Chris Bates
Greater London, England, United Kingdom
4K followers
500+ connections
4K followers
500+ connections
Articles by Chris
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HCM software – flash in the pan or here to stay?
HCM software – flash in the pan or here to stay?
LDC’s recent £20m plus acquisition of a majority stake in Mitrefinch, the Yorkshire-based HR software provider, marks…
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4K followers
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Chris Bates reposted thisChris Bates reposted thisWilliam Blair acted as the exclusive financial advisor to The Doux in connection with the company receiving a minority investment from VMG Partners. Learn more about William Blair’s Consumer Products & Services team: https://lnkd.in/g3ZcVTJZ
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Chris Bates shared thisWe’re hiring! Looking for a top performing VP to join our growing Consumer Team in Europe. Please get in touch if you are interested
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Chris Bates shared thisI’m excited to be heading to Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna next week and experiencing the latest beauty trends and innovation. Looking forward to catching up with some familiar faces and making some new connections. Please get in touch if you would like to meet during the event
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Chris Bates reposted thisIt was an absolute pleasure supporting our loyal client Genui on the acquisition of Pfanner - a market-leading, fast-growing and innovative protective equipment company with great potential. This marks our second high-profile PPE deal in DACH in 2025.Chris Bates reposted thisWilliam Blair acted as the exclusive financial advisor to GENUI in connection with its acquisition of Pfanner Austria Schutzbekleidung (PFANNER). Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ggGV2Ymk
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Chris Bates reposted thisChris Bates reposted thisWilliam Blair acted as the lead financial advisor to Better Being Co., a portfolio company of HGGC, in connection with its sale to a syndicate of global investors led by Snapdragon Capital Partners, LLC. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gQz5FGxt
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Chris Bates shared thisExcited to share that I'll be a panelist at the upcoming Beauty Independent Dealmaker Summit in London this coming November 10-11! The Dealmaker Summit is widely recognized as the premier sector-specific professional event for leaders involved in fund raising, capital strategy and M&A in beauty and wellness. Looking forward to discussing "Exit Alternatives: Finding The Third Way" with Evan Koetsenruijter and Aweng Majidpour - no doubt it will be a lively discussion, especially with Nader Naeymi-Rad in charge. Hope to see you there!
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Chris Bates reposted thisChris Bates reposted thisThe pet supplements industry is on track for strong continued growth. Meeting future demand will require both additional capacity and enhanced capabilities to stay ahead of intensifying competition—creating opportunities for investors. What that means for such areas as outsourced manufacturing and vertical integration is the focus of a new report by William Blair and CIL Management Consultants. The report’s insights are informed by targeted interviews with retailers, branded providers, and contract development and manufacturing organizations. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/gXBG5-nT
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Chris Bates reposted thisChris Bates reposted thisWilliam Blair completed nearly 20 transactions in September with an aggregate value of nearly $10 billion. Select transactions are listed below:
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Chris Bates reposted thisChris Bates reposted thisWilliam Blair recently announced the addition of Chris Bates as director in the firm’s Consumer Products & Services group. Based in London, Bates will provide comprehensive advisory support to European beauty, personal care, and consumer-health companies and financial sponsors that are focused on investment opportunities in those industries. Bates has more than 14 years of experience in a variety of roles in corporate finance and consumer services. He is the latest in a series of senior hires by William Blair in Europe over the past several months. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gEMtHv3D
Chris Bates commented on a post
8mo
Amazing start - must be a record!
