James Symes

James Symes has a diverse work experience spanning various industries and roles. James started their career as an intern at Citigate Dewe Rogerson in 2008. In 2009, they co-founded Drift-MTB, a mountain bike parts manufacturer that received backing from the University of Exeter. James also won the Smart Solutions Student Entrepreneurship award in 2010.

Moving on, Symes worked at The Conservative Party as a Policy Audit Officer from May 2013 to November 2013, and then as a Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Ealing Southall from November 2013 to May 2015.

From 2015 to 2017, they worked at Lloyds Banking Group as an Associate in Group Corporate Development. Following that, they joined KPMG UK as an Assistant Manager from October 2010 to March 2014, and later as a Deal Advisory Manager from November 2013 to September 2018. At KPMG, they also served as an Associate Director and Special Adviser to the UK Chairman and Senior Partner from April 2017 to September 2018.

Symes also had roles at TheCityUK, where they worked as an Associate Director to the European Financial Services Chairmen's Advisory Committee from September 2016 to March 2017, and as a Member of the UK Policy Group from January 2018 to September 2018.

In 2018, they became the Chief Executive Officer of Bike Club, a rental-as-a-service company backed by prominent investors. James is currently a Founding Member at OPUS since November 2020.

James Symes attended Haileybury College from 2001 to 2006, where they completed their International Baccalaureate degree. James then enrolled at the University of Exeter from 2007 to 2010, where they obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Accounting and Finance. Following their undergraduate studies, James studied at ICAEW from 2010 to 2013 and earned their ACA qualification.