Biographies

Over the last few years James Faulds has been involved in three substantial M&A deals.  In May 2003, as a non-executive director of Careshare, Scotland's largest private children's nursery chain, he helped management and VCs enjoy a profitable exit for their investment when the group was sold for £17m.

In July 2005, James played a central role in two of the largest deals completed in Scotland in that year.  As Chairman of Newell and Budge, a leading IT services company, he oversaw the sale of the business to French listed IT company Sopra for a consideration of £50m.  When James joined N&B in 2002, the business was valued at £12m.

Also in July 2005, as a non-executive director of Wood MacKenzie, James was part of the team who secured new investment in the company from Candover.  The deal valued Wood MacKenzie at £150m.  James joined the company in 2003 just after it had completed a £26m MBO from Deutche Bank.

Current Activity:

Prior to selling his interest in The Faulds Group, which he founded in 1985, James had taken on non-executive posts at Dunfermline Building Society and The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.  He has continued with these interests and expanded his portfolio by joining the board of Wood Mackenzie, a world class research and strategy consultancy.  He also Chairs three other growing companies: Giles Insurance Brokers, one of the UK's top ten commercial brokers; advertising agency, Newhaven, whose principle client is Scotland's premium brand Tennents Lager and  i-Design, a software company, who are pioneering advertising via ATM's and who recently floated on the AIM market.

Career History:

After a career working in advertising agencies in Glasgow, London and Edinburgh, James founded Faulds Advertising in 1985 as a start-up.

The agency was consistently profitable and grew to be Scotland's largest.  Its clientele included blue chip clients such as The Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Power, Scottish Courage, Highland Distillers, British Midland, Kwik Fit, The Scottish Executive, AutoTrader Group, EMAP, BAA Plc and many more.

In 1993, James created The Faulds Group Ltd which eventually consisted of Navigator Responsive Advertising, a direct marketing agency; Redpath, a graphic design consultancy; The Glasgow Agency, a second advertising agency and Magellan, a digital media consultancy.

By 2001, The Faulds Group had grown to be the largest marketing services group operating outside of London.  Its turnover was £40 million and net pre-tax profits exceeded £1 million annually.  In profitability terms, The Faulds Group was the most successful company in its sector ever seen in Scotland.

In December 2001, James sold his majority shareholding in the group to the management of each company in an MBO.

Other positions:

James is active in many strands of Scottish business life.  He is a member of Bafta and until recently was a Governor of Glasgow School of Art.  He has also served for six years as a Director of the Scottish Arts Council.

From 2000 until 2004, James was a Director of Scottish Screen, the government body with the responsibility for the film industry.  He also chaired the National Lottery Film Production Committee, both at the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, which invests nearly three million pounds in the industry annually. 

Interests:

James has a voracious appetite for film, literature and contemporary art.  He is a shareholder in Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur Football Clubs and a season ticket holder at the former.   He is a keen golfer, holding a membership at Loch Lomond Golf Club. 

The Evening Exchange will be chaired by John Anderson. A well known specialist in entrepreneurship and new venture creation in Scotland, John brings considerable experience of emerging and high growth companies to his role as Chief Executive of The Entrepreneurial Exchange.

A founder member of The Entrepreneurial Exchange, John was a shareholding director of a young venture backed technology company engaged in the design, manufacture and distribution of laboratory equipment.  He co-founded a company that provided pre-hospital emergency care and healthcare industry training and also a new media business.  As CA in professional practice he worked with many of Scotland's most exciting growth companies after returning to Scotland from Chicago in 1989.  

John is a regular contributor to the media on issues facing emerging and high growth companies and was instrumental in setting up the Scottish Enterprise "Local Heroes" project, based in part on his own MBA thesis "Local Heroes - Scotland's Entrepreneurial Role Models".

An experienced non-executive director in growing businesses, currently with three appointments, John is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde, a founding GlobalScot member and sits on the boards of PSYBT and Stirling University Innovation Park. John is Chairman of the Tayside and Fife regional committee of the Game Conservancy Trust.