Leon Hughes, former director of e-commerce at Maximuscle, joins Piper to further strengthen their specialist in-house added value team.
Piper have an excellent track record of investing in direct to consumer businesses, including Boden, Maximuscle, Gray & Osbourn and Diet Chef and believe that there will continue to be significant opportunities to invest in branded direct and online businesses.
With this in mind, Leon Hughes has been recruited as a specialist in the field of e-commerce and social media to ensure that Piper’s specialist knowledge and expertise in this area is further strengthened. This will enable Piper to diligence prospective investments more effectively and to do so alongside their in-house consumer insight research capabilities. Portfolio companies will also be able to draw on Leon’s knowledge and expertise to help accelerate the growth of their businesses, in keeping with the Piper model of providing high added value to its investee companies.
Having graduated from Brunel University with a degree in Industrial Design, Leon has worked as a consultant for a wide range of clients including Shell, Powergen, Divertimenti and Aga Rangemaster. During his time with Maximuscle he established the online and IT infrastructure, created a world-class in house team of online marketeers, web and system developers to build and fulfil more than 20 global e-commerce sites, with total revenues growing from £7m when he joined in 2002 to £40m in 2011.
“We are delighted that Leon agreed to join the Piper team. Having worked alongside him during our ownership of Maximuscle, we know that his skills and knowledge will enormously benefit both Piper and our investee companies. Indeed, he has already been able to significantly contribute to the growth of two of our portfolio companies”, said Libby Gibson, a partner at Piper.
“I am much looking forward to working at Piper”, commented Leon Hughes, ”having seen first-hand the partnership style that Piper have with their portfolio companies and their passion for adding more than just the money, I feel confident that this is an excellent career choice for me. I can already see huge opportunities to support and helpexisting Piper investments.”