Adam Balon joins advisory panel

Piper Private Equity, a specialist in small to middle market consumer brands, is pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Balon to its Advisory Panel.

Adam is co-founder of Innocent Drinks, Britain’s number one smoothie brand. The business, started in May 1999, turned over more than £100m in 2009, selling over two million smoothies a week in Britain and Europe. Adam has since been involved in the startup of several successful food businesses. Prior to launching Innocent, Adam worked at McKinsey and Virgin Cola.

“I am fascinated by small, growing businesses with great potential – investing in a brilliant idea and making it more successful,” said Adam. “I feel that many of the lessons I’ve learnt while building Innocent can be applied to help other fast growing consumer branded businesses create something of real value.”

“By joining the Piper Advisory Panel I have an opportunity to do this alongside a team of highly successful investors and, at the same time, gain exposure to a wider selection of businesses. There comes a point when bringing in the extra funds and expertise can be really helpful for young companies – and that’s what Piper does so well.”

Chris Curry, Managing Director of Piper, commented: “We’re delighted that Adam has joined our Advisory Panel. He has a wealth of experience Piper will be able to draw on, particularly his understanding of the issues and challenges involved in building a fast growing consumer business and taking it international.”