Meet the Investors: Manchester

Matt Bagwell

Chief Marketing & Sustainability Officer, Deep Green

Matt is Chief Marketing & Sustainability Officer for Deep Green, a data centre company that reuses the heat generated by high density computing, for the benefit of everyone. Matt has led both B2B and Consumer organisations at Board level, raised over 350 million in investment, started and sold a sneaker business and ran international consulting and marketing agencies, working with the world's leading brands. 

Matt Bagwell is also Oxygen Advantage™ Master Instructor, meditation teacher, qualified Transformational Coach, Co-founder of The Movement Project, and accomplished ultramarathon trail runner. 

Ben Davies

Marketing Director, Praetura Ventures

Ben is the Marketing Director for Praetura Ventures, an award-winning VC focused in the North of England. Praised for its early backing of northern success stories such as Peak, Modern Milkman and Culture Shift, the Manchester-based VC has now become known for its ‘more than money’ approach to supporting early-stage founders post investment. Praetura’s portfolio companies benefit from active mentorship from the company’s operational partners, who are industry-heavyweights that have led businesses such as AO, ANS, Apple, Beerhawk, OSTC, PA Consulting and MPP Global. Their team deliver EIS and VCT funds, alongside NPIFII North West Equity Fund for the British Business Bank and the GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura for GMCA, Cheshire & Warrington LEP and Bruntwood SciTech. In 2023, Praetura also launched a cohort investment programme called PraeSeed to help early stage start-ups in the North. As one of the fastest growing venture capital businesses in the region, they have a portfolio of over 50 companies with £300m assets under management.

Chris Fletcher

Policy Director, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Chris is Policy Director at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce. He is responsible for leading the Chamber’s policy work and campaign engagement with Chamber members, the wider GM business community and representing their views to key local bodies, organisations and decision makers. His team run the Chamber’s research and survey work including the influential Quarterly Economic Survey and are responsible for publishing the Greater Manchester Index.

In August 2022 the Chamber was named by the Department for Education as the designated body responsible for developing the GM Local Skills Improvement Plan with Chris as the project director.

He is also a trained media spokesperson and in his 20 years at the Chamber has been involved in several national pieces of policy work with British Chambers of Commerce.

Prior to joining the Chamber he spent two successful years at business education charity Young Enterprise after spending 16 years at NatWest in a variety of roles including a range of business manager positions focusing on start-ups and early stage developing growth businesses.

He has sat on and chaired a number of groups for a variety of organisations both public and private sector and has a real interest in how policy work affects economic regeneration, transport and innovation.

Laura Wiggins

Investment Director, YFM

Laura is an Investment Director at YFM, where she supports high growth businesses across the North West who are looking to raise growth capital to support their scaling journey. In her time at YFM, Laura spent almost 4 years as a Board Observer at Manchester-based software firm, Matillion, which has raised more than $300m since YFM backed its Series A fundraise in 2016. Laura previously worked at KPMG and prior to that, was a stock analyst at Morgan Stanley.

Matt Bagwell

Chief Marketing & Sustainability Officer, Deep Green

Matt is Chief Marketing & Sustainability Officer for Deep Green, a data centre company that reuses the heat generated by high density computing, for the benefit of everyone. Matt has led both B2B and Consumer organisations at Board level, raised over 350 million in investment, started and sold a sneaker business and ran international consulting and marketing agencies, working with the world's leading brands. 

Matt Bagwell is also Oxygen Advantage™ Master Instructor, meditation teacher, qualified Transformational Coach, Co-founder of The Movement Project, and accomplished ultramarathon trail runner. 

Ben Davies

Marketing Director, Praetura Ventures

Ben is the Marketing Director for Praetura Ventures, an award-winning VC focused in the North of England. Praised for its early backing of northern success stories such as Peak, Modern Milkman and Culture Shift, the Manchester-based VC has now become known for its ‘more than money’ approach to supporting early-stage founders post investment. Praetura’s portfolio companies benefit from active mentorship from the company’s operational partners, who are industry-heavyweights that have led businesses such as AO, ANS, Apple, Beerhawk, OSTC, PA Consulting and MPP Global. Their team deliver EIS and VCT funds, alongside NPIFII North West Equity Fund for the British Business Bank and the GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura for GMCA, Cheshire & Warrington LEP and Bruntwood SciTech. In 2023, Praetura also launched a cohort investment programme called PraeSeed to help early stage start-ups in the North. As one of the fastest growing venture capital businesses in the region, they have a portfolio of over 50 companies with £300m assets under management.

Chris Fletcher

Policy Director, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Chris is Policy Director at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce. He is responsible for leading the Chamber’s policy work and campaign engagement with Chamber members, the wider GM business community and representing their views to key local bodies, organisations and decision makers. His team run the Chamber’s research and survey work including the influential Quarterly Economic Survey and are responsible for publishing the Greater Manchester Index.

In August 2022 the Chamber was named by the Department for Education as the designated body responsible for developing the GM Local Skills Improvement Plan with Chris as the project director.

He is also a trained media spokesperson and in his 20 years at the Chamber has been involved in several national pieces of policy work with British Chambers of Commerce.

Prior to joining the Chamber he spent two successful years at business education charity Young Enterprise after spending 16 years at NatWest in a variety of roles including a range of business manager positions focusing on start-ups and early stage developing growth businesses.

He has sat on and chaired a number of groups for a variety of organisations both public and private sector and has a real interest in how policy work affects economic regeneration, transport and innovation.

Laura Wiggins

Investment Director, YFM

Laura is an Investment Director at YFM, where she supports high growth businesses across the North West who are looking to raise growth capital to support their scaling journey. In her time at YFM, Laura spent almost 4 years as a Board Observer at Manchester-based software firm, Matillion, which has raised more than $300m since YFM backed its Series A fundraise in 2016. Laura previously worked at KPMG and prior to that, was a stock analyst at Morgan Stanley.