Great Eastern Investment Forum
www.geif.co.ukThe Great Eastern Investment Forum (GEIF) is a leading UK business angel network located in Cambridge which exists to introduce ambitious, innovative companies seeking funding to business angels and other early-stage funders seeking quality investment opportunities.
Launched in 1995, GEIF is part of the NW Brown Group, a Cambridge-based company offering a wide range of financial services to private and corporate clients, and in 2003 launched GEIF Ventures, a £5m co-investment fund which exists to match investments made by GEIF business angels into high-growth companies.
In addition to introducing quality controlled, selective dealflow to investors, GEIF strives to encourage and facilitate the development of the investment community.
Staff
 Nigel Brown, Founder and ChairmanIn 1974 Nigel Brown formed what was to become the NW Brown Group in Cambridge. He has consistently been a major part of the inspiration and the drive to grow the business, both in scale and scope, with the support of a dedicated and professional management team. To Nigel’s personal credit was the establishment of the GEIF subsidiary, a business angel and start-up facility to support early stage ventures in the area, and the creation of the Cambridge Gateway Fund, the venture capital subsidiary specialising in high technology investments. Nigel, along with the Hermann Hauser, 3i, the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University and others, was a founding member of the Cambridge Network. Amongst other roles, Nigel is the Chairman of Greater Cambridge Partnership, a member of the University of Cambridge Finance Committee and Venture Capital Committee, a board member of the Cambridge University Technology Service (CUTS) and the Chairman of the Cambridge Arts Theatre. Nigel has supported many initiatives in the fields of music and the arts with financial and moral contributions as well as creating unique syndicated sponsorships of valuable instruments and talented professional musicians. In 1999, in recognition of his experience in the development of the high-technology economy of Cambridge and its surrounding region, Nigel was appointed to be an adviser to the Singapore Government on early-stage VC funding. In 2004 Nigel was awarded an honorary doctorate by APU. |  John Goodger, DirectorJohn Goodger has, since its formation in 1995, assisted in the vetting and pre-presentation training of the investee companies as well as having worked on the creation of the membership base of smaller company funders. He is also a director of NW Brown Corporate Finance and has been involved with smaller quoted and unquoted companies based in the Cambridge area for over 17 years. Following periods with a clearing bank and a London based fund manager, John spent five years as a financial journalist at the Investors Chronicle. He has over 20 years’ experience in the field of corporate and investor communications advising both unquoted and quoted companies on all aspects of their internal and external relations. He has been on the board of a number of quoted companies (fully listed and AIM) where, amongst other activities, he has assisted with their corporate development and acquisition strategies. |
 Marie-France Vincent, GEIF Co-ordinatorMarie-France Vincent is a French national who relocated from the West of England to the Cambridge area in autumn 1999. She joined the NW Brown Group in October 2000 and moved to GEIF in May 2002. Her background is largely of an IT nature, having spent 14 years in the IT sector as analyst and consultant, working for companies such as Hewlett-Packard and various large manufacturing firms both in the UK and abroad. She is also a linguist with fluent Italian and Spanish besides English and her native French. |
Contact details
Richmond House
16-20 Regent Street
Cambridge
CB2 1DB
Telephone: 01223 720 312
16-20 Regent Street
Cambridge
CB2 1DB
Telephone: 01223 720 312
