About Waypoint

Otto Stevens

Partner

I have always believed in, and am passionate about, the creative industry and related technologies. It forms a huge part of the global economy, it innovates, grows and creates net new employment every year.

I work with CEOs, management teams and shareholders (sometimes all three) to help grow business and realise value and potential in business leaders.

Waypoint Partners is agnostic as to what the solution is to the problem. Only those advisers who listen, imagine, create ideas and flawlessly execute will be successful. Waypoint Partners is growing quite nicely…

I am a qualified accountant training with Grant Thornton Corporate Finance and have been an investor, consultant, adviser and CFO in the creative space for the last 15 years. I was formerly CFO of iris Worldwide and when I was there it was the fastest growing large independent agency in the world.

Born into a massive Irish family has its challenges, although I like Guinness and spuds, it makes for an interesting life. I stopped at 3 children and that’s enough.

Jim Houghton

Partner

I have more than 30 years of specialist international M&A, operational and financial management experience in the marketing and advertising industry.

I’m very proud to have led transformational M&A deals for the leaders and shareholders of class-leading business including We Are Social, 160over90, Teneo Blue Rubicon and Iris.

Although I’ve led many corporate finance transactions, I’ve never considered myself a Banker but rather a deal maker in an industry that I’m passionate about.  I’ve split my career between roles in industry and as a professional adviser.  As an advisor I was formerly a Managing Director at Ingenious and a Partner at Results International.  In industry I was appointed CFO at 160over90 in Philadelphia in 2016 after its sale to Searchlight Capital, and was previously European MD of Omnicom’s experiential network, the Radiate Group, led Omnicom’s M&A activity in Europe for 8 years, completing 40 transactions and sitting on many agency Boards.

When I’m not working, you’ll generally find me slaving away in front one of my many beloved BBQs or walking my faithful Labrador between local village pubs

Phil Gripton

Partner

As a partner at Waypoint Partners I am passionate about helping clients in the North of England and Scotland achieve the growth and success they deserve. Having run successful businesses in the North myself, I know how much talent and innovation there is to differentiate and drive business success here.

My aim is to work with you and your management teams to help you grow and successfully navigate the numerous challenges you’ll face on your path to success.

Over the past 26 years I have led and optimised multiple businesses; both agency and client side, and bring a unique experience and perspective from being operator, provider and buyer of a wide range of creative, tech and digital services. Along that journey I led the UKs largest independent search business, that we sold to Digitas LBi, where I then became UK COO until their sale to Publicis. Latterly I have sold and acquired several businesses, bringing a depth of commercial and practical experience to your team.

Based between Edinburgh (home) and the North of England, I am married to Lindsay and have two fantastic sons Joseph and Angus who take up a good deal of my spare time. I’m a proud Geordie and Newcastle United fan who loves a sunny day to get on my bike and put a few miles in.

Lisa Mandell

Partner

I have a passion for helping start-up and fast growth businesses build sustainable & profitable revenue streams at pace.

As a board advisor with a focus on growth, sales, marketing and commercial behaviour, I will help you unlock new revenue opportunities to deliver against your short and long term commercial targets.

I have previously held positions at Techlightenment a social media marketing and technology business where I shaped their marketing and sales functions which led to a successful exit to Experian plc in 2014. More recently I was a founding member of VC-backed content production company Quill Content, where I built from scratch their sales, marketing and operations function helping them become the pre-eminent global leader of eCommerce content production.

Spare time is spent with her husband Nick and two children. If there is any time left, it’s spent watching her beloved mighty Arsenal or training for her next triathlon.

Brett Davis

Managing Partner, U.S

As Partner at Waypoint Partners, my focus is to accelerate the growth of your business and to realize its’ potential and value at the appropriate time.

Passionate about business strategy and working with founders, shareholders and leadership teams, I provide guidance and perspective to accomplish both longer-term commercial aspirations and near-term mandates.

My appreciation for creating financial value stems from investment banking experience at UBS and creating/managing/selling a portfolio of privately owned businesses at Andiamo Ventures. I spent the next 7 years in global leadership roles at Edelman (world’s largest PR firm), from leading corporate development efforts to global CFO/COO of their research and analytics consultancy. The next 2 years were spent as COO of Kelton Global, an insights and brand strategy consultancy which was acquired by LRW in 2018.

After growing up in the Washington D.C. area, I headed to California to seize opportunities and explore dramatic landscapes any rock climber and endurance athlete would be drawn to. I’ve since moved back east and enjoy the four seasons with my wife and 3 daughters.

