Ian Walker

About

Mr. Walker grew up in Caerphilly, South Wales, during the 1980s. Leaving home at 15, Ian worked full time through college and then joined the Bank of Wales to begin his career in finance. This has given him a drive to succeed borne from self-reliance and hard work.

Ian decided to join Benchmark International due to his dealings with us over preceding years. He was always impressed with the professionalism shown and the team’s focus on delivering exceptional outcomes for their clients.

As part of the team, Ian’s role is to help the Transaction Teams in Oxford deliver optimal outcomes for our clients. Having worked closely with almost 1,500 businesses during his career, he has insights into ‘what good looks like’ across a range of sectors, business activities and situations through all stages of the company life cycle. Ian also owns a small business with his wife which means he understands the complexities of being a business owner, giving him a unique viewpoint amongst advisors.

education

London Institute of Banking and Finance – Professional Diploma in Banking Practice and Management

University of Warwick – Warwick Manufacturing Group (Accreditation)

Chartered Banker (as part of the ‘Trusted Partner’ programme)

personal interests

Outside of work, Ian’s hobbies include rugby (both watching his son and refereeing), DIY, gardening, and reading.

experience

Ian has a wealth of experience, with nearly 25 years in corporate and commercial banking and almost 10 years in M&A.

From this he has gained a wide range of business and finance experience working with companies across all sectors of the economy. He is always considered and empathetic and is able to provide a balanced view of a situation and how it impacts those involved, negotiating a fair and reasonable outcome. He also has the uncanny ability to foresee issues before they arise.

Most recently, Mr. Walker was working for a small M&A team as part of a regional firm of accountants. His role covered buyside lead advisory (predominantly MBOs, MBIs and VIMBOs) plus all forms of commercial funding.

Ian’s roles and many years of experience means he has various sector and business operational knowledge, is adept at team development and cohesion, has complex sales environment experience, and can help clients to move from implicit to explicit needs.

passion

At Benchmark International, we have the privileged position of supporting business owners through, what is usually, the largest financial event of their life. A business sale has the capacity to create personal and family wealth, changing lives and creating opportunities for the future.

As such, Mr. Walker is passionate about understanding and delivering on client needs, providing bespoke and structured transactions to maximise client benefits. To help achieve this, Ian supports colleagues to deliver exceptional services for the benefit of our clients, ensuring nothing is taken for granted and heading off problems before they arise!

skills

Financial structuring and funding, legal knowledge, AML, understanding business dynamics (financial and non-financial assessment of businesses), practical risk assessment and mitigation, positivity, empathy, resilience, supportiveness, adaptability.