John Houlden is a chartered accountant and since 2007 has been a partner at Ernst & Young in Birmingham specialising in corporate finance and working with a wide range of private and public sector organisations in the Midlands. Prior to his current role, John worked in corporate development and finance at Homeserve plc in Walsall and also in the Birmingham offices of Arthur Andersen and Deloitte. Originally from Yorkshire John went to university in Nottingham and has lived and worked in Birmingham for the last 20 years and has an MBA from the University of Warwick.

Over the last 10 years John has worked with a variety of not for profit organisations, arts and dance companies (including Anurekha Ghosh in Birmingham) through Arts & Business providing strategy, business planning, accounting and financial advice and support.