Meet the Team
Alaris prides itself on providing a high level of service to its clients. We therefore ensure that our senior team members are highly experienced and have a strong track record working in professional business environments.
Management and Administration Team
Nicholas Stone
Director
Nicholas graduated from Durham University in 1988.
In 1992, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand, where he spent four years in the financial services practice group and on secondment to the tax practice.
Later that year Nicholas joined the corporate finance department of Carnegie International Limited, part of the Nordbanken group, as an executive. His work included advising public and private companies, both within the UK and elsewhere in Europe, on acquisition and disposal transactions and IPOs. Whilst with Carnegie, Nicholas passed the SFA’s Securities Representative examinations.
Nicholas joined Cavendish in 1995, where he was subsequently appointed Director, M&A. During his time with Cavendish, Nicholas completed transactions across a broad range of sectors including business services, consumer, distribution, healthcare products and services, manufacturing and retail. These included advising on the sale of City Plumbing Supplies to Travis Perkins plc in a £38 million transaction, the sale of Shermond Products to Bunzl plc and the sale of Lason UK (formerly MR Group plc) to TPG Post Group NV. Nicholas is a member of the ICAEW's Faculty of Corporate Finance.
Email: nicholas.stone@alariscapital.co.uk
Jane Willis
Head of Operations
Jane worked in the City of London for six years as a European equity salesperson, working with Merrill Lynch, Amro International Securities, Credit Lyonnais and Carnegie. Jane subsequently spent three years in New York establishing the equity sales operations of Carnegie, Inc. in the USA.
Jane is an Exeter University Graduate, BA (Hons) in German and also completed a post-graduate course in Business Administration with German.
Charlotte Raison
Office Manager
Charlotte has a background working in senior management support positions in client-service focused businesses within the legal, insurance, advertising and marketing professions. Charlotte has particular experience in IT systems and software applications. With 15 years experience, Charlotte ensures the smooth day-to-day operation of the office.
Advisory and Transaction Team
David Wyeth
Senior Mergers and Acquisitions Consultant
As a senior advisor to Alaris, David brings his considerable experience to the company.
David founded Barcroft Partnership in 1995, a corporate finance boutique focused on mergers and acquisitions in the IT, business services and management consultancy sectors.
David has taken the lead role in a wide variety of assignments for both Government and commercial organisations. As a Director of the independent venture capital company Baronsmead, he acted as a Non-Executive Director of a number of investee companies.
David graduated from Cambridge University in 1969 with a degree in Mathematics and then gained degrees in Computer Science from Stanford University (MSc) and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (PhD).
Mark Fancett
Senior Mergers and Acquisitions Consultant
Mark is a strategy and corporate development professional by background, with over 15 years experience in the transport and third party logistics sector.
With a BA Honours degree in geography from Durham University and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Cass Business School in London, Mark has held senior positions with Hays plc, Unipart Logistics, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and most recently with TDG plc, where he was Group Corporate Development Director.
Mark is experienced in mergers and acquisitions in both smaller scale deals and large scale corporate transactions, business unit strategic planning and group corporate strategy development. He has extensive international experience in Europe, the Middle East and in Africa.
Vivienne Brook
Senior Mergers and Acquisitions Consultant
Vivienne graduated from the University of Lancaster with a BSc (Hons) in Economics.
Following graduation, Vivienne joined Storehouse plc where she worked across all sectors culminating in the acquisition and subsequent roll-out in the UK of French childrenswear company Jacadi.
Vivienne joined Bristol and West in 1991 and was subsequently appointed Head of Retail Operations. During her time there she developed strategic business plans, carried out operational effectiveness reviews including performance and change management, as well as business process re-engineering and behavioural efficiency. Vivienne implemented improved performance measures and ensured they were aligned to strategic goals. Vivienne analysed all areas of the business, identified key performance drivers and devised appropriate financial and non-financial measures.
Vivienne has worked on a number of successful Alaris transactions including the sales of Incentive Plus, Incentive Group and Newchurch.
Janet Bonthron
Senior Mergers and Acquisitions Consultant
Janet has a first class honours degree in Geography from the University of Sheffield and an MSc in Engineering Hydrology from the University of Newcastle.
Janet completed a full-time MBA course at London Business School having started her career as a consultant, firstly in Hydrology with Binnie & Partners and then in Management Sciences with Peat Marwick (now KPMG). She subsequently set up and ran an independent UK publishing house for six years.
Janet commenced working with Alaris in 2006.
Research Team
Sandra Graham
Head of Research
Sandra graduated with a BA (Hons) in English from the University of Leeds and she completed her Post-Graduate Diploma in Information Management in 1994. Sandra went on to become a Member of the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals.
Sandra’s early career was spent in a variety of roles in the public sector and periods working abroad in Libya and at the British Consulate in New York.
In 1995 Sandra joined Barcroft Partnership, a corporate finance boutique specialising in company acquisitions and disposals focusing on the IT and business services sectors, where she provided business information research services.
Sandra went on to become an Information Researcher at Exemplas Holdings, an organisation providing business services and advice to growing companies. This role involved conducting in-depth business information research projects for internal and external clients, including assisting with mergers and acquisitions projects for clients in the corporate finance sector.
Marketing Team
Debbie Hawkes
Marketing Consultant
Debbie has over twenty years marketing experience, working with a diverse range of agencies and brands including Saatchi & Saatchi, British Airways, Sony, Mars, Exxon Mobil and Associated Newspapers. Her skills encompass all disciplines of marketing from above the line advertising to digital and social media.