Matt Lacey

Managing Director

I’m passionate about working with entrepreneurs with an ambition to grow and realise the potential of their business.

I have nine years of international M&A and strategic advisory experience in the creative and marketing services sectors. During this time I’ve helped leaders in the UK, Europe, US and APAC develop strategic growth routes and deliver successful M&A outcomes.

I’ve advised on 22 completed transactions across digital transformation, performance marketing, data / insight, comms, creative, content and TV production – including the sales of Threepipe to Italian technology and consulting group Reply, Draw Group to management consulting firm Oliver Wyman and Verve to global marketing communications agency Omnicom.

Prior to Waypoint I was at ACF Investment Bank, where I worked on £500m of high profile deals in the TV production space from both the UK and US office.

As a wolfdog owner, I get plenty of time in the outdoors to explore the UK’s hidden gems and mentally recharge.

Steven Mallon

Director

As a Director at Waypoint Partners, I work closely with key stakeholders on strategic direction setting, proposition, service development and commercial & operational leadership.

I have 15+ years’ experience in Senior Management positions in Digital agencies and Digital Transformation within financial services. I bring unique insight from being a provider and buyer of digital, creative and tech services. My most recent role was at Tesco Bank, covering the strategic definition and design of the end-to-end digital and customer experience. Scoping, development and leadership of digital programmes to deliver the strategic objective of a customer-centric, data-driven bank.

Outside of work I enjoy food, travel and the great outdoors as well as shuttling my two active young children to various classes. I am currently completing SFA coaching badges and coach my son’s football team

Jamie Learmont

Associate Director

As an Associate Director at Waypoint Partners I support our North of England and Scotland based agency clients on growth advisory.

Collaborating on business strategy and growth planning, I also deliver support and training in account development, operational process optimisation, financial control and sales enablement.

I have 18 years of experience in finance and operations within creative, marketing and technology focussed businesses. My most recent being Head of Finance & Operations at Queryclick during its growth from £1.5-£4m.

When I’m not working, I spend as much time as possible with my wife and two children, and do a miminum of 2 crossfit workouts every week

Jonathan Fielden

Associate

As an Associate at Waypoint Partners I help the team with M&A and growth advisory engagements.

I joined Waypoint from Sydney, Australia. My background is as a corporate finance professional in leading professional services firms Ernst & Young & Crowe Horwath (CCW in the United Kingdom). Having completed my chartered accounting exams, I have experience across a range of buy and sell side mandates in the Australian market.

Outside of work I am generally either traveling somewhere new, watching/ playing sport or attending a gig.

Naomi Wai

Senior Analyst

As a Senior Analyst at Waypoint, I focus on corporate finance engagements, responsible for research and analysis, financial modelling, preparation of key marketing documents, due diligence and project management. I also have experience in growth advisory at Waypoint.

I hold a Master degree in Finance and Accounting and have passed the CFA Level I.

Outside of work, I enjoy travelling and exploring new places, love a good walk / hike on the country side.

Junwei Pan

Analyst

As an Analyst at Waypoint Partners, I help the team with M&A and growth advisory engagements.

Before joining Waypoint, I was a private equity analyst at Timberwind Capital. My past buy side experience is a valuable asset to our clients, when I explain to them the mindset of a typical financial buyer, and more importantly, how to present themselves with a clear exit strategy in mind.

Dedicated to empowering graduating seniors to find career opportunities in the workplace – co-founded Anka, a career development agency that helps ease the challenges of job seeking. 

Chloe Smith

Partners' Assistant

As Partners’ Assistant at Waypoint Partners, my foremost responsibility is to assist and support the Partners with all PA and administrative duties. Ensuring that the Partners have as much time as possible to spend on our clients.

Prior to joining Waypoint Partners, I worked for an international fashion recruitment consultancy in the capacity of PA and Office Manager, and before this, for a leading European supply chain solutions provider.

Having always been interested in all things creative, outside of work I enjoy the theatre, visiting exhibitions at the V&A and am currently re-learning the piano after many years of neglection!

Vulric Wolfdog

The Office Dog

Vulric is a boisterous, friendly and switched on puppy, he knows how to work the crowd and make an entrance.

Wolfdogs are known for being a challenging breed that requires continuous training and a lot of time to be dedicated to their physical and mental stimulation in order to make them thrive, and Vulric is no exception.

Vulric was introduced to the office environment at an early age and can pull off a long working day when needed – he laps up the attention and we love giving it to him.

Much like we have our eye on the next deal, Vulric’s eye is firmly on where the next treat will come from, he is partial to a squeaky toy, but his most favourite thing of all is a conference call – he was born for the spotlight.