Our Capabilities
Helping businesses go places
The collective knowledge, skills and experience that Azure Partners will bring to your business is like no other.
As a team we have been helping entrepreneurs develop their businesses for over five years, making decisive contributions that have led to increased revenues and personal incomes and the preparation of businesses for sale.
As individuals, we have run businesses for ourselves and have pursued successful professional careers in finance, branding, marketing, sales and investment banking - as described in the biographies section below.
Between us we have held directorships and other senior positions in a range of business sectors. Our travels have taken us to all corners of the globe, working with start-ups, SMEs and blue chips – including many household names.
No one joins Azure Partners without a successful business background of their own.
We’re there for you every step of the way: from the earliest stages through growth and maturity to preparation for sale or flotation, providing expertise across all management areas. We help you make the changes needed to take you to the next level of your company's development.
So whatever your objective, Azure Partners will help you get there. Once we’ve had the opportunity to learn about your business and its potential, we can help you identify the skills you’ll need and provide both the people and the strategy to deliver them.
Let’s talk. Contact us for an informal discussion today so we can discuss where your business could be heading tomorrow
Biographies: What we did before joining Azure Partners
Paul Chapman had over 20 years experience of marketing, sales and general management in the UK, Europe, USA and the Far East in both blue chip and early stage companies. He held managing director and marketing / sales director positions in 3 very high growth companies. He has experienced an IPO on NASDAQ, is a member of the Institute of Directors, and has been a company mentor with the Universities of Southampton and Surrey. He joined the Azure Partners board in 2004.
Peter Henry's career has encompassed a wide range of industry sectors including Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Business to Business, and Service Industries.
His experience includes all aspects of marketing, from strategic planning through market research, new product development and databases to advertising and sales promotion. He has a particular skill in helping companies identify and understand what really makes them unique, and through this, build their businesses by realising the value of their competitive advantage.
Moving into general management and business planning he has widened his portfolio to include medical and the not-for-profit sectors.
For many years Nick Brown developed, built and ran companies in the UK, Europe and the US. He spent twenty years with a major division of the Sperry Corporation, starting in design and then moving into progressively more senior commercial roles in the US and Europe. Nick was given responsibility for a pan European Sales and Marketing organisation turning over in excess of $230 million. He went on to spend ten years with Charles Baynes, a UK PLC, where he built a group of acquired businesses into a global leader, consistently improving margins and productivity.
Mike Robson is an experienced and entrepreneurial businessman with a sound professional and educational grounding. He had Board level experience as Chief Executive or Chief Financial Officer in a number of industries and has business experience in the USA, Australia, Western and Eastern Europe in addition to the UK. Mike steered one firm away from near financial disaster and launched, developed and successfully sold his own print and on-line publishing company. He joined the Azure Partners board in 2004.
David Mellor spent 25 years in banking with HSBC and Deutsche Bank. During this time he held a number of non-executive board positions, including APACS and CHAPS (whilst Head of Investment Banking Operations) and 2 US-based technology companies. He worked predominantly in the City, but also worked on assignment in Brussels, Frankfurt, New York, and Silicon Valley. He joined the Azure Partners board in 2004.
Iain McCusker had over 30 years of financial, general management and business experience and has helped, advised and mentored many businesses of all sizes to achieve improved performance, profitability and value. He has been involved in a number of start-up operations, taking them to the AIM and New York OTC markets at substantial price premiums. Iain has been a partner in Price Waterhouse Coopers as well as a director of both Unisys and Xerox.
Tony Wightman had over 25 years experience in business development, in both Blue Chip and SME environments. Trained in classical marketing-led businesses including the US giant, Mars Corporation, he also has wide experience in the small business arena having started and managed his own companies in the advertising and marketing services sector.