Raymond Fagan was born in the historic town of Rhuddlan in the Vale of Clwyd, Denbighshire.  A Welsh speaker, he was a pupil at Ysgol Glan Clwyd, St Asaph.  Despite an Irish surname his roots are firmly Welsh, with his father’s family hailing from the nearby village of Bodelwyddan and his mother originally from Blaenau Ffestiniog.  

At eighteen Raymond joined a local manufacturing company as a trainee accountant, before moving to London to finish his accountancy training with multi-national pharmaceutical company Rousell Laboratories (now Sanofi-aventis).  He is a qualified accountant and a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.  

In 1981 he joined the private investment office of City of London based entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Clive Richards, and worked on new investments, business realisations and investee management support. As he is proud to say, “Clive’s mentoring, guidance and leadership by example helped me achieve my future success”.  

In 1985 he moved to an investee company of Clive Richards & Co, accounting software developer Tetra, as its first finance director. Between 1989 and 1995 he was a director of web-filtering software company Surfcontrol Plc, and between 1994 and 1997 was deputy chairman and finance director of Active Imaging Plc, a developer of digital imaging transmissions systems. He has also been a non-executive director of several companies primarily in the technology and telecom sectors and also in the environmental field.  He has provided advice to companies on fund raising, business development, mergers and acquisitions, and in guiding companies towards a public offering.

Raymond is a partner in Cavendish Corporate Finance LLP, a London-based boutique specialising in the sale of companies in the mid-market, joining the firm in 1999.  

Over the past 30 years Raymond has been active in business and social life in London, especially where there is a Welsh connection.  He is a regular attendee, along with his wife Anita, at home matches of London Welsh Rugby Football Club, and was a long serving member on the committee of Wales in London, and joined the St David’s Day Dinner Committee in 2005.   

He maintains regular ties with his home area and in 2008 supported the establishment of a Local Nature Reserve in Rhuddlan - www.natur-rhuddlan.com .  He acquired part of the land and entered into a partnership agreement with the local council and numerous community groups, creating the first public space gifted to residents of Rhuddlan for over 100 years.  The successful project was officially opened in March 2011 and has been designated to the memory of his parents who were very active in community life in Rhuddlan, his father Tom being honoured as the first Town Mayor, in 1974.    

Raymond is 54 years of age, married to Anita and has two daughters, Rosalind and Alice.