Sturgeon Ventures has appointed Tom Powell as chief operating officer and investment adviser and has launched a “Virtual Chief Operating Officer” service for clients.

Sturgeon specialises in helping entrepreneurs establish start-up financial services businesses in the institutional and wealth management space.

The new service is a project management tool for start-ups in the UK and foreign companies wishing to set up operation in London.

Sturgeon’s client list includes oil and gas advisory firm Wimmer Financial, US-based M&A consultancies such as Moelis and Harris Williams and venture capital platform Venture Capital Partners.

Seonaid Mackenzie, managing partner of Sturgeon, says: “We are delighted to welcome Tom to our team. He has a wealth of experience that will be invaluable to current and future clients. Tom’s expertise will including project management including, business plan preparation, management of CRMs and their design, risk management tools, bookkeeping and payroll, calculating and reporting NAVs (as oversight to administrators), building due diligence questionnaires, he will also assist Seonaid’s team with compliance training for their clients.”

Powell is a chartered accountant, having qualified with Coopers & Lybrand in 1997 before leaving to manage the corporate finance activities of a client. In 2001 he joined AIM-listed Mountcashel, which is now part of Astaire Group.

After assisting on several corporate transactions, he co-founded an investment management firm for Mountcashel, acting as the chief operating officer with responsibility for operations, finance, compliance and anti-money laundering as well as overseeing the company’s first offshore hedge fund. The business was taken over by Matrix Group in 2005 and Powell launched four more hedge funds before leaving at the end of 2008. Before joining Sturgeon he was a consultant in the renewable energy sector.