Chris Bates commented on a post
8mo
Congratulations Keith Pickering for a career to be proud of. You and Andy created something very special at Catalyst which was a blast to have experienced, and something I feel lucky to have been a part of. Best of luck for your next chapter
Chris Bates commented on a post
8mo
Congratulations Robert Young - incredibly exciting times ahead, wishing you and the full Avero Advisory team the best of luck, no doubt it will be a huge success
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Chris Bates liked thisVery proud of this one! ✨ The Penthouse Collection is a beautiful example of what our team can create when great product, creativity and collaboration come together. Huge well done to everyone involved, excited to see this one out in the world.. Now for the hardest decision, which shade do I choose for my first A/W mani of 2026?!Chris Bates liked thisThe Penthouse Collection has officially arrived, and we couldn't be more excited to introduce such a beautiful colour palette! Introducing a mixture of ten deeper tones, elevated neutrals and light-shifting magnetic finishes, all with a little after-dark energy and a nod to old-money glamour ✨ Our incredible Creative Team brought this collection to life, drawing from an original moodboard and delivering a world of late nights, rich textures and unapologetic luxury. In seeing the collection you feel as though you are stepping into the Penthouse itself 💎 From styling and set design to the props, textures, lighting and photography, they have brought to life imagery that felt luxurious and cinematic, while remaining unmistakably TGB. Behind the final images was creative conversations, styling changes, content days, evolved ideas and plenty of collaboration; the result is a campaign that gives each shade its own place within the Penthouse, bringing the collection to life 📸 A huge thank you to our incredible Creative Team and everyone involved in bringing this one together 🖤 Explore the full collection now on our website: https://lnkd.in/e-6GKtJ5 #AW #Autumn #Newness #Trending #Style #Colour #Creative #Fashion #CreativeTeam #Design #Photography #Shoot #Nails #Beauty #BeautyIndustry
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Chris Bates liked thisChris Bates liked thisWhat a night for TGB at the National Television Awards! ✨ We brought some truly incredible guests spanning TV, entertainment, fashion and beauty with some seriously locked-in social audiences - all wearing The GelBottle Inc for their event nails of the night 🤩 Nail moments begun long before the awards did, with our guests sharing their pre-awards nail appointments and look creations on socials in preparation for TV's biggest night 🎬 Word travelled fast around the O2 that our box had branded eye masks and slippers up for grabs for sore feet, and safe to say they disappeared fast! ⚡ A truly brilliant night with fantastic guests - a huge thank you to everyone who made it so memorable. To catch exclusive behind-the-scenes moments from the NTAs make sure to follow us on TikTok: @the_gelbottle_inc 📱 #NTAs #NationalTelevisionAwards #Brand #Nails #TGB #TheGelBottleInc #O2 #PR #Events
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Chris Bates liked thisChris Bates liked this🧬 Olistic expands from hair health supplements into topical care Since 2021, Olistic has built its proposition around beauty from the inside out, becoming the leading hair health supplement in Spain. Until now, that has meant a range of nutraceuticals supporting #hair health from within. The launch of its first shampoo marks a new chapter for the brand, extending that proposition into topicals and bringing the two together into a more complete IN&OUT approach to hair health. 🔬 The science stays at the centre Developed with Olistic’s proprietary OL/PeptiStem Grow System®, the shampoo is designed to act across the scalp, follicle and hair fibre, supporting visibly thicker, smoother and shinier hair. It brings the same scientific approach that has underpinned Olistic’s supplements into external hair care for the first time. 💬 Built around consumer demand The move also came directly from the Olistic #community. When the brand asked what product consumers would like to see next, 83% asked for a shampoo. The team took that feedback into the lab and developed a formula designed to meet the same standards as the rest of the Olistic range. For a brand that has established itself around #beauty from within, moving into topical care is a natural evolution – and one that gives Olistic the opportunity to build a more complete hair health proposition across the full routine.
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Chris Bates liked thisChris Bates liked thisAlways great to back a market leader, even more so when their segment is growing rapidly and led by a world class team. Delighted that Jack Curran and Team selected us to Partner with for their next chapter. Excited to help deliver even more for the Brands and Clinicians Healthxchange supports every day. https://lnkd.in/e5KFkGTG Growth Partner
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Chris Bates liked thisChris Bates liked thisEstrid's most profitable month, ever. Trailing-twelve-month EBITDA up from 7 MSEK in January to 89 in July (€8m). 81 MSEK year to date, seven months in. Churn at the lowest level in our history, and gross margin after all marketing up to 30%. And a second engine: retail. More than half of July's revenue came from shelves in stores that didn't stock us three years ago. To the founders building consumer brands right now: the quarter you feel least proud of is sometimes the one doing the most work. Nobody claps for the boring decisions. But they're the ones that show up on charts like this. None of this was one person's work or one clever decision. It was an unreasonably strong team making a hundred unglamorous ones, month after month. Thank you team.
