Paul Mccreadie

Paul McCreadie is a Partner at ECI Partners, a UK mid-market private equity firm. ECI describes itself as a growth-focused private equity investor that backs businesses valued up to £350m and invests through management buyouts, buy-ins and minority deals.

McCreadie has been a member of ECI’s Investment Team since 2008. On his ECI profile, he says his role spans the full investment lifecycle, “from our initial investment all the way through to when we sell our stake,” working with founders and management teams to deliver their plans.

Before private equity, McCreadie earned a master’s degree in Engineering at the University of Nottingham and worked at PwC, where he focused on underperforming businesses and turnaround situations. His LinkedIn profile also lists the University of Nottingham, 1998-2002.

At ECI, McCreadie has worked with management teams at Wireless Logic, CSL, Commify, Arkessa, Avantia, Clear, Tusker and rhubarb. His deal history shows a particular concentration in IoT/connectivity, insurance and financial services, SME services, and tech-enabled growth businesses.

• ECI’s stated focus is “growth, resilience and fantastic management teams,” rather than a broad sector-by-sector strategy.
• ECI invests in growth businesses valued up to £350m and is willing to invest as either a majority or minority investor.
• The firm focuses on selected subsectors including Cloud & Digital, Data, Financial Services, GRC, HealthTech, HR & Edtech, and Travel.
• McCreadie’s own investments point to a strong interest in IoT, M2M connectivity, business messaging, insurance technology and specialist financial services.
• In ECI’s CSL investment announcement, McCreadie said ECI had followed the business for several years and saw an opportunity for CSL to strengthen its market-leading IoT/M2M position “both organically and through M&A.”
• ECI emphasizes hands-on but collaborative support: the firm says it works alongside management teams on value-driving projects, with Commercial, Investment and Origination teams supporting growth, M&A, international expansion, data, technology and go-to-market work.