Meet our business development team

Jeff Keyzer

Head of Business Development

Jeff graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a B.Com in Industrial Psychology, Human Movement Science and Business Management, before going on to complete his honours degree in Strategic Management.

Dan Handforth

Sr. Business Development & Performance Manager

Dan has previously held directorships, senior business development, and strategic consulting roles for large corporates across legal, accountancy, wealth management and tax consulting organisations. His current role involves developing our strategic partnership and client network.

He spends much of his free time being the “Dad Taxi” for his three children, and is a keen sailor, being a member of the French Sailing Federation. He is also a former board member of Anti-Slavery International.

Tom Jennings

Business Development Consultant

Tom has experience with all stages of the sales lifecycle, building and developing strong relationships whilst producing positive results for his clients.

Outside of the office, Tom loves to travel and is a keen endurance athlete always looking for his next fitness challenge! He’s climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, ran several marathons and spends most of his weekends cycling up and over hills.

Ross Denton

Business Development Consultant

Ross graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 2017 with a degree in Business and Marketing Management. Previously working as a Senior Sales Consultant for a golf travel company, he looked after a number of key markets such as Spain, Portugal, France and Italy.

Outside of work, Ross is a big Liverpool fan and enjoys playing golf as much as he can (weather permitting).

Isabel Shapi

Business Intelligence Associate

Isabel graduated from the University of Leeds in French and Business Management. She has studied in several international cities, including Rome, Paris and London. Thanks to her international upbringing, she’s fluent in three languages and wants to learn more!

During her studies, Isabel was part of the Women In Leadership committee and helped to organise the Annual Empower Conference, focusing on the importance of ESG and digital technologies.

In her free time, Isabel enjoys travelling, listening to a good podcast and doing yoga.

Sofia Curbelo Maunder

Business Development Associate

Sofia grew up in the Canary Islands and speaks three languages; English, Spanish and French. She completed her BA in International Relations in 2018 at the University of East Anglia.

Before joining Kene Partners, Sofia worked at a leading fintech start-up in the insurance industry. As Customer Operations Executive, she became very adept at finding customer pain-points and tackling them.

At Kene Partners, Sofia enjoys being at the forefront of innovation and helping companies get rewarded for their innovative pursuits.

In her spare time, she likes playing football (or any sport!) and trying to keep up with any new hobbies she has discovered that month!

Archie Nicholls

Business Development Associate

Archie grew up in Wiltshire and holds a first in accounting and finance from Manchester Metropolitan University and a Diploma in First-Line Management from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

To date, Archie’s career highlights include working in HR Analytics for a nuclear decommissioning company and managing a service department with a focus on partnerships and client relationships. His previous role was working for a foreign currency risk management specialist, managing the business services desk. His role included referring corporate clients to partner companies that could support with wider business challenges, R&D tax being one of them.

Archie’s passion for R&D tax credits stems from the sheer variety of companies that can utilise the incentive. He has witnessed first-hand how under-recognised the credits are and how the quality of a claim can make a huge difference to the outcome. He looks forward to having a front-row seat to the evolution of R&D tax credits in an ever-innovating UK.

In his spare time, Archie loves to play squash, tennis, hockey and bouldering. His other passions extend to cooking (and eating!), travel, playing drums and music. He hopes to make it to Glastonbury Festival one day!

Josh Short

Account Manager

Josh grew up in Suffolk and graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2017 with a degree in History.

Before joining Kene Partners, Josh worked as a New Partner Consultant at a leading fintech start-up. His role helping accountants understand the role technology can play in building out new advisory service lines for their clients. In his current role as Account Manager, he loves to get to know all our partners and the innovative projects they are undertaking.

Josh’s perfect weekend consists of a trip away rock climbing and relaxing in his campervan.