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Chris Bates liked thisChris Bates liked thisDelighted to have advised Metric Capital Partners, Charlie Morgan, Jackson Quinn and Charlie Sloth on the proposed sale of Au Vodka to Sazerac Company. Congratulations to our clients and all involved! Many thanks to Noel Haywood, Ronny Jenner and the wider DLA Piper team. Another great example of DLA Piper's market-leading global M&A practice and consumer expertise. #MandA #Consumer #Spirits #DLAPiper #DLA Piper Consumer Goods, Food and RetailDLA Piper, Dorsey advise on £500m sale of Welsh vodka companyDLA Piper, Dorsey advise on £500m sale of Welsh vodka company
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Chris Bates liked thisIRIS Ventures and the art of living well ✨ Almost every major global CPG player has now made a strategic move into wellness. This month, P&G paid $3.8B for Thorne. In April, Unilever paid $1B+ for Grüns. Neither deal surprised us; they confirmed a thesis we’ve held for over a decade: consumers no longer buy products, they buy results: more energy, more muscle, a healthier gut, better sleep, a longer life. Consumers seek the “art of living well,” built on four pillars: #healthier, #happier, #longer, more #convenient lives. We’ve spent years ahead of this curve, building a portfolio around that belief: Maurten in sports nutrition, Olistic in hair health, Biomel Gut Health in gut health, Superlativa in stress management, Lucille in senior nutrition, Reformed in functional coffee, Krème in microbiome skincare and Healf in personalized health & wellness. This year’s billion dollar acquisitions aren’t a plot twist to me, they’ve confirmed what we already knew. We’ve been backing this kind of company since before the category had a name. When the world’s largest CPG players write billion dollar checks for prevention and efficacy, that’s not a trend, it’s the market structurally repricing around health & wellness. Wellness has become the foundation of how people make decisions. Everyone wants to live #better, for #longer. That’s exactly where we’ve built IRIS to be, and our portfolio reads like a map of this thesis in practice. We have built Europe's most attractive Wellness and Longevity Portfolio. #leaders #vision #consciousliving 💪🏼
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Chris Bates liked thisChris Bates liked thisI've officially stepped into the CEO role at Wuffes. The last fifteen months here have been the most rewarding of my career. I joined as President after two years as a strategic advisor to our founders, Sam Venning and Josh Savinson, and somewhere along the way it stopped being a job. Poppy, my 10-month-old cocker spaniel, is partly to blame and so is the impact I see Wuffes have on dogs across the US every day. What we do is simple. Wuffes makes dog supplements that are built to work - clinically studied ingredients, at levels that actually do something, made to the standards you'd want for your own health. More than 1.2 million dogs have counted on Wuffes, and dog parents keep telling us that their dogs are back to their best. I'm honored by the trust, and ready to build on what Sam and Josh started. They bootstrapped this from the beginning, and today we're in more than 3,000 retail doors nationwide alongside the DTC business that started it all. As we continue to scale, there is one test that still governs everything we make: if we wouldn't give it to our own dogs, we don't sell it. Dog wellness hasn't found its defining brand yet. We intend to be it, and there's plenty coming this year that I'm excited to share with you. None of what's coming next will happen without the talented Wuffes pack - time to get to work. First, Poppy needs a walk…
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Chris Bates liked thisChris Bates liked thisLast Friday marked my 40th, and final, quarterly earnings release and conference call for Colgate-Palmolive as I retire from CP in September after 10 amazing years. I feel honored to have had an impact on such an incredible company that has been around for 220 years and operates in 200+ countries and territories around the world. I’m part of a leadership team that has launched 2 successful strategic plans; remade the P&L through increasing spending on advertising and capabilities; built a value creation mindset across the company; utilized the balance sheet to change how our businesses operate (shout out to Hill's Pet Nutrition and Prime100); and delivered peer leading TSR. But most importantly I’ve been able to showcase the amazing 34k people of CP and Hill’s by telling their stories. Next step is TBD, but if you know any companies that are looking for a c-suite exec to drive a value creation mindset, my DMs are open. Thanks to Noel Wallace, Stan Sutula, Jennifer Daniels, Kristine Hutchinson and Hope Spiller for all their support.
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Mark Advani
A terrific investment for our Livingbridge Enterprise 3 investors and a thoroughly enjoyable few years working hand in glove with the management team. We are pleased to stay invested in Nourish and looking forward to working with Hg. Technology is transforming the health and social care system for the operators and the service users. Plenty more to come.
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Tariq Peters
I researched 200 fractional CFO/FD profiles across the UK market. Only 8% had any media coverage attached to their name. For some, media coverage feels like a nice to have and not something that actually moves the needle. But think about what actually happens when a referral comes in. Someone still Googles your name. Even when the introduction is warm and the trust is already partly there, the prospect does their own check before the conversation goes any further. I broke down the rest of what I found across those 200 profiles including the other patterns sitting behind this one. https://lnkd.in/eVxzGwes If nothing comes up beyond a LinkedIn profile and a website, that works against you. It quietly tells the prospect you are one of many similarly qualified people, indistinguishable from the next name on the list. Meanwhile the CFO/FD who has third-party coverage, even a modest feature or a quoted comment, shows up differently in that same search. AI search results now pull from that same coverage too, so the gap is starting to show in more places than Google alone. The work and the experience behind both CFOs/FDs might be identical. However, the one with visible third-party credibility is simply easier to trust from a distance, before anyone has spoken to them directly. That's the part referrals don't protect you from. A warm introduction gets you the conversation. It doesn't control what happens in the ten minutes before it.
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Chulanga Jayawardana
Big move in the nutrition space 🚀 The acquisition of Huel by Danone is a fascinating example of where the future of food is heading. Huel has built a powerful brand around convenience, sustainability, and nutritionally complete products—especially resonating with younger, health-conscious consumers. Pairing that with Danone’s global scale, distribution, and operational expertise could unlock significant growth opportunities. Exciting times! Many congratulations to all involved! Great transaction to be involved with Liberty Corporate Finance advising the Huel team! Well done! Dan Martinez and team #CPDeals #Cooperparry
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