Our Team
The members of the Prefequity team have built up highly successful track records over many years of supporting lower middle-market companies around the UK.
Theo Dickens
Theo is Managing Partner and a member of the Investment Committee. He has over 25 years’ experience in debt and equity investment. Prior to founding Prefequity, he worked in leveraged finance and investment banking with Morgan Grenfell, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. He also spent three years in mid-market private equity with NPIL. Theo’s past and present board seats include CaviTech, TLC Marketing and HealthCare International.
Nick Petrusic
Nick is Senior Partner and a member of the Investment Committee. He has over 30 years’ experience in senior and mezzanine debt and commercial lending. From 1990, he spent 10 years financing mid-market buy-out transactions with NatWest. He then worked at GSC, latterly as head of its European business responsible for two mezzanine funds focused on mid-market companies across Europe. After GSC was acquired by Black Diamond, Nick continued as European head for a further 3 years before joining Prefequity. Nick’s past and present board seats include WPI, WH Good and Central.
Johnny Carew Pole
Johnny is a Partner at Prefequity. He has invested in lower-mid market UK companies for over 20 years. Before Prefequity, he was an Investment Director at CapitalSource (mezzanine debt) and Eternity Capital (private equity) and a partner at consulting and corporate finance boutique Cairneagle Associates. He started his career at Mercer Oliver Wyman advising FTSE-100 companies on strategic and operational issues. Johnny’s past and present board seats include HealthCare International, Parabellum and Now Education.
Tom Barratt
Tom is an Investment Associate at Prefequity. Before joining Prefequity, Tom spent three years in Rothschild & Co’s mid-market team advising on both debt and equity transactions. He started his career at KPMG in their Complex and International Restructuring team, where he trained as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant and worked on a wide range of transactions from large-cap restructurings to distressed M&A mandates.
Philip Williams
Philip is Prefequity’s Finance Director. He is an ICAEW Chartered Accountant with over 10 years of experience in financial services. Before joining Prefequity, Philip spent four years at Duke Street (a mid-market private equity firm) as the number two in finance and operations. He started his career at Moore Kingston Smith (an accountancy and business advisory firm), where he qualified as an accountant and supported a portfolio of clients.
Dominic Barbour
Dominic is Prefequity’s former Finance Director and continues to act as Finance Consultant. He has over 25 years of experience in the private equity industry. From 2002 he was the Finance Partner at Hutton Collins, which raised three funds with aggregate commitments of €1.2 billion. Prior to this, Dominic was the Finance Director at Botts & Company (a mid-market private equity business) for six years.