TEAM

Management team

 
Gauri Talathi-Lamb

  • Co-Founder
    Portfolio CEO

    Gauri is a Co-Founder of Iolas Capital, a family run private equity firm based in London with a portfolio of companies in the construction and building services sector. Gauri is the Commercial Director at FHP ESS, part of Iolas Capital Group, a UK-wide mechanical and electrical engineering consultancy who draw on almost 50 years of experience providing building services engineering support to the property industry.

    Gauri trained as a Chartered Engineer at a top Mumbai University before moving to the London to complete a Masters in Management. Gauri progressed her career in construction initially growing the White Stuff real estate portfolio from 20 to 103 stores then progressing to Hugo Boss where she ultimately led the North Europe property function with £50m of Capex and c.100 projects per year, setting global construction standards and included being the youngest board member for the region. Gauri then shifted her focus to consulting for brands such as Godiva.

    As a business owner, Gauri works with like-minded team members who are passionate to make a change in the industry and use business as a vehicle for doing good.

    Gauri understands the importance of diversity in the workplace and is passionate about opening the doors to our industry and debunking the myths of who can join the industry. She is involved in speaking at schools about women in engineering and construction and is a member of WISE.

    Gauri is also a mother of a 8-year-old. She loves to paint, is a trained Indian classical dancer and loves walking and cycling over the weekends with her husband and little one.

 
James Lamb

  • Co-Founder
    Group CEO

    James is an investor and director in small businesses and has been involved in many turnarounds or management buy-out projects. James has a passion for developing information and visibility to assist management teams.

    Prior to the SME sector, James is a chartered management accountant who has spent 10 years in Corporate Finance and Strategy roles starting in consulting where he worked in clients like WPP, Unilever and Morrisons. He then went in-house and worked for 2 years in the Group Strategy team in Tesco where he was seconded for 4 months in Poland to shape the international strategy. His last role in corporate was managing the FP&A team (a CFO and Executive support function) in Pentland Brands where all the financial planning and analysis was conducted for the group, this included working on the largest corporate restructure and shaping the Berghaus strategy with the management team.

    James has also worked in the start-up sector where he was FD of a tech start-up Shavekit (£2m revenue) during a period of doubling in size, significantly improving profitability and cash flow. James has been involved in multiple turnarounds saving jobs and creating stakeholder value in a number of sectors.

    James now manages a portfolio of c.£45m revenue across UK-based construction and Engineering companies applying his financial knowledge to the SME sector.

 

  • Senior Partner

    Daniel is a Senior Partner at Iolas Capital with a background in global Private Equity-backed businesses, large FTSE 25 clients and SME start-ups. Daniel's drive is to help businesses deliver tangible change in a positive and constructive manner.

    With 15 years of experience as a Strategy and Operations consultant at Deloitte, Daniel's delivered large transformation programmes across industries and sectors in the UK, the US and globally. His particular focus was operating model improvement and profitability management - advising clients on which customers to sell to, which products to sell them, and which channels to sell through. Daniel also has experience in the start-up world - both as a director and an investor, providing unique insights across the business spectrum.

    Daniel's philosophy is profitable growth through truly understanding the organisation and delivering win-win initiatives with tangible benefits. He is a qualified Management Accountant (CIMA).

 
Bernd Hake

  • Board Advisor

    Empathetic, market-oriented turnaround architect and high-growth executive, who has worked and lived in the US and Europe for companies with global operations and led strategic international expansions delivering strong revenue gains.

    Gurrently working with a wide range of clients, primarily in the consumer goods and retail sector as well as other consumer-facing B2C businesses. In his work with clients, he has consulted on a wide array of issues, such as growth, profit enhancement, transformation, digitization, and organization redesign.

    Expertise in developing global partnerships, marketing, brand strategies and customer engagement techniques, as well as creative and innovative approaches to digital marketing.

    Experienced, enthusiastic and entrepreneurial person, with a passion for business development, M&A and building customer relationships.

    Was formally on the Executive Board of Hugo Boss as Global Chief Commercial Officer (with 7,000 employees; Revenues EUR 2.9 billion and P&L responsibility.)

  • Fiducia Ceo & Construction Principal

    Simon is the Owner and Director of Fiducia Interiors, a well established Design and Build company, specialising in refurbishment, dilapidations and construction in the commercial sector.

 

  • Financial Controller

    Jurga Wilson is the Financial Controller at Fiducia as well as Head of Finance at FHP – both of which are part of the Iolas Capital Group.

    Jurga is ACCA qualified with 15+ years of experience within a range of financial roles within SMEs, Corporates and Groups. Jurga has experience in business partnering, commercial finance, management accounting, financial control and planning.

    Commercially and technically focused and experienced in fast-paced environments, Jurga is a true team player with a broad skill set and the flexibility to lead the finance team and at the same time partner with the business, providing insight and driving profitable growth.

    An experienced leader and advisor to senior management and the wider business, Jurga enjoys building relationships across the organisation and contributing towards its success by learning and mentoring others. The hunger for knowledge and recognition is her main drive and Jurga aspires to achieve the best results for the company and herself as a professional.