Philip Shuttleworth

Philip Shuttleworth joined ECI Partners in 1996 and spent almost three decades at the firm, serving as Partner and Chief Financial Officer. In that role he was responsible for all matters relating to the accounting, legal, regulatory and tax obligations of ECI and its funds — effectively the operational and financial backbone of one of Europe's longest-established growth-focused private equity houses (ECI was originally founded in 1976 with backing from the Bank of England).

Before joining ECI he spent four years working with growth companies in the mid-market division of PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA). He holds a degree in business studies and an MBA from London Business School. Beyond ECI, he served the wider industry as a former Chairman of the BVCA's (British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association) Taxation Committee, reflecting deep expertise in private equity fund structuring and tax.

Shuttleworth's tenure spanned multiple fund cycles at ECI, during which the firm grew to manage approximately £3bn in assets and built a track record of investing in and exiting profitable, growing mid-market businesses. He announced his retirement, effective at year-end 2025, after nearly 30 years with the firm; Neal Griffith (previously CFO/CRO at Equistone Partners Europe) was appointed CFO designate in April 2025 to succeed him.

Because his role was that of Chief Financial Officer rather than a deal-leading investment partner, Philip Shuttleworth was not the named sponsor on ECI's individual portfolio investments; his contribution was to the firm's fund finance, compliance, tax and operational infrastructure.

• Represents ECI Partners, a growth-focused mid-market private equity firm — its thesis, not a personal angel thesis.
• ECI backs established, profitable, growing businesses (typically valued up to c. £300m), partnering with management teams as either a majority or minority investor (roughly a third of deals are minority).
• Typical equity investment of £50m–£150m, and up to c. £200m as part of an initial transaction — firmly mid-market growth capital / buyout territory, well beyond seed or angel stage.
• Sector focus on tech-enabled and services-led sub-sectors: Cloud & Digital, Data, Financial Services, GRC, HealthTech, HR & EdTech, and Travel.
• ECI describes itself as a flexible growth partner that supports management teams through their next phase of scaling, with a "fantastic track record of exits" cited by Managing Partner Chris Watt.
• As CFO, Shuttleworth's own "focus" was the fund-level economics, regulatory/tax structuring and financial governance that underpin these investments rather than sourcing individual deals.