Downing is delighted to announce that it has expanded its Development Capital team with five new hires since the start of 2022.

This takes the team up to 15 professionals and demonstrates the team’s growth and ambitions in supporting asset-backed operating businesses.

The Downing Development Capital team invests in management teams across a range of sectors including elderly care, specialist care, education, housing and hospitality & leisure, with initial investments between £5 and 50m.

Among the new hires were investment directors Jon Simon and Gautam Chhabra. Jon Simon has joined from BGF where he was a senior investment professional working across a broad range of private equity transactions. Prior to this, Jon worked in a principal investment role at Bank of Scotland.

Gautam joins Downing from May Capital LLP where he worked on a number of key transactions across consumer, leisure and real estate sectors. He served as a director of Punch Taverns and Hawthorne Leisure. Prior to this, Gautam worked within the M&A teams at Lazard, RBS and Merrill Lynch.

Supporting the team is Connor Hamilton as Associate Director. Connor joined from Roundshield Partners where he was focused on ‘real assets’ investments, including healthcare, housing and leisure.

In addition, Peter Stapleton joined from KPMG as an investment executive and Lily Jaskowiak joins from RSM UK as an investment analyst.

Head of Development Capital, Mark Gross, commented: “We are delighted to have such talent join our team as we continue to capitalise on our strong track record and grow our funds under management.”