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Buoyed by its strong growth, Gousto achieved “unicorn” status in 2020, when it completed a funding round at a $1bn+ valuation
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With BGF as a minority partner, web hosting company Miss Group acquired seven businesses in under two years, quadrupling its earnings
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We can provide the know-how, connections and capital you need to grow your business
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Buoyed by its strong growth, Gousto achieved “unicorn” status in 2020, when it completed a funding round at a $1bn+ valuation
View case study
With BGF as a minority partner, web hosting company Miss Group acquired seven businesses in under two years, quadrupling its earnings
View case studyKeep up to date with the latest news and updates from our teams across the UK and our portfolio.
We’re always looking for the next brilliant business to back. Want to join some of the nation’s most ambitious and successful companies?
Tell us moreFounder, Angel Investor
Elaine Warburton OBE has over 25 years’ healthcare, biotechnology and entrepreneurial Elaine Warburton OBE, Entrepreneur & Investor
An entrepreneur, innovator, investor and humanitarian, Elaine has co-founded two ground-breaking companies – QuantuMDx Group and ReadyGo Diagnostics. Elaine is passionate about supporting fellow entrepreneurs and women in STEM was awarded an OBE for services to innovation in healthcare.
Globalisation on pause? How scaleups can navigate today's uncertainty
9:30 am - 10:30 amFounding Partner, Passion Capital
Eileen Burbidge MBE is an American venture capitalist and a founding partner at Passion Capital. The London-based VC fund has made 70 tech investments worth $134 million since its launch in 2011.
A Computer Science graduate, Burbidge has worked in roles at companies including Yahoo!, Apple, Sun, and Skype. Burbidge sits as Chair of Tech City UK (the part-Government funded body promoting Britain’s digital economy).
She is also HM Treasury Special Envoy for Fintech and a Tech Ambassador for Mayor of London’s office.
Globalisation on pause? How scaleups can navigate today's uncertainty
9:30 am - 10:30 amHead of Sustainable Finance, Capital Markets
Claire is responsible for leading the portfolio of sustainable finance related projects across London Stock Exchange Group’s Capital Markets business which includes equities, fixed income and ETFs. Claire has played an important role in the development of model ESG disclosure and reporting guidance for London Stock Exchange listed companies and initiatives such as an ESG Disclosure Tool, the publication of a guide to green finance and Green Economy Mark for AIM and Main Market companies.
Claire’s background is in the fund management industry and in equity capital markets, working with private and listed companies. Claire is a member of an industry Taskforce on the Scaling of Voluntary Carbon Markets.
Positioned at the heart of global financial markets, LSEG works across the investment and finance chain from issuers to asset owners, and across the financial, banking, trading and advisory ecosystem. As such LSEG is uniquely positioned to support clients in achieving the transition to a sustainable and net-zero economy and was the first exchange group to commit to net zero emissions.
Achieving net zero: where will green investment come from?
9:30 am - 10:30 amCEO Commercial Bank. Natwest Group
Paul Thwaite was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Commercial and Institutional customer franchise in July 2022. He is responsible for the teams within the ring fenced bank that support business customers, ranging from start-ups through to multi-nationals.
Alongside his role as CEO, Paul is also the executive accountable for the Group’s Payments business. Paul has a track record of success in senior business and functional roles across Wholesale, Corporate, International and Retail Banking for the Group, and was most recently responsible for Commercial Banking, which included leading the Group’s response to supporting UK business customers through the Covid pandemic. Prior to this, he held Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer roles in International Banking, based in the UK and the US, working across multiple geographies.
He also takes an active role in equality and inclusion initiatives, and actively drives a number of targeted D&I programmes across the Group.
Outside the bank Paul holds a number of Financial Services advisory and non-executive roles, and is a member of the Whitehall Industry Group and the UK Government’s Business Finance Council.
Scaling sustainably: how scaleups can balance a growing footprint with a growing business
3:00 pm - 4:00 pmChairman, Cornerstone Partner
Rodney Appiah is a former investment banker, NED and VC investor with more than 15 years of financial services experience across UK and Europe. He is currently Managing Partner at Cornerstone VC, an early stage fund focused on a ‘people first’ investment strategy, investing at pre-seed and seed stage in UK technology businesses led by diverse founding teams.
