About Us & Our Team

Sir Bernard Zissman has been a Director of Advantage Business Angels since 2003, and is currently our  Chairman. He is Chairman of CDI Group plc, serves as a Non-Executive Director of a number of Midlands small-to-medium companies, and runs his own presentation training company, Confident Communications.

He was formerly a member of the Council of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry and its Policy Group.

Sir Bernard served as a leading member of Birmingham City Council from 1965 to 1995, during which time he was elected Leader of the Conservative Group, and Lord Mayor of Birmingham.

He led the teams which developed the International Convention Centre and Symphony Hall. More recently, he led the successful bid for £50 million from the Millennium Commission to develop the Midlands project at Millennium Point in the Eastside of Birmingham, and now serves as Chairman of the Trust.

Appointed by Network Rail, Sir Bernard chaired the judging panel which selected the design, and architect, for Birmingham’s new £600 million New Street Station currently being constructed.

Sir Bernard is a trustee of the CBSO Benevolent Fund, member of the Appeal Council of the National Memorial Arboretum and former Chairman of the Midlands Committee for the Princess Royal Trust for Carers.

Knighted for public and political services in 1996, he holds Honorary Degrees from the University of Birmingham [1997] and Birmingham City University [2001].

Neil graduated from Warwick University and has worked as both a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Marketer. After qualifying with Arthur Andersen he worked for Rank Xerox, Pitney Bowes and then UDT. UDT was taken over by TSB, which was then itself taken over by Lloyds, where Neil was in the “Top 125 executives” in the Group working in the UK and overseas.

As Managing Director, and the major shareholder, he has led the development of Advantage Business Angels, which has: won two government contracts; completed over 145 investments totalling £22m in 7 years; floated an investment business, Early Equity plc, on PLUS markets; and was a Corporate Advisor to the first company to float on Investbx.

ABA specialises in investor syndicates: providing a more reliable process for accessing larger amounts of Angel capital, and supporting companies after they have raised funds.

Neil is also a non-executive director of BHSF Group Limited, a health insurance company.

Bob is Investment Director of the Business Angels Bureau Ltd and Advantage Business Angels, and has a finance and banking background.

In his early working life he worked for Midland Bank now HSBC, and also for First National City Bank of New York. During the 1970s he set up his own finance consultancy business helping to raise finance for small businesses.

During the 1980s he was instrumental in setting up Mercia Venture Capital Ltd, which operated a BES fund. He was its Managing Director for eight years. In 1990 in conjunction with a number other finance specialists he formed Colmore Development Capital PLC, which acted as a corporate finance boutique out of which grew the idea for The Business Angels Bureau Ltd (BAB).

After graduating from Leeds University in 1972 John Rankin then spent the next 20 years working in South East Asia, where, based in Singapore, through start up, acquisition & merger he built up and was MD of the region’s largest private sector horticultural services group.

Returning to England in 1993, John worked as a consultant for a few years before becoming involved with an Interior Landscape Company as investing shareholder, Business Development Director and eventually MD. He played a major role in establishing this firm as the third largest operating nationally in the UK, quadrupling sales, and building up a national network of 20 franchised branches.

The company was successfully sold in 2004, and John is now putting his 30 years experience in growing, developing and selling profitable SMEs to work as an ABA Deal Manager.

Familiar with most of the problems faced by owner managers of SMEs, John’s particular strengths lie in business planning, sales, customer service and franchising.

Russell has spent 25 years as Finance Controller and General Manager of both large and multi-national manufacturing and pan-European electronic component distribution companies in the UK and France. He has particular “hands-on” knowledge of this industry sector.

His extensive knowledge of International financial management gained whilst at I.T.T. Components Group Europe (in France) enabled his development into Corporate Finance.

Since 1999, Russell’s time has been employed in Corporate Finance where he has been Corporate Finance Partner with a large firm of Chartered Accountants. Russell has achieved many successful transactions including several M.B.O.s and Corporate Acquisitions on behalf of clients.

Keith enjoyed a successful business career culminating in being Managing Director of Triton plc (the shower people) for ten years. In 1996 at the age of fifty he set up his own business and now has a portfolio of Non- Executive Chair positions with a number of SMEs across the United Kingdom.

His core strengths are marketing and manufacturing and he offers business direction and mentoring to a large number businesses in varied market sectors, including Presswork, Laser Cutting, Data, Jewellery, Tile distribution, Design Consultancy, Advertising, Press Relations, Renewable energy, Work and School wear and Social Network management.

Keith has completed a Strategic Management course at Ashridge, and lectured on the subject for the Norcros Management Development Programme at Keele University.

As well as being a published author, he has a keen interest in the National Health Service serving as Chair for the North Warwickshire NHS Trust in the past.