Across the world of management, there can be a huge diversity in how companies are run, how interactions and management are conducted, and how decisions are made. Eric F Kohn, founder and Chairman of Barons Capital Partners, has used many of the skills he learned through his active military reserve service of over 40 years with the UK Regular Army as a catalyst for success.

Corporate leadership and Barons Capital Partners

Kohn, who graduated from the University of Glasgow and came to start his career in Switzerland at Sulzer AG, arrived at a time when you had to speak Swiss German and management structures were mainly headed by Swiss Army Officers.

After two years at Sulzer and two years at Lucas Aerospace in Munich, he founded ASR Servotron. The company developed high-powered transistor servodrives for controlling permanent-magnet motors using ferrite and rare-earth magnets, with manufacturing operations in Munich and Los Angeles. These systems helped pioneer the transition in Switzerland and elsewhere in the precision machine-tool industry away from hydraulic feed drives. Swiss companies, including Studer, Agathon, SIP, Schaublin, and Dixi, were early adopters of the technology. Their support also facilitated the Group’s relocation to Geneva and enabled Kohn to obtain a Swiss residence permit in 1980.

The Group was sold in 1983. Eric Kohn stepped down as Chairman in 1985 and joined Bankers Trust in Geneva as Vice President, responsible for Investment Banking in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. In this role, he led the landmark acquisition of Unilabs.

In 1987, he founded Barons Capital Partners (BCP), which is a Swiss Advisory Investment Banking firm headquartered in Geneva, with a subsidiary in London, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). BCP specialises in mergers & acquisitions, private placements, restructuring and valuations, for private and public companies, as well as family offices. BCP transactions range across industries, though they have specialised in the airline, aviation and aerospace sectors – the firm was the first in Switzerland and was engaged by Candover to sell Swissport, which Ferrovial in Spain acquired.

A business career utilising experience in military service

Eric Kohn is intrinsically linked to the British Army, especially the Airborne Forces, in which he served as a Reserve Officer, mainly with the Regular Army, from 1965 to 2002, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During his tenure, he served as a senior staff officer in the Airborne and Air Assault Brigade.

During his service, he completed around 150 parachute jumps from aircraft. He also coordinated, together with the Swiss military, the attendance of British forces in the Swiss Raid Commando exercise over several years. In addition, he helped organise and lead the first foreign parachute descent by UK soldiers and marines from a Royal Air Force C-130 aircraft into Switzerland—an event that ended with him landing in a tree, with a Swiss tabloid describing it as “Fall Obst.”

Though he has retired from the UK Reserve Army, he is now the Chairman of the Swiss branch of the Royal British Legion, a charity to assist UK ex-servicemen and women.

His military training and experience have helped him in his professional life to plan, present, and execute, especially in difficult situations.

Corporate excellence

Eric Kohn has demonstrated particular strength in corporate turnarounds and restructuring. One notable example was Holmes Protection Inc., a U.S. security company based in New York and listed on the London Stock Exchange. After resigning from its Board due to concerns about inappropriate accounting, he later led a successful proxy fight to take control of the company. When he assumed leadership, together with his management team, the firm faced severe financial distress, with negative shareholder funds of $27 million and approximately $72 million of debt in default. Through decisive leadership and careful restructuring, Kohn stabilised the company’s finances and returned it to profitability.

Similar successes followed in other ventures. These include the restructuring and refinancing of OmniLabs Group, the largest private pathology company in the UK and a former Unilabs subsidiary; the acquisition of dba from British Airways; and the transformation of Noventa Ltd. Each illustrates Kohn’s ability to guide companies through complex and challenging situations. He also served on the Board of Directors of Avcorp Industries Inc., a Canadian aerospace company listed on the TSX, where he chaired the Audit Committee for several years.

Over more than five decades, Kohn has built a reputation as an innovative, effective, and hands-on leader. Through BCP — which he built from the ground up — he has advised corporations, investors, and institutions on restructuring, financing, and strategic transactions, helping organisations navigate transitions and secure their long-term futures.

Leadership rooted in discipline

Speaking to us, Kohn reflected that his managerial and business skills are rooted in his military service:

He added that much like on a battlefield, in business, clear and logical communication and a flexible approach are key.

He explained that in a fast-paced world, clarity and drive trump all other concerns. “If you go and present to institutions in London, you get 20 minutes to present and 20 minutes for questions. That’s it,” he noted, adding that while further education can be valuable in business, it needs to be backed up by hands-on experience.

Switzerland itself has also shaped Kohn’s outlook. After arriving in the country through his professional work, he has gradually become deeply embedded in the country. “In Switzerland, you live in a democratic, multilingual, well-ordered society,” he explained. The core of integration for him is language: “At that time I first came to Switzerland, without Swiss German, you were dead,” he joked. Today, he holds dual nationality and speaks fluent Swiss German and French.

Through his career, Kohn’s story illustrates how military thinking and values can become the core of business success, as was the case with Swiss Managers in the past. It is a clear example of how solid thinking, decisive action, and a willingness to take calculated risks remain the foundation of lasting professional success.