Oliver Melliss

Oliver Melliss is Managing Partner at Primary Capital Partners and a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Primary’s team page says he joined the firm in 2010, has invested across a range of sectors, and leads Primary’s work in the Services sector.

Before Primary, Melliss qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Deloitte. His Primary biography also states that he earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Newcastle.

Melliss joined Primary from Deloitte in 2010 as an Associate. In April 2017, Primary announced his promotion from Investment Director to Partner, noting that he had worked on investments including Paperchase, GatenbySanderson, and Readypower. In January 2024, Primary announced that Melliss and Alec Parkinson would become Joint Managing Partners effective 1 January 2024; the announcement said Melliss led the Services team, with investments including GatenbySanderson, Readypower, and ICS Learn.

Companies House lists Oliver Simon Melliss as an active LLP designated member of Primary Capital Partners LLP, appointed on 1 April 2017, and shows October 2025 filings notifying him as a person with significant control of the LLP.

• Primary invests in UK-headquartered growth businesses with the potential to become market leaders or strategically important players.
• The firm’s sector focus is B2B services and technology. Services sub-sectors listed by Primary include professional tech-enabled services, business process outsourcing, education and training, financial advice and distribution, and specialist industrial services.
• Primary says it looks for “niche market leaders and challengers able to disrupt the market in which they operate.”
• Primary’s approach centers on alignment with management teams and hands-on support: strategy, acquisitions, international growth, talent, product and service innovation, data/AI/analytics, and digital transformation.
• The firm invests up to £50 million and, according to its January 2024 announcement, remains focused on lower mid-market businesses in the £20 million-£100 million range.
• Melliss’s own stated focus is working alongside management teams, supporting ambitious growth strategies, and seeing the positive impact that follows.