Forestry Forestry

Olly joined Gresham House in February 2019 as Managing Director of Forestry. Olly is responsible for all facets of the Gresham House forestry business and additionally oversees the deployment and asset management of the wider real asset investment portfolio, including all solar PV and wind assets.

Olly has over 20 years’ experience in the finance sector beginning his career with Baring Brothers and then ING Barings, more recently he was a Partner and Head of Infrastructure at Oxford Capital. Olly is a specialist real asset investment manager with a background in developing, structuring and managing a wide array of financial and infrastructure asset backed portfolios. He has a BA and MA from Oxford University and also holds the Investment Management Certificate from the CFA Society in the UK.

Rupert is the Managing Director of Gresham House Asset Management Ltd and has 30 years’ experience in asset management and wealth management, focused on product innovation, investment management, business development, banking and wealth structuring. Rupert has a strong track record of delivering significant shareholder value. He was previously CEO and CIO of Schroders (UK) Private Bank and head of private clients at Rothschild Asset Management Limited.

Rob started out working in London for five years with CNBC Europe. Working within the financial sector led to an interest in investment analysis and financial modelling. Graduating with a distinction from his Applied Carbon Management MSc at Glasgow University, Rob set up a consultancy focusing on carbon management in forestry and the potential to realise value within this emerging sector. This led to working for Gresham House, working alongside Digby Guy on acquisitions and business development.

Graham is an experienced forestry professional, responsible for all operational aspects of the Gresham House forestry funds. After a short period of practical experience in the UK, Sweden and New Zealand, he joined UA Forestry Ltd (a division of United Auctions Group) as a forest manager, progressing to become their managing director in 1997.

In 2001, he left UA to found his own forestry management company, Aspen Forestry Ltd, which specialised in providing forest management services across Scotland. Following the successful sale of Aspen, Graham joined Gresham House in 2007. His specialism is in developing, negotiating and managing non-forestry ‘higher and better use’ investments on behalf of client funds, particularly renewable energy developments, telecom rentals, power line access and compensation and residential developments.

Edward oversees the provision of fund management services to Gresham House’s forestry funds and private clients, and manages one of the funds directly. Prior to joining Gresham House, Edward worked for Ludgate Investments advising the Ludgate Environmental Fund, an AIM listed closed-ended fund, on investing development capital in cleantech and environmental technology companies.

Previously he was at EY, providing buy-side due diligence and related transaction services to private equity clients in New York and London. Edward is a Chartered Accountant and is a registered adviser with the Financial Conduct Authority, and holds a BA (Hons) in Economics and Accounting from Newcastle University.

Adam joined Gresham House in April 2019 as part of the Forestry asset management team. He assists with all aspects of operational management across several forest portfolios and has varied experience of large scale forest management and of timber harvesting and marketing.

After achieving a first class BA (Hons) in History from the University of Nottingham, Adam started his career with the Forestry Commission at Grizedale Forest, Cumbria, where he first developed an interest in forest management. He went on to gain an MSc in Forestry from the University of Aberdeen and has since worked for seven years in commercial forestry, mainly on the west coast of Scotland.

Anthony’s background is in investment banking, having previously worked for international firms in London, New York and South America, including Macquarie and Merrill Lynch. At Gresham House, he is responsible for business development, marketing and sales for our forestry and new energy assets, also managing one of the funds.

Anthony has a BA (Hons) in History from Newcastle University and is an Investment Management Certificate holder. He is also a registered adviser with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Ed works on the origination, appraisal, execution and management of renewable energy investments. Prior to joining Gresham House, Ed worked with KPMG, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, before moving into commercial finance with Siemens L&A and then corporate finance with MacIntyre Hudson LLP, where he specialised in business start-ups and mid-market transactions.

Ed holds both a first class BSc in Economics from the University of Manchester and the Investment Management Certificate, and is a registered adviser with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Ed is fund manager of one of our forestry funds. His role also involves the valuation and acquisition of new investment opportunities and overseeing deal flow. Ed has over 10 years’ experience in investment management and valuation.

Prior to joining FIM in 2012, Ed worked for Cluttons LLP where he dealt with commercial property portfolios for institutional and high net worth clients. Ed is a graduate of the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, and is currently enrolled in the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) programme. He is a Chartered Surveyor and RICS Registered Valuer. Ed holds the Investment Management Certificate and is a registered advisor with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Hayden is an Asset Manager within the forestry team. After graduating with a BSc in Forestry from Bangor University in 2014, he joined Gresham House as part of the timber harvesting team, where he specialised in operational control, a key contributor to fund performance.

His remit has since expanded to include wider asset management and acquisition work. Hayden achieved Chartered Forester status in December 2017.

