Before moving into venture investing, Ben spent 26 years in investment banking advising companies like Airbus, Rolls-Royce, and Lufthansa on over 20 privatisations, then took an operating role at Rolls-Royce leading strategic transformation and digitalisation, where he pushed teams to set bold 10-, 20-, and 30-year goals built around electrification and digitisation. He now brings that same mix of finance and hands-on industry experience to chairing Digital Catapult, which connects universities, startups, government, and industry, and to serving on the board of Vertical Aerospace, where he's helped guide the company through fundraising and toward certification and commercialization.