DR TIM HAMES

Tim Hames has had a wide-ranging career involving politics and policy across a number of spheres.

He started as a Lecturer in Politics at Oxford University specialising in American and British politics.

He then went to The Times where he became an Assistant Editor, chief leader writer and a weekly columnist. He edited the newspaper as a whole on numerous occasions between 2005-2008. He was at the heart of decisions over coverage of events and issues such as the September 11th 2001 attack and its aftershocks, the 2003 US/UK invasion of Iraq and the early stages of the global financial crisis.

He then joined the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) later serving as its Director General between 2013-2019. During his time there he expanded the membership of the organisation from just over 500 to just under 800 institutions making it the largest such trade association for the private equity and venture capital sectors collectively in the world. He also led a successful renegotiation of the terms under which the industry is taxed in the UK in 2015-2016.

Tim is the co-author (with Dame Kate Bingham) of The Long Shot: The Inside Story of the Race to Vaccinate Britain (published October 2022) and is acting as a consultant, a senior adviser and as a speechwriter to established companies in the private equity and venture capital space and start-ups. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Travel and Tourism, an industry with which he is also very familiar.

Tim.hames@acuti.co.uk