Henrietta is a Chartered Surveyor responsible for the asset management of Gresham House’s forestry portfolio with over 12 years’ experience in property management. Her role involves managing existing assets on behalf of clients. Prior to joining Gresham House, Henrietta managed rural estates and property in the UK along with a variety of professional work. Henrietta is a Member of RICS and a retired Fellow of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (FAAV), and holds a BSc (Hons) in Land Management from the University of Reading.

Izzy covers acquisitions across a number of divisions. Prior to joining Gresham House, Izzy worked for over seven years in consulting and hedge funds, forming and executing strategy and managing high level projects. He is also the youngest visiting professor at the prestigious IEB University in Madrid, teaching the CFA curriculum.

Izzy is a CFA Charter holder and has a MSc in Finance from the University of Exeter. He speaks Spanish and Dutch fluently and is a registered adviser with the Financial Conduct Authority.

James is an Investment Analyst with over 6 years’ experience across Forestry and Renewables, and providing asset management for the FIM Forest Fund I LP. James is a Level II candidate in the CFA programme and holds the Investment Management Certificate and a BA in Business Administration.

Previously, James worked for J.P Morgan in equities and fixed income operations before moving into commodity derivatives at RWE. Prior to joining FIM and Gresham House, he was on the dealing desk of Computershare Investor Services, trading global equities for corporate share and compensation schemes.

Based out of Gresham House’s Dumfries office, Jason is responsible for the effective management of the forestry portfolio on behalf of clients together with continued expansion. Jason is a Chartered Surveyor and RICS Registered Valuer, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters, MBA graduate, IMD Alumni and Aberdeen University forestry graduate with key experiences including forestry investment appraisal and due diligence. Jason has a long background in forestry, timber processing and woodland creation and specialises in forestry investment.

Josh joined Gresham House in 2019. He previously worked at Hazelwoods, a regional firm of accountants as a Corporate Finance Executive. He obtained a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Business from the University of Reading in 2017, during which he interned at PwC.

Matthew is focused on forestry investments, with a single client portfolio of circa 14,000 ha of commercial forestry. Prior to Gresham House, he worked as a forest manager for 12 years, based in Scotland, responsible for extensive areas in South Wales, the north of England, and Scotland. Duties included client liaison, budgets, timber sales, woodland purchases, restocking, road building and grant applications.

His previous experience included the responsibility for FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) audits on all the forest areas previously managed. Matthew is a qualified chartered forester and graduated holds an honours degree in Forestry from the University of Central Lancashire, following practical experience in the UK and in Australia.

Matt is a chartered surveyor with over 13 years’ experience in investment management. He is responsible for the asset management of FIM’s forestry portfolio and for family office and high net worth individuals’ forestry and renewable portfolios worth over £360m. Matt is also responsible for the valuation and acquisition of investment opportunities.

Prior to Gresham House and FIM, Matt worked for Smiths Gore as a rural estate manager, advising a number of private clients on the management of their diverse property portfolios. Before this, he worked for Jones Lang LaSalle in their financial services team advising on the formation of joint venture property development companies. Matt holds the Certificate in Investments and is a registered adviser with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Richard is a Chartered Surveyor whose experience covers all property issues. His expertise includes: complex documentation and due diligence matters, developing and implementing investment schemes – particularly those based on tax-efficient structures – and managing a wide range of investor contacts established through FIM’s investment business. Richard is a registered adviser with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Simon is a Chartered Forester with over ten years of private and public sector experience. He has a BSc in Forestry from Bangor University, graduating in 2008. He specialises in woodland creation and general forest management.

Stephen specialises in all aspects of marketing, harvesting, and extraction of client timber. A professional forester, working on clients’ behalf with sawmills and other end-users as well as responsibility for crop mensuration and appraisal, prior to harvesting decision.

After gaining experience in timber harvesting as a self-employed chainsaw operator he joined Smiths Gore as an assistant forest manager, where he developed his forestry management skills, qualified as a professional tree inspector and began working towards Chartered Forester status, which was successfully achieved in 2010.

Prior to joining Gresham House, Tom worked for Polar Capital for 5 years on both the investment and operational side, during which time he completed the IMC. Following a sustainability direction, he designed and built a rural indoor farm, selling the produce to local restaurants and farmers markets. He graduated in 2010 from the University of Edinburgh with a BSc (Hons) in Scientific Geography.

Fund Manager; responsible for management of in-forest operations and fund reporting. Post qualification, he worked as a forest manager on the full spectrum of forest activities, with a particular emphasis on adding value through bare land planting. In 2004, he moved to the Forestry Commission where he held various responsibilities including regulatory compliance role over the industry’s private sector. Latterly he was project manager of an IT project, and represented the Forestry Commission on the SEARS (Scotland’s Environmental & Rural Services) programme of organisational change. In 2012 he joined Gresham House Forestry and is one of the teams qualified chartered foresters.