Vinna Tsang

Founder and Director, The V Executive Search Company Limited

Stefano Inglese Vafiadis

Yacht Designer, Studio Vafiadis

Paul Jebely

Managing Partner, Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman Law

I entered in the yacht industry as a child following my father in the shipyards, I was already designing my first boats then. It was a great satisfaction to see one of these sketches hung on the wall by Mariotti in Genoa.

Passion led me to continue what my father had started.

Alexandra Asche

European Sales Director, Global Jet Capital

Alexandra Asche works as Sales Director for Europe at Global Jet Capital in Zurich/Switzerland. She has more than 10 years’ experience in corporate finance at large European corporate banks and was working e.g. in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. She spent the longest time of her career in shipping finance after turning to business jet leasing in 2018. Alexandra holds an MBA from University of Bedfordshire, a Bachelor of Science and a Ship Finance Manager from the Frankfurt School of Finance.

Tom Chatfield

CEO, Camber Aviation Management

Thomas Chatfield is a leader in aircraft completions and refurbishment management, and a corporate jet visionary with 35 years of experience in the aviation industry. He founded Camber Aviation Management in 2014, managing corporate aircraft completion and refurbishment projects ranging from Bombardier and Dassault business jets to Airbus and Boeing narrow-and widebody aircraft.

The Camber Team collectively has more than 135 years of aviation experience, with each member having worked with corporate aircraft for a minimum of 15 years.   

He has held Part 145 and CAMO Postholder positions;  managed operations, maintenance and engineering departments; managed complex completions; performed aircraft acceptances and lease returns; and recovered aircraft from challenging situations.

Tom is a trained avionics technician holding Transport Canada and EASA Aircraft Maintenance Engineer licences, with an MSc in Airline Transport Management from Cranfield University.

He and each member of the Camber Team are aviation professionals who are passionate about corporate jets.

Marie-Laure Gassier

BNP Paribas

With more than 20-year credit experience, Marie-Laure hold various positions within BNP Paribas both on Wealth Management and on Corporate Banking sides. She has successfully grown the jet financing activity for the bank over the last ten years. She was based successively in Paris, Singapore and Geneva.

BNP Paribas has set up in Switzerland an integrated platform for jets, helicopters and yachts financing where Marie Laure is acting as senior advisor. With a global coverage, the team is dedicated to serving the key clients of Group with a bespoke approach.

Marie-Laure is also an active member of the larger business aviation community, chairing the EBAA-AMAC’s Financers’ subcommittee and is regularly participating as a speaker to business jets and yachts financing conference and other industry events.

BNP Paribas is a global provider of financing solutions to a wide range of clients. The Group has confirmed its leading position in Shipping and Aviation finance with a well recognized expertise and a global footprint.

Daniel Hall

Senior Valuation Consultant, ISTAT Certified Appraiser, ASA Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA), Ascend by Cirium

Daniel is certified as both an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) with the American Society of Appraisers and an Accredited Appraiser with the International Society for Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT). Based in Ascend by Cirium’s New York office, he has a comprehensive knowledge of the Commercial and Business Aviation sectors. His involvements include analysis of values, market insight & commentary, business development, and consultancy advisory. Daniel frequently works on Commercial & Business Aircraft Market Values and Appraisals, to both an ISTAT and ASA-compliant standard. Daniel specialises in the Business Aviation sector actively tracking Market Values and financing for over 50 Business Jet type families / 100 variants. His client interaction ranges with those representing banks, financiers, investors, airlines, lessors, and includes industry conference speaking.

Michel Buffat

Head Aviation & Yacht Finance, Credit Suisse

Michel Buffat joined Credit Suisse in 2001 after having spent eight years at a blue chip Swiss engineering firm. Michel has held various corporate finance positions before he joined the aircraft and yacht finance team in 2005. There he has been serving the bank’s ultra high net worth clients in various positions, such as sales manager, head of transactions as well as responsible for portfolio and recovery management. Since 2018 Michel is in charge of Credit Suisse’s global aviation and yacht finance business.

Michel is an active member of the wider business aviation community. Until 2018, he was chairing the EBAA AMAC Financier’s Subcommittee. He is regularly participating as speaker in industry events and conferences.

