Our team

Get to know us

We are a very small group of passionate people with a diverse and complementary set of skills and experience.

The common thread is a deep understanding of business.
We have won, lost, failed, grown, sold and partnered with businesses in Australia and around the world and understand what it takes to build a successful and scalable business

Ben McHarg

Ben McHarg

Partner and Chairman

With 15 years of leadership experience, Ben can provide critical advice, mentoring and support to help you build strong leadership within your business.

His expertise also extends to developing productive and flexible corporate cultures that form the foundation of successful organisations.

Crucially, Ben co-founded a very successful company called Life-Space, building it from an idea to a thriving business that he then sold to an international multinational company. So he’s been where you are now and can guide you from experience through every stage of your business.

Married with two teenage kids, Ben is passionate about family, travel, food, wine and sport and will go to great lengths to participate in anything related to these areas of interest. A stated goal is to educate the world about the merits and joys of 80’s music and retro video games of which he considers himself an expert!

Qualifications

Commerce degree from the University of Melbourne

During his tenure, Lifespace was the highest selling International probiotics brand in China and the company ranked in the top 10 of the AFR Fast 100 two years in a row.

Luke Horton

Luke Horton

Partner and Chief Operating Officer

With 25 years of business experience in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and FMCG industries across the UK, US and Middle East, as well as Europe, Asia and Australia, Luke can provide exceptional advice, mentoring and support if you want to develop a global brand.

He’s held senior leadership and director-level positions in small businesses and large corporations in every facet of business from supply chain to general, operational and commercial management to sales and marketing.
Luke is married to a nurse (the noblest of professions!) and has a son and a daughter who are both sports mad, so his evenings and weekends are spent driving around Melbourne looking for sports fields or beaches. When not driving his kids around, Luke’s looking for lost golf balls and working hard to build his knowledge of Australian wine. Luke has a passion for the outdoors and has completed many marathons around the world.
Qualifications
BA (Hons) from Queen Mary College, University of London
MBA from the University of Portsmouth
Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing

With more than 20 years of experience in business psychology, leadership development and management consulting across the globe, Ben can help you conquer your demons, build the most productive teams possible and accelerate your growth and impact as a leader.

Having worked extensively across the startup ecosystem, Ben can help you overcome the challenges associated with each stage of business growth and navigate the road to becoming a strong leader, supporting you to get ahead of the curve and while preventing you from burning out on the way to success.

Ben is married with two boys and loves nothing more than to escape with the family for some beach cricket at Venus Bay (on the rare occasion the sporting calendar allows). He’s obsessed with everything to do with food and wine, with his latest adventure involving distilling gin with his father in the garage (after many years of mixed-results in wine making).
Qualifications
BA in Psychology from the University of Melbourne
Post-graduate qualifications in Applied Psychology and Coaching Psychology from Swinburne University and the University of East London
MSc in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of East London
Laura Mullan, Brenteca Partner and Chief Financial Officer

Laura Mullan

Partner and Chief Financial Officer

With over a decade of experience in finance, deals and management consulting, Laura can help you build a financial strategy that supports your business as you scale; driving profitable growth whilst delivering quality information and compliance.

Laura has extensive experience working with privately-owned businesses in both the Australian and UK markets. She can work with you to establish the right finance function needed for different phases of growth, avoiding over-investing in your finance function too early and giving you time back to run your business.

Laura and her wife have two young boys, so weekends are happily monopolised by parks, cafes and very messy baking! Laura has a keen interest in global politics and is passionate about equality. Through her role at Brenteca she hopes to support ideas that solve complex problems and drive more capital towards brilliant, female-founded businesses.

Qualifications

Bsc (Hons) in Mathematics and Management from University of Manchester

Post graduate qualification in accounting from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ACA – ICAEW)