Experienced people.

As CEO and Co-Founder of Alternative Commercial Finance Limited (ACF), Sophie leads the group's operations, strategic partnerships and delivery of compliant funding solutions for public sector and commercial clients.

With a business degree and professional qualifications in Residential Lettings, Property Management and HHSRS assessment, Sophie combines commercial, property and housing expertise with experience across both the private and public sectors.

She has expertise in public sector procurement, successfully securing positions on multiple procurement and leasing frameworks and creating routes for ACF and its group companies to deliver funding and leasing solutions to local authorities and other public bodies.

Sophie works closely with funding partners, advisers and stakeholders to structure commercially robust, compliant solutions around each customer's objectives. She is regulated and authorised by the FCA through 12th Gen Limited, an Appointed Representative, reinforcing her focus on strong governance, compliance and responsible business.

Stefan is an entrepreneur, investor and business leader with more than 35 years' experience founding, scaling and advising businesses across a wide range of industries. Throughout his career, he has co-founded, led and successfully exited companies in many sectors including property and financial services. Specifically in the property sector he has secured over 5m sq. ft. of planning consents and has led property development companies and projects valued at £3.5bn+ in the UK, Middle East and Australia in housing, retail, industrial, and hospitality, beginning with a joint venture with Moorfield Estates PLC in 1994.

Stefan has also held senior leadership roles within financial services in the UK & Europe, including asset managers, a London-based investment bank specialising in property finance and a retail bank, notably co-founding the $14bn asset manager Global Evolution. Stefan has been FCA authorised for 40 years. He served as the Professor of Practice of Entrepreneurship (2016–26) at, and was elected a Fellow of, King's College London in recognition of 'Outstanding Service'.

A senior property finance, valuation and real estate restructuring specialist with over 40 years of international experience. As Chief Executive of Humberts Group plc, he led a UK commercial and residential estate agency, property consultancy and valuation group, operational grounding that underpins a specialist advisory career spanning portfolio valuation, real estate project finance and recovery, due diligence, loan-book provisioning and asset-maximisation for distressed and complex property situations. He is also an experienced court valuation expert and arbitrator before the High Court and international tribunals (UNCITRAL, ICC).

Paul Sullivan is an FCA-authorised, experienced fundraiser in the European private markets, with more than three decades of investment relationships across London's institutional landscape. Most recently a Director in Global Capital Markets at Funding Circle plc, he ran the firm's private and public funds businesses, building relationships with UK pension funds and insurance companies. Before that, as Partner and Head of Business Development at Pemberton Asset Management, he was instrumental in raising the €1.2 billion Pemberton Fund I, a European mid-market direct lending strategy. Over 34 years in London, Paul has developed strong, longstanding ties with most of the leading UK insurers and pension funds.

During his career, he has raised capital for commingled private funds and several large separately managed accounts on behalf of European insurers and UK pension funds, with hands-on involvement in fund structuring, currency hedging, balance sheet management, loan loss provisioning, distribution policy, and investor reporting.

Paul began his career at Chemical Bank in New York as an Associate in Leveraged Finance under Jimmy Lee, before a fifteen-year career at J.P. Morgan, where he was latterly Managing Director and Co-Head of Financial Services Mergers and Acquisitions. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan, where he majored in international finance and trade theory, and an MBA in Corporate Finance from Northeastern University.

Zara leads communications for the ACF group, covering corporate reputation, investor materials and the group's public profile across ACF, Room Twelve and 12th Gen.

She has 25 years' experience in communications, working at board and principal level with companies, chief executives and investors across the UK and internationally. Her practice spans corporate and reputation management, crisis communications, media relations, investor communications and public affairs. She holds a BA (Hons) and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and an MSc from University College London (UCL).