about capital angels

The 'core' members of the syndicate are led by Fraser Niven, CEO of Hamilton & Kinneil Estates.

The Estate is headed up by the Duke of Hamilton, Scotland's premier peer, and is based at the historically significant Lennoxlove House, Haddington, East Lothian.

Fraser Niven
Fraser, a Chartered Accountant, has had a very successful career in financial and general management covering a variety of industry sectors. The types of business include retail, hospitality, residential property development, mineral exploitation, farming and estate management and investment portfolio management.

He has a detailed knowledge of accounting process and responsibilities with an acute awareness of the need for accurate, relevant and timely reporting of information for management. He has a "hands-on" approach to all aspects of the business with a commercial awareness, adaptable across a range of industries, which is reflected in business modelling and strategic planning.

Fraser's current role at Hamilton and Kinneil is to manage the business affairs of the Duke of Hamilton and his family and importantly to seek out new investment opportunities that will provide income and capital growth for the future.

Alick Houstoun
Alick's current business interests span property rental, mentoring, vehicle retailing and company turnarounds. He started his career in farm equipment and added commercial vehicles, farm buildings, plant, forestry and grounds care to the family business which spanned Scotland prior to its sale.

Alick now uses his extensive experience to help companies with changing markets, succession issues or simply lost their way. He majors on sales and marketing but brings sage business advice and practical skills gained from years of experience at the sharp end.

In conjunction with Capital Angels he can access a wide range of professional, business and financial contacts easily and quickly.

Michiel Smith
Michiel was born in Holland where he obtained a master's degree in Financial Business Economics and a post-graduate master in Financial Analysis. Michiel is a certified EFFAS Financial Analyst. After completing his studies, he worked as an Equity Analyst with Robeco (part of the Rabo Bank Group), covering the retail, leisure and transport sector. He was also responsible for setting up the Socially Responsible Investment methodology within the Rabo Bank Group.

Michiel has been a Non-Executive Director and informal investor since 2000, and has invested in amongst other things: gift ware shops, guest houses, school book distributors and thermoforming companies.

Larry McConaghy
Larry has a Degree in Economics and a successful track record in retail operational management, business development and profit improvement with several major national retail groups.

Company Director since 1989; experienced in SME turnarounds, implementation of management controls, identification of profit opportunities, writing business plans raising finance and achieving improved performance.

Larry led MBO of an SME manufacturing and retail business in 1991, managed and developed the company leading to a successful and profitable sale in 2003.

He's currently an accredited member of I.B.D. (Business advisory group) and Managing Director and 100% shareholder of Seabrook Ltd. which owns and operates the Edinburgh and Fife franchise for Apollo Blinds.

An experienced, successful, practical, and commercially aware Company Director and SME owner looking for opportunities to be actively involved in developing and improving businesses.

Ann Robb
Ann has over 20 years' marketing and business experience and started her career at Tennent Caledonian Breweries before joining United Distillers to work on their whisky brands.

She then moved into financial services marketing with the Royal Bank and her last employed position was Head of Advertising at Scottish Widows.

In 2000 she set-up Scotland's first specialist marketing recruitment agency and more recently she launched an e-commerce business which she continues to run together with providing marketing consultancy services to other businesses.

Ann's qualifications include a BA Honours in Business Economics with Marketing and a Post Graduate Certificate in Journalism.

Colin Smith
An economist with a degree in Industrial Economics, Colin was employed in the transport industry for many years with Firstbus (now FirstGroup), latterly as a main board member and Regional Director for Scotland, gaining considerable experience in corporate activities and change management.

He continued his involvement in the transport industry as a consultant for both individual companies and Local Authorities.

More recently Colin has worked with new start companies providing mentoring and guidance on management issues, best practice and corporate governance. He has taken equity stakes in such companies and been involved as a Non Executive Director.

He continues to be an active investor with a varied range of venture capital investments.