Mrs Jo Parfrey

Chair

Jo is an experienced and successful investment professional with more than 10 years in the private equity industry. A qualified accountant, ACA, by training, she has worked in the corporate finance departments of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies.

In addition to being Chair of the Babraham Research Campus Board, Jo is a Non Executive Director on Octopus AIM VCT plc, Start Codon, Ieso Digital Health and Audit Chair of Henderson International Income Trust plc. 

Jo has had significant board exposure, having held a number of non-executive posts. Having been a member of the Investment Committee of a leading private equity house, Jo is experienced in investment appraisal. Skilled in the evaluation of businesses, her strengths include identifying value creation opportunities at both a revenue and profit level. She has supported businesses in growth through investment and cost management, with a wealth of experience of developing business plans and working with businesses to secure appropriate financing.

Passionate about growing businesses, Jo has worked closely with entrepreneurs/management teams. She has a wealth of experience of arranging, working with and managing complicated shareholder structures, including a broad range of stakeholder groups. She has a proven track record of working with businesses to drive strategic initiatives and deliver outstanding financial results. 

Previous non executive roles include Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust Enterprise Board and ETL Ltd, a business involved in healthcare planning.

Jo has a chemistry degree from Oxford University.