ROCKWORTH - Key Persons


Claire Wheeler

Claire started her career with Deloitte, where she qualified as a chartered accountant. She then held a senior research role at Fast Track, where she managed the research and publication of league tables of the UK's fastest growing private businesses. Claire is responsible for company and market research, as well as financial analysis and information preparation associated with our lead advisory and transactional work. Before joining Rockworth, Claire qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Deloitte in London and then worked at Fast Track, the leading research and events company, where she researched the fastest-growing private companies in the UK and wrote articles for publication in The Sunday Times.

Dominic Riley - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
  • Advisor to
Dominic is an experienced chairman and non-exec director. His previous roles include Head of Marketing at the BBC (where he launched bbc.co.uk), founder of handbag.com (sold to Hearst Communications in 2006). Dominic is an advisor to Rockworth and closely involved with our investment activity. His long career has included senior marketing, business development and management roles at organisations including the BBC and Reed Elsevier. Following an MBA at London Business School, Dominic spent a long corporate career in senior marketing, business development and management roles including the BBC and Reed Elsevier. As Head of Marketing at the BBC he launched bbc.co.uk onto the internet in 1997 and he founded handbag.com, one of the UK's leading content websites and one of the first to reach over 1 million certificated monthly users. As CEO he sold Hawksmere to the Washington Post in 2008 and since then has acted as Chairman and non-exec Director at over a dozen businesses, helping owners to grow their businesses and prepare them for sale.

Lawrence Price - Founder, Managing Director

Job Titles:
  • Founder
  • Managing Director
Lawrence founded Rockworth after running the Thames Valley office of a London-based corporate finance firm. He has experience of 100+ transactions spanning more than 20 years, and an MBA from Imperial College Business School. Rockworth's founder and Managing Director, Lawrence has experience of more than 100 transactions across numerous different industries. Lawrence has over 20 years' lead advisory corporate finance experience working with privately owned companies. His work has included sales, acquisitions, MBO/MBI and fund-raising, with completed transactions ranging from £1m to £100m in value. With experience of over 100 transactions, Lawrence was lead advisor on the sale of Morgan Motor Company Limited to Investindustrial, Rubicon Drinks to AG Barr, Kittiwake Developments to Parker Hannifin Inc and Core Design to Omnicom Inc. Prior to founding Rockworth Management Partners, Lawrence headed up the Thames Valley office of a London-based corporate finance firm, worked in TMT corporate finance with Longacre Partners, now part of Jefferies, and was Operations Business Manager for the British American Racing Formula One team. Lawrence sits on the financial services panel of Said Business School Oxford, and is non-executive director to two private businesses.

Will Laws

Will qualified as a chartered accountant with PwC, before moving into business development and marketing roles. Before joining Rockworth, he worked as a fundraising and investor relations consultant for small companies and VC funds. Will works on various aspects of our transactions, including buyer research, preparation of marketing materials, building relationships with buyers, and project management. He also oversees Rockworth's marketing and communications activities. Will started his career as a chartered accountant with PwC, before moving into business development and commercial management roles. He worked in a senior marketing and investor relations position for a venture capital firm, before becoming an independent consultant for alternative investment firms and for start-ups seeking funding.

Zuzana Valkovic

Job Titles:
  • Financial Analyst
Zuzana is a financial analyst and M&A professional, with extensive experience across numerous sectors, including distribution, healthcare, and marketing services. Prior to joining Rockworth, she worked for KPMG's transaction services team. Zuzana leads the pre-transaction preparation, financial analysis, financial modelling and due diligence process for many of our transactions. Prior to Rockworth, Zuzana worked in the transaction advisory services team of KPMG in Vienna. Her transaction experience includes work across a range of industries including telecommunications, manufacturing, packaging, banking, postal services and logistics, conducting buy and sell side financial due diligence on deals valued from £1m to £100m.