Frederick Achom

Frederick "Freddie" Achom (born 22 January 1974) is a British businessman and technology investment entrepreneur based between Paris, Mumbai and London. He is the co-founder and chairman of the Rosemont Group, a private investment group with a portfolio of companies with interests in biotechnology, web based technology platforms, wine trading, land and property development and the Mumbai STOCK exchange listed renewable energy and micropower provider, Communication Power Engineering Company (CPEC) group, to more high profile ventures in the entertainment sector.

Achom was listed as one of the 1000 most influential Londoners in 2010 by The London Evening Standard and again in 2011. For 4 consecutive years he has been listed as one of the top 100 most important black business people in the UK. Since 1982, Achom has been living in London, England. Besides his business activities, he is also engaged in non-profit activities.

Early life

Achom was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1974 to a housewife mother and insurance broker father. The youngest boy of a family of 3 boys and 1 girl, he spent his early years living in Lagos. His father is a prominent businessman and major shareholder of Inland Bank of Nigerian and a politician in the Eastern region of Nigeria. At the age of 8 Achom along with his three siblings, was sent to boarding school in England, attending Grenham House boarding school in Burchington in Kent and then St. John’s prep school in Staffordshire, England. Achom briefly studied Medical Science at University before leaving to pursue a life in business. Driven by what he called ‘a hunger to create and his interest in business rather than a necessity to work’,he left his studies to train as a financial sales consultant, working for numerous companies in financial district in the city of London.

Early Business interests

In 1997 Achom and several partners started a business development and strategic funding consulting agency aimed at SME's called City Business Partners. City Business Partners was sold nearly 3 years later to the EGC Group netting Achom and his partners a figure thought to be in the region of 9 million pounds.

Achom is an avid collector of fine wine and In 2001 he started one of the first alternative investment advisory agencies focusing on fine wine as an alternative asset to traditional investments such as equities and bonds. The venture was short lived as the market was untested and at the time seen as highly speculative, therefore not well received by financial regulators. Within its first year Boington and Fredericks was closed, along with seven other such companies, in the public interest. Though the market still remains unregulated and can be a minefield for investors, he has since gone on to established himself within the sector and is seen to have been vindicated by the success and growth consistency of the market since his first foray. In 2012 his Rosemont Group’s wine asset management subsidiary companies, which span the UK, Australia and China, were reported to have over 50 million pounds of wine assets under management.

In addition, Achom went on to invest in several media related ventures and publications including the UK’s first leisure directory called The Leisure Pages. Achom also invested heavily into developing a land and property development portfolio before diversifying into Investment sales and consultancy by acquiring Property Clinic Group and Universal Properties in 2008. He was also one of the early investors in the UK arm of luxury Italian kitchen designers and builders, Pedini, which was sold in 2010.

Rosemont Group

In 2003 Frederick Achom founded Rosemont Group Capital Partners (Rosemont Group). Rosemont's Group primarily focus was joint venture investments and equity funding for technology start ups and growth stage development, luxury goods & services, restaurants, exclusive members only clubs and financial sales.

In 2012, Achom re-aligned Rosemont Group’s core investment focus to opportunities in early and growth stage technology, biotechnology and clean technology companies in developing markets. Rosemont Group acquired a large stake in renewable energy services company (RESCo), Communication Power Engineering Company (CPEC) group. CPEC is one of India's oldest listed companies and is listed on the Mumbai premier stock exchange. Until the passing of its founder and chairman in 2010, CPEC specialised in the manufacturing of gears and general consultancy within the power and engineering sectors. Achom was appointed to the board in 2013. The company is now controlled by the Shamji family and Achom.

Currently, Achom also acts as an investment partner and advisor in various early stage digital technology companies including, app incubator Appitalist, creative social networking site Grandaad.com, social media and audience management platform justgo.com. Outside of the technology sector he is also a major shareholder in high street fashion brand Hershey Pascual Fashion - stockists include House of Fraser, Lipsy, Next, Lipstick Boutique and Asos.

Renewable Energy and Solar Deployment Ventures

Achom’s Rosemont Group along with Mumbai stock exchange listed CPEC Ltd, holds several subsidiary energy companies within their portfolio of companies but continue to specialise in building, owning, and operating utility-scale solar power plants in India and other emerging markets. Their subsidiary companies include Eurosolar Power Ltd. which was acquired in 2011, Artheon TeleVentures, an investment holding group with several companies and co-investments including Flexenclosure Telecom India Pvt. Ltd and Omnigrid Micropower Co. Pvt Ltd.

Achom through CPEC was amongst the founding investors in Omnigrid Micropower Co. In 2013 the company received the World Economic Forum award as 2014 Technology Pioneer. As a part of the Technology Pioneers program, OMC was invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos 2014, as well as to "Summer Davos" in Dalian, China in 2013. Previous Technology Pioneers include Google (2001), Wikimedia (2008) and Twitter (2010).

Members clubs and restaurants

Achom’s first members club launched in 2005 in joint venture with Beirut-based Circle Management Group. Together they opened Crystal members club in the exclusive Fitzrovia area of London’s West End. The partnership expanded on an international scale and affiliate clubs were opened in St Tropez, Cannes, Lebanon and Dubai.

Achom co-owns Jalouse members club in Mayfair's Hanover Square, along with Alex Nicholl and Moruf Yoozooph. Achom was featured in Forbes having launched Jalouse in 2008 during the start of the global financial crisis.

The exclusive members’ only club, with its award winning Fendi interior designer, was the recipient of several awards, including the Best Club at the London Club and Bar Awards in 2009 and again in 2010. Jalouse is frequented by the who’s who from the world of entertainment.

In 2012 Achom along with business partner Alex Nicholl re-launched The Scotch at 13 Mason's Yard in Mayfair, the site of the legendary club formerly known as The Scotch of St James. Achom and Nicholl restored the Scotch to its former glory and with the help of an eclectic committee of key current influencers from the arts, the venue once again attracts celebrities as well as the cream of the crop from the arts and music industry. The Scotch has been featured in Vanity Fair, New York Times and Vogue since it’s re-opening. Achom co-owns Bennett Oyster, Bar & Brasserie with Ray Duhaney, creator of Cheyne Walk Brasserie. In 2013 the restaurant was sold to celebrity chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay and has re-launched as the London House.

Personal life

Frederick Achom has a son and a daughter that live in Rome and Paris. He is an avid skier and snowboarder.

Awards and honours

  • Awarded the honour by the London Evening Standard as one of ‘London's 1000 Most Influential People’ in 2010 for his efforts in business.
  • Listed as one of the '100 Most Influential Black Business People in the UK’ in 2011. Achom was invited to Number 10 Downing Street along with fellow honourees, selected for his success and efforts in business. Compiled by JP Morgan, Powerful Media and presented by the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the list showcased 100 black men and women who have scaled the heights in the arts, law, politics, finance and business.
  • Achom, for a second time was listed in the UK's Power List 2012 for the success and efforts of his Rosemont Investment Group.
  • Awarded the honour for a second time by the London Evening Standard as one of ‘London's1000 Most Influential People’ in 2011.
  • Once again listed in the UK's Power List 2013. Achom was invited to Number 10 Downing Street for a second time. Lloyds Banking Group, Powerful Media and Thomson Reuters compiled the 2013 list which was presented by Prime Minister David Cameron.
  • For the fourth consecutive year, Achom was listed in the UK's Power List 2014. Compiled by Lloyds Banking Group, Powerful Media and Thomson Reuters. The award was presented by the Nigerian Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and former Ghanaian President John Kufuor.