and NEBOSH safety certifications.
 

Lucie Mills

Partner, NorthEdge

Lucie Mills joined NorthEdge in 2019 to bring her experience of delivering change in a fast growth business to the private equity house itself.

As a Partner, Lucie supports NorthEdge portfolio companies to operationalise and deliver their value creation plan; facilitates portfolio connectivity to share learnings, best practice and access to the operating partner network; supports with Investor Relations and fundraising activities; and takes responsibility for ESG – recognising the role it plays in building better businesses and driving long-term value creation.

Lucie is also very active in wider industry advocacy, including taking on the role of Chair of the BVCA’s Responsible Investment Advisory Group in 2024 and regularly engaging with senior ministers to ensure the Lower-Mid Market & the UK regions are well represented in conversations regarding reform and policy development.

Maggie Loo

Partner, Client & Strategy Development, Bridges Fund Management

Maggie Loo looks after client relationships for Bridges Fund Management’s platform of funds and is responsible for raising capital for the firm’s investment strategies, spanning private equity, property and outcomes partnerships. These have included successive funds and separate accounts in existing strategies as well as the development of new strategies to the Bridges platform.  She is also a member of Bridges’ Executive Committee.

Before her current role in Client & Strategy Development, Maggie spent her first five years as a member of the investment team of the Bridges Sustainable Growth Funds and worked on a number of investments in the Sustainable Living theme, including the successful exit of Whelan Refining.

Prior to joining Bridges, Maggie worked at London-based Climate Change Capital, a specialist merchant bank in the environmental markets. She started her career as a strategy management consultant with McKinsey & Co in New York City. Maggie studied environmental science and public policy at Harvard University and has an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Maggie has served as a member of the British Venture Capital & Private Equity Association Advisory Group on Impact Investment, the Pensions for Purpose Advisory Group, the Financing a Just Transition Alliance, the Working Group on Place-based Impact Investing, and the Working Group on Re-visioning Social Investment as part of the UK National Advisory Board on Impact Investing.  She is a frequent speaker on the topics of sustainable and impact investment and the private markets industry.
 

Matthew Sumner

ESG and Sustainability Lead, SEP

Matthew Sumner is Sustainability & ESG Lead at Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), where he has spent the past six years embedding sustainability and responsible investment across the investment lifecycle. He works closely with investment teams, founders and boards to drive portfolio value creation, with a focus on governance, strategy and resilience across European B2B SaaS and technology-enabled businesses.

Michelle Lamprecht

Head of Corporate Affairs, Cambridge Innovation Capital

Michelle Lamprecht is Head of Corporate Affairs and manages CIC’s ESG and Impact strategy, marketing strategy, and is a communications advisor/mentor to CIC’s portfolio companies.

She brings 20 years of international leadership experience in strategic communications and business, spanning both publicly listed and privately owned organisations.

Michelle has held several governance and advisory roles, including serving as a board member for Byte Night (Action for Children) and as a trustee for Citizens Advice. She is currently a Non-Executive Director at Form the Future and a member of UK Private Capital's Value Creation Taskforce, UK Private Captial's External Affairs Advisory Committee, and the Reframe Venture Portfolio Support Committee.

She holds a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry and a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing.

Ravi Bhatt

Director & Head of Responsible Impact, Apis Partners

Ravi Bhatt has spent much of his career within Financial Services, both in an advisory and investment context.

At Apis he is part of the investment team, and is also responsible for the social impact focus of Apis’ investment mandate, and ensuring that Apis portfolio companies adhere to solid ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles.

Prior to joining Apis, Ravi gained extensive advisory experience within Financial Services, having worked on a number of EMEA strategy and buy-side acquisition engagements at Anthemis Group and Nomura.

He lives in London, and in his spare time enjoys hiking, music, and seeing new places.
 

Sarah Adams

Director of Policy, UK Private Capital

Sarah Adams is Director of Policy at UK Private Capital, with Isobel Clarke. Isobel and Sarah have worked as a jobshare partnership since early 2020. They lead the Policy team and their work across tax, legal, regulatory, accounting and sustainability matters, working closely with members and UK Private Capital's committees to progress key technical and strategic policy issues.

Sarah has over a decade of experience making policy in the centre of government, mainly at HM Treasury. She has led on policy areas across tax, spending and financial services, including pensions tax, venture capital and insurance markets. With Isobel, she has been deputy director for business tax strategy at HM Treasury, and deputy director for open justice and dispute resolution at the Ministry of Justice.

Sarah lives in London with her family. She studied economics at the University of Cambridge and worked on global health economics before joining the civil service.

Stefanie Fairholme

Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer, Capital Solutions, British International Investment

Stefanie Fairholme is Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer for Capital Solutions at British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution.

She oversees the strategy, portfolio construction and monitoring of all catalytic capital investment pools, with a mandate to deliver impact in nascent industries, pioneering business models and innovative financial structures that mobilise private finance into emerging and frontier economies.