Inflexion Point

Powering ambitious female leadership with Medik8

From quadrupling sales in under five years to building a leadership team where women set the pace, Medik8’s story is about much more than high growth. Backed by Inflexion and now majority owned by L’Oréal, Medik8 is a live case study in what happens when ambition, culture and opportunity align.
In this special International Women’s Day episode, Inflexion Managing Director Freddy West speaks with Medik8 Chief Financial Officer Lilia Santos and Chief People Officer Aimee Campbell about what it really takes to scale a PE backed business at speed while creating an environment where talented women thrive. They explore how Medik8 tripled headcount, maintained its culture through rapid international expansion, and fostered a leadership culture that enables women to thrive, rooted in values, flexibility and trust. Lilia and Aimee also reflect on navigating private equity as female leaders, managing energy rather than time, and using their positions to open doors for the next generation.⭐

Driving sustainable energy growth with Wood Thilsted

From designing the foundations of the world’s largest offshore wind farms to achieving B-Corp certification, Co-Founders Alastair Muir Wood and Christian LeBlanc Thilsted have built Wood Thilsted into a true example of purpose-driven growth.
In this episode, CEO Alastair shares how Wood Thilsted transformed from a bold idea between friends in 2015 into a global leader in offshore wind engineering, supporting projects across multiple continents. He explores the pivotal moments that shaped the company’s journey, from international expansion and rapid organic growth to professionalising operations and partnering with Inflexion to scale. Alastair also delves into the realities of expanding in a challenging market and what it truly means to do “business for good” in the renewable energy sector. He shares how Wood Thilsted navigates shifting governmental and political landscapes and how the business continues to adapt and thrive amid change.

Innovation, geo-cloning & going global with Easyfairs

While still at university, Eric Everard was already juggling three businesses, studying hard, and even learning Mandarin — a true display of entrepreneurial drive. Shortly after graduating, he launched yet another venture: the beginnings of what would become Easyfairs. Fast forward two decades, and Easyfairs has evolved into a global events powerhouse.
In this episode, Eric shares the Easyfairs journey, including how he sold the business and bought it back for €1, and how his early commitment to technology has positioned Easyfairs as one of the world’s leading tech-driven event companies today, built on a scalable and purpose-built platform that continues to evolve. He also dives into the role of geo-cloning in their expansion, the growth of Comicon across Europe, the strategic M&A engine behind their success, and why, in his view, people don’t leave companies — they leave bad bosses.

Transforming recruitment across Europe with YER

From full-page newspaper ads in the 1980s to today’s cutting-edge, data-driven talent platform, YER has transformed into a leading European specialist recruitment agency. Over the decades, the company has navigated major industry shifts, weathered the financial crisis, adopted a secondment model, and expanded across Europe through strategic acquisitions, all while maintaining a strong focus on vision, leadership and adaptability.
In our latest podcast episode, YER CEO Johan Overgaauw and Inflexion’s Sander Ruijter join Tim Smallbone in Amsterdam to unpack the key milestones behind YER’s growth, from Inflexion’s minority investment to international expansion and M&A, and explore how the company continues to thrive as a people-first business in a fast-changing market.

10 years for an overnight success with Mountain Warehouse

A true entrepreneur, Mark Neale always knew he wanted to build his own business. After a few early ventures in retail, he founded Mountain Warehouse in 1997. From opening the first store in Swindon almost 30 years ago, Mark has led the company through nearly three decades of change - navigating the rise of e-commerce, international expansion and the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic. In this episode of Inflexion Point, Mark joins Inflexion Partner Tim Smallbone, to share the journey from those early days to becoming a global outdoor retail brand, reflecting on the pivotal moments, lessons learned, and what it really takes to scale a business.

Capitalising on the right strategic opportunities with Ocorian

Ocorian, a leading corporate, fund, and trust administration business, has undergone a remarkable transformation since partnering with Inflexion in 2016. In this episode of Inflexion Point, Ocorian CEO Chantal Free and Inflexion’s Managing Partner Flor Kassai delve into the combination of organic and inorganic growth that has fuelled Ocorian’s success, including a strategy-led M&A programme and the transformational acquisition of Estera, which doubled the size of the business overnight. They also explore Ocorian’s relentless focus on integrating acquisitions, its commitment to being a client-led firm, and its ambitious plans to expand its global footprint into the US market.

Carving-out GRC to accelerate growth

Alex Dacre is Founder of Marlowe plc and CEO of Inflexion carved-out GRC, a leading governance, risk, and compliance tech-enabled services and software business. In this episode, Tim speaks with Alex and Inflexion Partner Isabelle Pagnotta about how Alex identified a significant gap in the regulatory market, the pivotal role of taking GRC private in scaling the business and what the future holds and the opportunities presented by AI.

Creating a pioneering skincare philosophy with Medik8

In this episode, Elliot Isaacs, founder of skincare business Medik8, speaks to Tim Smallbone about forming the idea for the business in the back of his dad’s pharmacy, the importance of a scientific and results-led approach, the development of their flagship product; crystal retinal, and what really sets Medik8 apart from the competition.

Making an impact and saving lives with dss+

dss+ is a global business headquartered in Switzerland that supports clients to reduce risk, transform culture, maximise impact and improve sustainability by operating more responsibly. In the first episode of the second series of Inflexion point, Tim Smallbone speaks with Davide Vassallo, dss+ CEO, and Inflexion Partner and Head of Business Services, Isabelle Pagnotta, about the key to making an impact and how that can ultimately save lives. 

Innovation, acquisitions and empowering your team with Aspen Pumps

Now celebrating its 31st year, Aspen has grown from a small, local manufacturer of condensate removal pumps, to a company with close to 400 employees worldwide and selling to over 100 countries. In this episode, Tim and CEO Adrian Thompson delve into the importance of having a high-quality and reliable product, the challenges and opportunities of international expansion, lessons learnt from ownership changes, why incentivising your team and empowering individuals is crucial, and most importantly why Inflexion liked the business so much - it invested twice!