Charles co-founded Agathos with William de Laszlo in 2014, setting out to build a leading equity partner for UK SMEs. Today he sits on the boards of six of Agathos’s investments, leads the growing Agathos team, and works on new investment opportunities. He also chairs Agathos’s Investment Committee. His focus is on helping ambitious management teams build profitable and resilient UK businesses in partnership with Agathos.

Charles has spent his entire career working with UK SMEs – both with high-growth, profitable businesses as well as those in complex and distressed situations. He was previously CFO of Ennismore, a successful real estate and hospitality business, joining when the business had £10m turnover and 35 employees. Over five years, he led the investment team and finance functions, helping scale the organisation to more than 1,500 employees, AUM of over $1bn and turnover exceeding £200m. During that period Ennismore featured in the Virgin Fast Track top 30 for three consecutive years, giving Charles first-hand experience of what it means to be involved in a management team coping with rapid and exciting phases of change.

Earlier roles include four years as investment director at Better Capital LLP, deploying a £204m fund into operational improvement and turnaround situations, and six years at BDO specialising in transactions almost exclusively involving UK SMEs. He is ACA qualified and holds an MA in Classics from Cambridge University.

Founding Agathos has allowed Charles to be part of an energetic team who are determined to achieve sustained success together and who know that this will come from helping portfolio companies achieve their goals. He believes Agathos’s role is to use experience to provide management teams with the support they need to grow their businesses, realise their visions and create long-term value. He sees open, honest communication and collaboration as the best foundations for achieving success.

Outside work, Charles enjoys time with his wife, daughter and son, trips to the theatre, amateur sport, and an ongoing interest in history and psychology.