Coast is a womenswear fashion retailer with global sales of £140 million and over 300 outlets in 20 countries. In addition to the regular FD duties I was responsible for:- the restructure of the global property portfolio, including the strategy and negotiating, resulting in 50 closures in 7 countries;- driving significant head office and retail cost savings;- financial, legal and operational demerger from the group company;- the online business that more than doubled in sales;- driving significant stock clearing plan; and- Legal and IT, including implementation of a new merchandising platform.

The owner of the fashion retail brands Oasis, Warehouse and Coast with sales over £500m in over 40 countries.

Karen Millen is a UK based international fashion retailer with sales over £250m and operates in over 40 countries. Karen Millen was demerged from the Aurora Group in 2009.

Managed a portfolio worth over $1bn of mainly controlling stakes in private equity and debt in retail, real estate and manufacturing. I worked closely with the management teams on strategy and finance as well as led acquisitions, disposals, debt restructurings, refinancings, spin-offs etc. Key assets:- Aurora Fashions – The owner of the international fashion brands Oasis, Warehouse and Coast with sales over £600m in 40 countries. Kaupthing was the sole owner of the debt and majority shareholder. - Karen Millen – Premium high street retailer with over £250m in sales in 50 countries. - Huurre Group - International refrigeration service company with over €200m in turnover. - Celsius - French real estate business with 11 large commercial properties. - All Saints – Managed the sale process of the fashion retailer All Saints Limited which resulted in Lion Capital acquiring the business in May 2010. All Saints had sales of approximately £220m.- Other - Responsible for a number of minority equity and debt exposures including Jane Norman and House of Fraser as well as liquidation of structured bond portfolio and illiquid portfolio of listed equity including oil and gas, healthcare and retail companies as well as advised the investment committee on various matters including the restructure of Arion Banki in Iceland and the sale of FIH Bank in Denmark.

Selected Investment Banking transactions:- October 2008 – Al Wa'ab City – Financial advisor for Al Wa'ab City, a real estate project in Qatar. Raised $1.4bn of debt and equity, both from international and Middle Eastern investors. - September 2008 – Circle Oil – Led a working group on Kaupthing's $10m principle investment in Circle Oil, an African based E&P company listed on AIM. - June 2008 – Econergy – AIM listed renewable energy company. Advisor for the largest shareholder, Vincent Tchenguiz, in a takeover process. A battle that ended with Suez offering 100% takeover premium.- December 2007 – New Britain Palm Oil Ltd – IPO on London Main List, $180m equity offering and $720m valuation. A large-scale producer of palm oil based in Papua New Guinea, supplying the food and biofuel sectors, the largest Asian IPO in London in 2007 and the winner of the IPO award. Co-led the entire transaction and sole responsibility for the roadshow in the Nordic region.- June 2007 – Century Aluminum – Led the dual listing of Century Aluminum on the OMX stock exchange and the bank’s co-management role in a global $400m equity offering. Century owns primary aluminium capacity in the US and Iceland. Century’s primary listing is on Nasdaq.

Selected transactions:- April 2007 – Milestone – €900m sell side advisory for a majority sharholder in Glitnir Bank - March 2007 – Kaupthing - sale of a majority stake in the Icelandic fishing company HB Grandi for £60m. - September 2006 – Exista –IPO on the Nasdaq OMX stock exchange and a capital raising of €280 m. Exista was an Iceland investment company. - December 2004 – Alfesca – €330m acquisition of the French food manufacturer Labeyrie and €230 m equity offering. Alfesca is leading European producer in its selected categories, which are smoked seafood, regional duck products, shellfish, blini etc.