Ivor read law at University College, London and then joined Schroders in 1987 as a graduate trainee in the corporate finance department, moving to corporate broking and then to work in the Chairman's office. He joined Lazards' corporate finance department and then moved to Sri Lanka to become General Manager of a soft toy manufacturer in 1993. On his return he joined Smith New Court (later Merrill) as an analyst of French equities. He joined the Media team while at Smith New Court and then left with the team to join Salomon Brothers in 1996. He started covering Leisure companies in 1998, latterly as head of the European Leisure team at Citigroup. He left Citi in 2006 and, after periods at Panmure Gordon and Evolution Securities, joined Numis in February 2010.