James read Classics at Oriel College, Oxford and graduated in 2001. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG, before transferring to the firm’s Forensic Services department, where he spent 2 years working on financial investigations and disputes. In 2007, James joined Brewin Dolphin as an analyst with a focus on the Capital Goods and Support Services sectors. He worked on the 2007 flotation of Pressure Technologies and has been involved in a number of secondary fundraisings.