Tom Chappell

Tom Chappell is an investment professional at Tosca Debt Capital (TDC), the Manchester-based private debt fund. He joined the firm in 2017, with the hire publicly announced around September 2017 alongside ex-Lloyds Banking Group executive Victoria Daly. Before joining TDC, Tom qualified as a Chartered Accountant at EY, working within the firm's Capital and Debt Advisory team.

At EY he worked across both Manchester and London, advising a range of clients on acquisition financing, growth capital raises, refinancings and hedging policy. That advisory grounding in debt structuring maps directly to his current work at TDC. He graduated from the University of Leeds with a BSc in Economics.

In his current role, Tom is responsible for evaluating, structuring and executing fund investments and for supporting the origination of new investment opportunities. The firm's own materials have listed him as an Investment Executive (and, more recently, as Investment Manager — suggesting a progression within the team).

Tosca Debt Capital itself was founded in 2015 (partners associated with the firm include Gary Davison and Richard Williams) as a regional debt fund supporting the growth plans of established UK SMEs. Since launch it has raised over £1bn of capital across multiple funds and deployed more than £500m across 40+ investments, with around 19 realisations. The firm was originally cornerstoned by Toscafund Asset Management; in January 2023 it entered a major new capital partnership with global investment firm KKR (via KKR's Asset-Based Finance Partners and related credit funds) and rebranded to "TDC," targeting a £3bn platform over five years.

• Debt, not equity: TDC provides flexible debt instruments — senior, unitranche and structured/subordinated debt — rather than buying equity stakes. Tom's role is structuring and executing these debt deals.
• Use cases: Acquisition financing, management buyouts/buy-ins (MBO/MBI), leveraged buyouts (LBO), growth/expansion capital, and refinancing/recapitalizations.
• Target borrowers: Established, cash-generative regional UK SMEs and lower mid-market companies (broadly EBITDA in the ~£3m–£10m range), typically outside the heavily-banked London market.
• Sector-agnostic: The fund backs businesses across sectors — examples span software/games testing, consumer retail and services — judging deals on cash flow quality and management strength rather than a single vertical.
• What gets a "yes": Profitable trading history, a credible growth or transaction plan, strong management, and the cash-flow resilience to service debt — the standard underwriting lens of a credit fund rather than a venture bet on early-stage upside.