The Board
Colin Low
Colin lives in rural Suffolk, has been married to Mel for 29 years and they have three children aged between 13 and 23. Colin has always had a fascination with money, finance and economics; managing the school bank, visiting the Stock Market on the day of the Big Bang in 1986 and even asking for shares on his 18th birthday (he actually received a suit).
Having worked in banking, investments and the financial advice sector, he founded Kingsfleet Wealth (named after his Felixstowe Primary School) in 2010. Colin is a Chartered Financial Planner, one of the few advisers in the country to have obtained a Master’s degree in Financial Planning and has recently co-founded RXi Wealth, a Discretionary Investment Manager. In his spare time, he is chair of the Board of Sizewell Hall, a Christian Conference Centre on the Suffolk Coast, keeps bees and tries to go running to compensate for his substantial appetite.
Anette Gilham
Anette works at Ipswich Borough Council as Economic Development Project Manager. She leads on various projects one of them being the Financial, Insurance and Professional Services (FIPS) Group for Ipswich. Anette’s previous experiences are within Business Development, Project Management and Sector Development. Away from work, Anette is a keen potter and enjoys spending time with her family and travelling.
Simon Elliot
Born in Ipswich, married to a Nurse Laura, Simon has two children and one fur baby, is an Investment Manager for The FSE Group based in Ipswich (also known locally as Finance East). Simon’s role is primarily focussed on funding scaling and high growth local businesses across the East of England and being a trusted advisor to add value to these companies as they grow. He has recently started in this role after spending the last 17 years working in the Banking and Finance sector for Barclays in a mix of relationship manager roles most recently across Suffolk and Norfolk within Business and Corporate banking, and is also currently studying for his London Institute of Banking further qualifications. Away from work, Simon enjoys long dog walks with his family and is also a keen football fan.
Micky Lawton
Born and bred just down the road in Colchester, Micky is now living and working in Ipswich as a corporate independent financial adviser. He attended the University of Kent, studying Actuarial Sciences, which is where his passion for financial advice was born. After completing his degree, he started working for Suffolk Life, a pension provider in Ipswich. This was his first stepping stone to becoming a financial adviser. After a successful 4 years, he moved in to a financial services admin role with Woodward Markwell Financial Advisers Limited, with a view to becoming a trainee IFA. Fast forward three years and he is now an independent financial adviser, specialising in corporate advice, and a shareholder at Woodward Markwell.
Peter Basford
Peter is a member of the LEP Skills Advisory Panel and leads on the financial services sector, as part of this chairs the Financial, Insurance and Professional Services (FIPS) Group for Ipswich who work closely with the equivalent FIG group in Norwich. After a career of 33 years in Banking including Personal Banking, Audit, Private Banking and Commercial Banking, Peter also worked for BDO accountants in 2018/19 and has established a business coaching organization who are growing fast and aim to cover the whole of England providing support for SMEs. Peter is a Suffolk Ambassador and has recently co-founded an Innovation Lab in Stowmarket. Away from work, Peter is a keen golfer and enjoys spending time with his family and travelling.
Richard Brame
A driven and successful Operations and Change Director with 40 years’ experience in the Insurance industry in a wide variety of roles. Originally trained as a Certified Accountant before taking on more insurance based, client facing roles, Richard has a history of strong strategic and operational leadership, with significant experience managing people, projects, budgets and business transformation. Currently Head of the WTW Accounting & Settlement (A&S) function, Chair of WTW Ipswich Management Group, and a Willis Group Services Limited Board member. These roles include overseeing all A&S operations and change activity and promoting the development of the WTW Ipswich office and people. Richard is Chair or part of Local, London Market and Global Steering Groups and Boards. Suffolk born and bred Richard is a Suffolk Business Ambassador and a member of the Suffolk Chamber in Greater Ipswich Board as well as the FIPS Board. Richard is also a Past President and current Vice President and Charities Officer for the Insurance Institute of Ipswich, Suffolk and North Essex. Outside of work, Richard is married with two grown up children, and a keen sport (football and cricket) and music (prog rock) fan.
Professor Gurpreet Jagpal
Gurpreet is the Pro Vice Chancellor Business and Entrepreneurship at the University of Suffolk, with responsibility for Suffolk Business School, driving business engagement across the institution and region, and leading the development of enterprise and entrepreneurship. Gurpreet has spent the last 15 years working in universities across the UK, in roles predominantly focussing on business engagement, innovation and entrepreneurship. Blurring boundaries between education and business is Gurpreet’s passion, exploring ways that they can come together to ensure the needs of business are being met and graduates are equipped with the skills and knowledge to make a positive impact on society. Gurpreet is new to the area, having joined the University of Suffolk from UWE Bristol. Prior to this, Gurpreet was Director of Research, Enterprise and Innovation at London South Bank University (LSBU, and CEO of South Bank University Enterprises Ltd (SBUEL) where in a relatively short period of time (approximately 18-months), he established an award-winning research and enterprise centre – ranked second in the UK, fourth in Europe and fifteenth globally, for innovative business development. And under his leadership LSBU successfully secured the crown as The Times Higher Award for Entrepreneurial University of the Year – recognising the outstanding entrepreneurial support offered to students, graduates, staff and the local community.
Emma Bysouth
Emma is a Corporate Solicitor at Birketts in Ipswich with a particular focus on corporate transactional work, regularly advising clients on the acquisition and disposal of businesses. Emma read Law at University of Sheffield and then completed her postgraduate qualification at the University of Law in London. Prior to moving to Ipswich in 2014 to undertake her training contract with Birketts, Emma worked in the UK legal department of a multinational company which had a worldwide customer base operating in the civil and military markets. Emma enjoys developing her professional network in the local area sitting on the committee for Ipswich Junior Chamber (IJC) and taking a lead role in a new young professionals group called IP1 Network.
Daniel T Carr
Dan is a Talent Solutions Manager working in People Advisory at Grant Thornton LLP, with a specialism in Financial Services.
With over 15 years’ experience within Talent and Skills development, Dan has previously worked for major national training providers to support a wide range of organisations to plug professional skills gaps and support individual career development, prior to stepping into professional services in 2021.
Outside of work, Dan has a family made of up of wife Clare, son Joel and dog Charlie. He is also an avid and active sportsperson including football, golf and squash.
Amy Carpenter
Amy is Associate Director of Careers, Employability and Enterprise at the University of Suffolk, leading Suffolk’s strategic approach to ensuring students have access to outstanding opportunities and support to prepare them for life beyond university. This covers everything from curriculum design and embedded activity through to extra-curricular opportunities, plus everything in between!
Amy has worked in Higher Education (HE) for almost 10 years, having gained experience across a variety of areas including business engagement, careers advice and guidance, lecturing and curriculum design, enterprise and entrepreneurship support, and alumni and fundraising. She is also a fully qualified Careers Professional, and a member of the Register of Career Development Professionals (RCDP) within the UK. Prior to working in HE, she worked in the private sector, and was first introduced to the ‘FIPS’ world through her role at Willis Towers Watson looking after internship, apprenticeship, and work experience programmes and initiatives.
Outside of work, Amy is Vice-Chair of the Governing Body of a local school, and volunteers with an animal sanctuary (specifically with cats, of which she is also the very proud cat mum to one elderly adoptee). She also has a weird and wonderful selection of interests, including participating or watching sports (especially speedway, snowboarding, ice hockey and football), reading, trying new food and snacks from around the world, and travelling across the UK or internationally with family and friends, having visited her 30th country in 2024.