Meet the EISA Team

Christiana Stewart-Lockhart is the Director General of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA). She previously spent more than a decade working in Westminster including ten years at the Institute of Economic Affairs. She also founded EPICENTER, a Brussels based network of some of the most respected think tanks from across Europe.

Christiana holds a BA in Politics from the University of York. She is a member of TISA’s Young People’s Financial Education Policy Council and also sits on the Advisory Board for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship.

Joanna Jensen joined the EISA as Chair of the Board in June 2024. She is the founder of the British baby and child personal care brand, Childs Farm. Created in 2010 as a solution to her own daughter’s sensitive and eczema prone skin, their range from content to bottle is thought through to ensure they are best for skin and best for planet. Launched in Boots and Waitrose in 2014, Childs Farm became the leading brand in its segment by 2019. Jensen received investment into Childs Farm using both the SEIS and the EIS. In March 2022, Jensen sold Childs Farm for £36.8mn to PZ Cussons Plc, the personal care company and owner of well-known brands Imperial Leather, St. Tropez and Carex.

Since selling her business Jensen has become an active angel investor, investing through the SEIS and EIS in startups across the UK. Jensen supports women in business, mentorship, sustainability, and charity. She serves on the Advisory Board of Buy Women Built (BWB), mentors with Imperial College’s Venture Mentoring Service (IVMS) and advises the Sustainable Beauty Coalition, working with charities like The Riding for the Disabled Association, The Parallel Club, and Surfers Against Sewage.

Philip Hare is a co founder of Philip Hare & Associates LLP, a tax consultancy business which specialises in the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), Seed EIS, Venture Capital Trust (VCT) and Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR). He and his team advise small and medium sized companies and their investors in respect of the tax relief available for investment and the conditions that need to be met by the company and the investor. They are in regular contact with specialists at HMRC discussing solutions to technical and administrative issues that arise from the schemes.

Philip is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor. Whilst at PWC, EIS Association members voted his team the ‘EIS Tax Adviser of the year’ for eight years in a row and since setting up his own firm in 2015, Philip Hare & Associates LLP has won ‘SEIS/EIS Tax Adviser of the year’ for each of the last three years.

Stephen is a highly relevantly qualified financial planner with over 27 years’ experience and operating from two offices in the Midlands (just opened a third in London) as well as being an active member of two professional institutes. Stephen was one of the earliest to pass the EISA/Tolley exam and one of less than 10 to have passed the ACT qualification and has a long track record of advising in Alternative Investments.

In addition his former role as President of the largest affiliation of professional institutes in the UK, gave him responsibility for the development of a large group representing over 24 professional bodies and exposed him to many issues rarely experienced in running a small IFA firm.

Keith Lassman is a corporate finance lawyer specialising in capital markets and, listed and unlisted funds. He is Head of the firm’s Capital Markets team.

Keith acts for investment banks, companies, fund managers, promoters and entrepreneurs. He is a highly experienced solicitor with a thorough understanding of corporate finance and works with clients closely when they look to raise funds. He is additionally an expert on AIM and main market flotations, venture capital trusts and tax shelter based funds.

He acts for domestic, as well as, international clients with a particular focus on Israel and India.

Keith takes a proactive approach to helping his clients meet their needs, no matter the size or complexity of the transaction, and prides himself in being a pragmatic lawyer who gets things done.

He is a member of the Securities Institute, chairman of an AIM listed company and sits on the VCT Technical Committee of the AIC.

Keith also heads the firm’s FCA regulated arm which is a London Stock Exchange registered Sponsor –the only English law firm with this accolade.

Dr Paul Mattick heads the Sales and Investor Relations team for the Mercia EIS Funds. He works directly with private clients and advisers to build the EIS fund raising capacity of Mercia. Paul oversees the administration and development of the EIS funds, and ensures that investors receive a high level of service, much of which is delivered through Mercia’s award-winning Investor Centre.

Paul has a variety of experience in early-stage businesses (including being a founder), and formerly worked at another leading EIS fund manager, where he built close relationships with top tier clients, and significantly grew both fund and single company assets under management. Paul has a PhD and Post-Doctorate from the University of Oxford and a 1st Class Bachelor of Science from the University of Leeds.

Paul is a Chartered Management Accountant and has 30 years’ experience of corporate management, turnarounds, business development and active shareowner engagement. Paul’s experience spans several sectors, principally consumer goods, manufacturing and healthcare, with companies such as Mars Confectionery, BUPA and Price Waterhouse.

In his spare time Paul can usually be found in the garden or tinkering with old cars in the garage.

Gillian is a regulatory consultant specialising in the venture finance sector.  She works with EIS fund and portfolio managers as well as capital raisers, promoters, researchers and crowdfunding platforms. Gillian is known for providing expert and pragmatic solutions to the industry.  In addition to her experience working with many EISA members, she is an active advocate of EIS. 

Gillian chairs our regulatory committee and is a member of the EISA board. Beyond EIS, Gillian also advises social impact investment firms, private equity firms and FinTech companies such as peer to peer lenders.

A founder of EISA over 25 years ago and formerly Head of Tax Efficient Solutions at Smith & Williamson and Co-Principal of Enterprise Investment Partners, Martin has extensive experience of fund-raising and fund management in the tax-efficient market and is a long-standing champion of the EIS.

He is also a highly experienced non executive director/chairman with over 30 years of board leadership experience across a broad range of sectors, including Renewable Energy, Leisure, Healthcare and Tech. He is Chairman of the Membership & Events Committee of EISA.

Mark has over twenty years experience in Financial services and prior to becoming Director General of the EIS Association, he was Head of Research and Development at Mazars, a leading UK financial planning firm. Mark is highly qualified being a Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Financial Planner, Chartered Wealth Manager and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society and also sits on the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments Accredited firms committee and TISA’s Distribution Policy Council.

Mark’s involvement with EIS began 8 years ago and he has since championed EIS investing within a financial planning context and is extremely passionate about promoting the industry, increasing its effectiveness and ensuring the private sector continues to drive much needed funding to small companies.

Andrew Aldridge is a Partner and the Chief Marketing Officer at Deepbridge Capital, a Chester based EIS Fund Manager.

With over a decade of financial services experience, since graduating from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Aldridge is a growth specialist, with over two decades of experience helping companies develop their brand reputation, deliver financial results and develop communications strategies, within heavily regulated environments