Michel has built up the yacht finance business of Credit Suisse since its relaunch in 2014. He represents the bank in the longstanding partnership with the prestigious Yacht Club de Monaco and has brought it to the next level. Together with the club, he is driving common initiatives such as the Explorer Awards and the SEA Index initiative for Superyachts.

Michel holds an MBA from the University of Rochester as well as a masters degree in mechanical engineering from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich.

Quentin Bargate

Founder & CEO

Quentin Bargate qualified as a solicitor in 1981 and has since spent his entire career in top City of London law firms, including running his own highly regarded firm, Bargate Murray, where he is head of the firm’s Superyacht and Dispute Resolution Groups as well as being the firm’s CEO.  Client sources comment on the “huge amount of litigation experience” that Quentin has, adding that he is “very well connected” and “knows his stuff.” A satisfied client appreciates that “he does the work from the beginning to the end, providing a full and complete service,” and the source adds: “His advice is always helpful and he is very practical.” (Source: Chambers HNW Guide 2019)

Quentin says: “In 2004, I fulfilled a lifetime ambition when I set up my own law firm, Quentin Bargate & Co. (renamed Bargate Murray in 2006).  We incorporated in 2013.  I had been a partner in Simmons & Simmons and Head of its International Trade and Shipping Group and a member of the Litigation Department and Arbitration Groups where I developed specialist skills in superyacht contracts and disputes as well as commercial shipping and trade.  Bargate Murray was a new challenge – to take all that knowledge I had gained over 14 years from a big City of London international practice, and offer it to clients who wanted a nimbler, more responsive service from a specialist firm.”

Bargate Murray is highly ranked in the Chambers HNW 2019 Guide for ‘Yachts & Superyachts’, and the Guide recognises Quentin as a Leading Individual for his expertise in this practice.

Quentin is an advocate for alternative dispute resolution (ADR), but he also deals with cases in court when required. He occasionally sits as an arbitrator.

Quentin is a member of the Baltic Exchange, the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands yacht committee. He holds a Master’s degree in Marine law, is a member of the LMAA, a Member of the Nautical Institute, a member of the IOD, a member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, and a Freeman of the City of London.

His other interests include photography (Elsevier has published a technical book on stock photography “Microstock Photography” written by Quentin under his pen name Douglas Freer), music and his family.

Gwen Edwards

Partner, CMS UK

Gwen specialises in debt finance and leasing for both corporate and commercial aircraft. She advises financiers, lessors, airlines and owners across a broad range of cross-border aircraft transactions, including portfolio migrations, aircraft acquisitions and disposals, lease and loan financings, sale and leaseback transactions, export credit and PDP facilities. She also has significant experience of distressed debt, restructuring and aircraft repossessions.

Paul Cawley

Director, Indirect Tax, KPMG in the Crown Dependencies

Professional and industry experience
Paul leads our VAT and Customs advisory service lines with a key focus on the yachting and aviation sectors, advising on purchases, disposals, indirect tax compliance, and latterly, Brexit impact on Customs status for yachts and aircraft.

He also advises clients on a range of VAT issues including financial services, e-services and property.

Paul speaks internationally on VAT and Customs matters.

Technical skills

—UK/ IOM VAT

—EU Customs

—UK Customs

Qualifications

—HND Business Management, UCM

—Advanced Diploma in Customs and Supply Chain Security, HMRC

—Advanced Diploma VAT Assurance, HMRC

Joseph Adir

Founder & CEO, WinTech Marine Intelligence

Jared Hasty

Director of Sales, Ogara Jets

Marcela de Kern Royer

Principal, ONBOARD Group, Monaco & Genoa Superyacht hub

Marcela de Kern Royer, she is a Monaco resident founder and owner of Onboard, a consulting firm based in Monaco specialized in the sales to HNWI and luxury marketing in the yachting industry. Author of the first textbook ever written about The Superyacht Industry, founder of the superyacht industry-forum, a platform to connect all professionals. She is currently developing Genoa Superyacht Hub Moreover, she is a professor at the International University of Monaco and teaching yachting at the Yacht Club de Monaco. Previously she was commercial director for ICON Yachts shipyard in the Netherlands and was also the founder and president of the Young Professionals in Yachting (YPI) Monaco chapter, among many other pursuits. Apart from her professional services, she is also an influential social media figure in yachting. Marcela speaks fluently six languages, Spanish being her mother tongue, English, French, Italian, Portuguese and German. She has a passion for all things yachting and is known worldwide for being a trusted spoke person for the yachting industry.

