Cairngorm Capital has appointed Alex Bayliss and John Naylor-Leyland as Investment Directors, further bolstering the firm’s capacity for new investments.
Bayliss brings extensive experience of investing in mid market manufacturing and business services companies. He joins from SEA Equity where he was a founding Partner and board member of portfolio company, Vacuum Furnace Engineering. Prior to SEA Equity, Bayliss worked with Cairngorm Capital’s Managing Partner, Andrew Steel, at HIG Capital in London, where he was involved in numerous equity investments and bolt-on acquisitions.
Naylor-Leyland joins from Disruptive Capital, where he was a Partner and led the growth financing of Imagine Publishing, serving on its board. Earlier in his career, Naylor-Leyland held a range of corporate finance roles with UBS in London, working across UK investment banking and equity capital markets. As an Investment Director at Cairngorm Capital, he will use his strategic development expertise to source new investment opportunities and work with management teams to grow businesses in which the firm invests.

Andrew Steel, Managing Partner of Cairngorm Capital, says: “We closed our debut fund in August and are very busy on new investment initiatives so Alex and John’s arrival will help to increase our capabilities and to accelerate the growth of our firm. Both have significant experience in building great companies in the industrial and business to business markets that are core to Cairngorm Capital”.
Lee Hess, Chairman of Cairngorm Capital added, “We are thrilled to have two outstanding Investment Directors join the firm to help us execute our strategy of investing in companies in the UK mid market where we see opportunities for significant growth and profit improvement.”
