New College Society City and Professional Network Event
The New College Society warmly invites New College Old Members its next City and Professional Network talk and drinks reception at the offices of Linklaters, One Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8HQ (map) on Monday 12 January 2026. Drinks and canapés will be from 6.30pm-8.30pm with the talk commencing at 7.00pm.
New College Old Members, James Wootton (1997) and Ian Hunter (1997), have kindly agreed to host a panel discussion considering the outlook for UK equity capital markets at a time when demand appears uncertain. To provide additional perspectives, they will be joined by Christopher Clothier (1998), Co-CIO of an asset manager, and Christopher Houghton (1998), an experienced CEO and CFO of listed and private companies. The discussion will be introduced by NCS City and Professional Network Lead, John Rowland (1998), a partner at a Private Equity firm. Short bios are provided below.
We hope that you will be able to join us for what promises to be a fascinating evening, and a great opportunity to network with those linked to the City.
If you would like to attend, please book your place through the University of Oxford Online payment facility by Wednesday 7 January 2026 or telephone the Development Office on 01865 279509. The cost for the event is £25 per person. Capacity is limited so early booking is recommended.
As part of the booking process there will be a short questionnaire where we ask you to let us know of any dietary requirements/allergens, if relevant, and also to provide your current job title, company and contact details for name badges and in order to create a list of those attending handout which attendees will receive on the night.
Whilst our list of those working in or connected to the City continues to evolve, please spread the word to other New College contemporaries working in appropriate professions who might be keen to be included. Please encourage them to get in contact to register for the event or send us their details.
About the speakers:
James Wootton - Corporate Partner, Linklaters, London
Jamie is the Global Co-Head of Equity Capital Markets at Linklaters. He has been instructed on all sides of IPO and equity capital markets transactions, including by corporates, private equity funds, shareholders and underwriting banks. He has been instrumental in bringing numerous IPOs successfully to market including the recent IPOs of Verisure and Shawbrook Bank, and before that IPOs including those of Wise, Alphawave, Oxford Nanopore, Allied Irish Banks, TSB, Royal Mail, Direct Line and many others. In addition to client work he sits on the FCA’s Listing Authority Advisory Panel and is part of HM Government’s Listings Taskforce.
Ian Hunter - Corporate Partner, Linklaters, London
Ian’s practice is focussed in two main areas: the mining sector and professional services. He has advised Glencore plc and Endeavour Mining plc for many years since their respective London listings, and also leads Linklaters relationships with Computacenter plc and Ashmore Group plc. He is also global relationship partner for Deloitte and EY, advising them on network M&A, governance and structure. In recent years he has participated actively in reform of the UK Listing Rules, pre-emption and wider company law.
Chris Clothier – Co-CIO, CG Asset Management, London
Chris joined CGAM in 2015 and has co-managed the funds since that date. CGAM focuses on long-only asset allocation across equities, bonds and commodities with the stated aim of preserving capital and delivering absolute returns rather than tracking a benchmark. The firm current manages c.£2.4bn of assets. Prior to CGAM Chris was a director at IPGL Limited, a private investment vehicle with a range of public and private interests predominantly in the financial services industry, where he worked for six years. Before that he worked at MMC Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm.
Christopher Houghton – CEO, OVO Energy, London
Chris has recently returned to role of CEO at Ovo Energy, a privately held energy business, having previously been CFO and CEO (2014-2018) while OVO scaled from a challenger brand into one of the UK’s largest independent energy providers. Before OVO, Chris spent 6 years as Finance Director at UK listed Telecom Plus PLC (trading as ‘Utility Warehouse’), where he helped grow the business into the FTSE 250. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant at PWC, and was seconded to the Takeover Panel.
John Rowland – Partner, COO & CFO, Alchemy Partners, London
John joined Alchemy in 2006 from Hawpoint Partners where he was a Corporate Financier, advising on M&A and IPO transactions. Prior to that he was part of KPMG's Private Equity Group, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Alchemy specialises in investing in complex corporate debt and equity special situations across the European mid-market. The firm currently managers c.£2.5bn of assets.