Dominic Bulfin

Associate Director, Bargate Murray

Dom is an Associate Director in the Firm’s superyacht group based in London. Dom advises owners and their representatives on all aspects of superyacht ownership and management, including the negotiation of new build and refit contracts, interior design contracts, contracts for the purchase of toys, tenders and lifeboats, sale and purchase agreements and sale and charter agency agreements, as well as matters relating to the employment of crew members and operational staff.

Dom is often called upon to offer real-time support for Captains and yacht managers as matters requiring immediate attention arise onboard.

A life-long sailor himself, Dom has a practical understanding of the reality of life on the water and is able to apply his personal experience as both an owner and a charterer to offer clients practical, pragmatic, and realistic advice.

Dom has been involved in projects ranging from the complex modification and repurposing of older vessels, to the design and construction of some of the largest new-builds in the superyacht fleet.

Having started his career at Clyde & Co, Dom’s prior experience also covers the commercial shipping and commodities sectors, having represented international commodity trading houses, banks and corporates – experience which Dom is able to draw upon in his superyacht practice.

With an undergraduate degree in Conservation Biology and Ecology, Dom has a keen interest in the preservation of marine ecosystems and sustainable use of the World’s waters for recreational purposes. This passion also spills into day-to-day life at Bargate Murray where Dom has championed a number of “green” initiatives to help reduce the Firm’s impact on the environment.

When he is not in the office, Dom can often be found sailing on the south coast of England or enjoying the warmer climes of the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas.

Silvia Andriotto

JTC Group

Bob Atkinson

Partner, B Capital Partners

Bob has been responsible for sourcing and arranging finance for buyers & owners of Business Jets and Yachts since 2013 with B Capital based in London. Dealing with owners from all corners of the globe and concluding transactions with a wide range of banks and funders internationally having gained considerable experience and expertise across a broad range of jurisdictions.

B Capital is also a multi-family office & investment management business based in Geneva & Malta.

Prior to this Bob established the team financing aircraft and yachts within Barclays in 2003 and was heavily involved in transactions covering the UK, EMEA & Asia markets, working in the Corporate Bank and Barclays Wealth (Private Bank) to deliver solutions.

Previously always involved in financing assets; leading complex transactions working with Barclays Capital clients and providing debt, tax based leasing and Operating Lease solutions with an International Joint Venture partner.  

Previously headed the asset finance business in central London financing major expenditure for a wide range of UK based companies and Partnerships.

James Jaffa

Partner, Jaffa & Co

Renee Goodwin

Marketing Manager, Grenada Tourism Authority

Ayanna Sylvester

Marketing Admin Assistant, Grenada Tourism Authority

Nikoyan Roberts

Manager, Nautical Development, Grenada Tourism Authority

Charlotte Fairhead

Marina Manager, Camper & Nicholson Port Louis Superyacht Marina

Gabriela Kozub

FBO Manager, IAM Private Jet Center Grenada

Roger Horner

CEO, E3

Roger is Group Managing Director of e3 Systems, S.L.  He has started a number of successful technology businesses from the ground up ranging from a UK based software house to a global maritime communications group of companies.  He has a strong focus on innovation, having been the first to introduce a number of new products and services into his markets. Some notable innovations in yachting include the first VSAT service, the first Med wide GSM service and latterly the first roaming free 3G/4G service, the first tender tracking system, the first Kymeta flat panel VSAT solution, the first Inmarsat Fleet Xpress system with a number of new introductions in the offing.  He is also a developer of vibrant, recognised brands and is assisted by a motivated, loyal and passionate team who combine their expertise and support to deliver all these quality products and services.