WHO WE ARE
Meet the
GPEG Team
LORD DIGBY JONES
Chairman
Lord Digby trained as a lawyer and was senior partner of Edge & Ellison. He served as the Director General of the CBI (2000-2007) and as Minister for Trade in the UK (2007-2009).
He currently serves as Non Executive Chairman of Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, Thatcher’s Cider Ltd, Metalfloor UK Ltd, Argentex plc and On Logistics Ltd and is a Non-Executive Director of DRP Holdings Ltd. Digby has also previously served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of X-Force (the Social Enterprise helping Veterans into self-employment). He has also been involved in several Cancer & Educational charities & served as a Global Ambassador for UNICEF.
Digby appears regularly on television, radio and in the newspapers, being known for his firm views on numerous aspects of life in a globalised economy. He is an active public speaker at events and engagements all over the UK and overseas fulfilling his vision of promoting socially inclusive wealth creation and fighting for business and reform of public services.
JON MOULTON
Founder & Director
Jon Moulton has had a long and varied career having run and founded private equity businesses including Permira, Apax and CVC. He remains very involved as an active angel investor. He has been director or Chair of several public and numerous private companies including FinnCap the stockbroker, and Infex, an antibiotic company. He has also worked with the UK Government, was on the Board of the £3bn Regional Growth Fund and has worked with the National Audit Office. He is a director of the UK think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies.
He is a Trustee of the UK Stem Cell Foundation and funds and runs a substantial clinical trials charity.
He is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the ICAEW Technical Strategy and Corporate Finance Boards.
Locally he has chaired Aurigny, is the controlling shareholder of the Randalls hospitality group and is the retiring Chair of the Guernsey based International Stock Exchange which he drove through turnaround. He has lived on Guernsey for the last decade.
CONNIE HELYAR - WILKINSON
Founder & Director
Guernsey-born Connie Helyar-Wilkinson is best known in the Channel Islands for launching her own fund administration company, Ipes, in 1998. It was a firm that she successfully sold in 2008 in a management buyout to RJD Capital. While this is arguably the most notable part of her career to date, the route to success was far from conventional, particularly in its early stages.
From buying a piece of land with her first husband, when she was only 18 – and building a house on it, which she still owns – a career in banking was originally passed over for a decade of entrepreneurship. Having returned to banking in the 1980s, she ultimately created her own success.
Since the sale of Ipes, Connie has assumed a number of NED positions, as well as becoming the first Chair of the Guernsey NED Forum, offering a voice for NEDs in the island's finance industry. She served as a Jurat for 11 years and recently retired– the highest honour that Guernsey can confer on a resident of the island.
SUSIE CROWDER
Founder & Director
Susie Crowder has a wealth of C-Suite experience developed over the past 20 years across the private and third sectors. She has held and holds a number of Non-Executive roles including those for UBS, C5 Alliance and more recently the Blue Diamond Group and Epoch EU Ltd.
She was the founding Director of the Charity Bright Futures LBG which supported over 500 islanders with an array of educational funding and wider learning opportunities. Susie is currently Head of Business and Management at Credit Suisse.
Outside of working life, Susie and her family enjoy sailing, cliff walks with the family dogs, travel and contributing to Guernsey’s future, in particular on matters related to the economy.
BENEDICT JONES
Director
Benedict moved to Guernsey in 2016 after graduating with a degree in Economics and Geography. Having visited Guernsey annually on holiday since 1998, he loves the island and enjoys the ability to work in a role centred around economics whilst being immersed in a beautiful natural environment.
Benedict heads up the Corporate Banking team at RBS International, with interests including; energy markets, environmental economics and socially-positive business.
ANN DAVIES
Director
Ann Davies is a chartered accountant and member of the UK chartered institute of tax. She worked for KPMG for more than 35 years, 20 of which were as a partner. She led the London turnaround team, specialising in working with large companies and on international assignments. Ann was lead partner in Thailand, Russia and Iceland during various banking crises.
In 2005 she led a large team working with the NHS to identify underperformance, reporting to the Department of Health. More recently, she worked in Sweden for six years as finance director of a group of large shopping centres, where the business was restructured and sold to realise value for its banks and investor.
She has been a school governor, has assisted a children’s hospice and mentors senior business women.
IAN IRVING - WALKER
Director
Ian is a qualified civil engineer and has established a number of successful businesses in the UK and Guernsey. These include the Little Big Hotel Group and the Little Green Energy Ltd, which specialises in renewable energy. His expertise in the tourism industry in Guernsey has led to him becoming a consultant to various hospitality companies.
Ian has also held a position on the Hospitality & Tourism Board of the Chamber of Commerce and has been a mentor to the Guernsey Enterprise Agency.
