TEAM
Senior experience across finance, energy and technology.
Our leadership has built and sold companies, run treasury and capital markets for major banks, and sat on financial services, technology and port boards. We assemble the right team for each engagement from our leadership and a network of senior specialists.
Growth, raises and exits
Peter Ellen
Peter has spent 35 years building technology businesses from start-up to exit. He co-founded Maxymiser, the testing and personalisation platform that served 10bn+ users a day for clients including HSBC, AMEX and the BBC, and led it to a cash sale to Oracle at 11x its Series A valuation.
He went on to found Big Data for Humans, which exited into AirAsia, and earlier co-founded Fopp, growing it from one shop to a £35m, 22-store chain. For the past five years he has worked in low-carbon fuels, building H2C and advising producers on commercial strategy and financing. He writes on carbon pricing and energy policy at Carbon Disruption.
Banking and capital markets
David Peebles
David is an entrepreneurial banker. He led treasury and capital markets at RBS, Clydesdale Bank and National Australia Bank. He founded a treasury advisory firm serving 30+ banks across EMEA, and has developed large private property businesses. He also served on the board of a leading UK Building Society for twelve years, where he chaired the audit committee and was Senior Independent Director.
At First Carbon he brings the lender's view: how credit committees assess projects, how to structure debt, and what makes a capital plan bankable. He has deep expertise in financial markets, including interest rate and currency risk management.
OUR NETWORK
Depth when a project needs it
Every engagement has a senior lead accountable from start to finish, supported by specialists from our network as the work requires.
Investors and lenders. Specialist investors, banks and other sources of project and growth capital.
Engineering. Engineering specialists to review design, cost and delivery before lenders do.
Maritime and ports. Advisers from shipping, ports and marine fuels.
Lease and asset finance. Structuring equipment and asset finance alongside project debt.
Carbon markets and certification. Emissions trading, carbon border rules and certificate markets.
Financial modelling. Lender-grade project and corporate models.
Public funding and grants. UK and EU grants, public investors and support schemes.
Legal and regulatory. Energy, shipping and finance regulation, and contracts.
Planning and consents. Planning, environmental assessment and permitting.
Academic research. University partners in energy economics and carbon pricing.
OUR BOARD
A board and advisers drawn from banking, investment, ports and technology
First Carbon’s board and advisory board bring senior experience from banking, capital markets, ports, maritime and technology, and form part of the network we draw on for each engagement.
Dr John WrightChair. Former chief executive of Clydesdale and Northern Banks and of Oman International Bank; board member at Butterfield Bank.
Doug DowieBoard member. Former chair and chief executive of Emirates NBD and board member of the Central Bank of the UAE.
James VargaBoard member. Pioneered global standards and technology in financial services, including open banking and Direct ID.
Atul PatelBoard member. Based in Dubai Atul heads a large family office. Prior to that he held senior strategic roles in banking in US, EMEA and APAC.
Jon KeyAdvisory board. Director of Strategy, Innovation and Transformation at V.Group; a leader in UK maritime digitalisation.
Simon BirdAdvisory board. Former executive director at ABP, chief executive of Bristol Port and board member at Mersey Docks; past chair of the UK Major Ports Group.
Talk to us.
Every engagement starts with a conversation with our leadership team.