Going places

Whittaker joins Graphite

Mid-market buy-out house Graphite Capital has appointed Rachael Whittaker as investment manager. After beginning her career at LEK Consulting, Whittaker moved on to private equity firm Cognetas, where she focused on healthcare and finance. Graphite managing partner Rod Richards says Whittaker’s healthcare experience will be invaluable in managing the firm’s portfolio, which includes care home operators Avery Healthcare and Optimum Care, as well as orthopaedic device specialist Summit Medical.

Basu bags award

Arnab Basu, CEO of colour X-ray specialist Kromek, has been named Ernst & Young Young Entrepreneur of the Year. The business was spun out of the physics department at Durham University and its technology is expected to eliminate the need for airport restrictions on carrying liquids in hand luggage, among other applications in the medical and industrial inspection markets. Basu, 36, was described by the judges as a ‘supreme innovator who has developed ground-breaking, unique technology for an existing market set to boom’.

Forbes hire bolsters Epi-V

Epi-V, an investor in oil and gas services businesses backed by private equity firm LDC, has hired Kevin Forbes as an investment partner. Forbes has more than 28 years’ experience at Schlumberger, a large oil and gas services provider, and has spent much of his career focused on new technologies. He says, ‘There is a huge number of new technologies with significant potential that will require successful companies to be built up around them in order to support effective commercialisation and market penetration.’