An experienced board director, Rodney is a Non Executive Director of the UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA), the UK trade body for angel and early stage investing, and Conduit Connect, a direct investment platform that focuses on connecting global high impact businesses with mission aligned investors. Rodney also holds committee roles at Innovate UK (Innovation Loans Credit Committee), Lloyds Banking Group (Black Business Advisory Committee) and the London Chamber of Commerce (Black Business Association).
Working for everyone: how scaleups can build inclusive workforces
3:30 pm - 4:30 pmCo-founder, OLIO
A digitally native CEO and now startup founder who thrives in challenging environments, and has a strong track record of driving change. Uses excellent strategic ability to get alignment around a vision, and combines this with a collaborative but firm approach to inspire cross functional teams to (over) deliver. Not afraid to challenge the status quo. Experience includes startups, digital transformation, managing for high growth, global expansion, turnaround, acquisition and integration. Worked in both B2C and B2B across retail, media, events, and financial services, in the UK and globally. Passionate about sustainability, the circular economy and zero waste. A strong proponent of businesses that combine profit with purpose.
Founder & Co-CEO, THIS
Andy Shovel is a British entrepreneur and co-founder of THIS – a plant-based, hyper-realistic meat alternative. Since launching in June 2019, THIS is now one of the fastest-growing UK plant-based meat start-ups. The alt-meat brand has recorded a 530% year-on-year growth, representing one of the highest growth rates ever for a British food brand.
Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Asset Management
Nicolas Moreau joined HSBC Asset Management in September 2019.
Nicolas has 30 years of experience in the asset management and insurance industries. Before this appointment, Nicolas spent two years at Deutsche Bank as the Management Board member responsible for Deutsche Asset Management. As the Global CEO, Nicolas led the business to be listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in March 2018 and rebranded the business to DWS. Previously, Nicolas spent 25 years with AXA Group. He was Chairman and CEO of AXA France and a member of the AXA Group Management Committee, as well as Vice Chairman of the Group Investment Committee. Nicolas has also been CEO of AXA Investment Managers and CEO of AXA UK & Ireland.
Achieving net zero: where will green investment come from?
9:30 am - 10:30 amHead of EMEA & President of the UK branch at Silicon Valley Bank
Erin Platts is head of EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) for SVB UK and president of the UK Branch. She is responsible for leading and developing the bank’s business across the EMEA region.
Erin has served SVB UK since 2007. She has a strong background in market and product development, with expertise that includes delivery of bank solutions and debt transactions to technology and life sciences companies and their investors. Before her current role, Erin led the market in Europe as the UK Branch head of relationship banking. She also worked in the Silicon Valley Bank office in Boston before her transition to the UK.
Erin is well-connected and an active champion of global innovation. She has been recognized by Management Today in its 35 Women Under 35 list, as well as highlighted in the Innotribe global index report of Power Women in FinTech.
Erin earned a bachelor’s degree in business management and entrepreneurial studies from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Achieving net zero: where will green investment come from?
9:30 am - 10:30 amCEO, Codefirst: Girls
An entrepreneurial leader with a history of exceeding growth targets within the tech industry. Scaled companies to drive growth, maximize revenue and increase performance. Devised strategies to penetrate new markets and develop product portfolios. Created value propositions, services and products to expand revenue streams.
Working for everyone: how scaleups can build inclusive workforces
3:30 pm - 4:30 pmCEO, Salesforce, UK&I
Zahra is a technology leader and is the Executive Vice President and CEO of Salesforce UK & Ireland. She was appointed in March 2021 to lead the company’s operations across both key growth markets.
Prior to this, Zahra spent 22 years at Accenture and most recently Zahra led Accenture Technology in the UK/I for almost four years and served as an executive board member / director on the board of directors.
As Technology leader she was a transformative force. She was unrelenting in making the service more market-facing and repositioned the business within the ecosystem, notably with the award-winning Kaleidoscope concept. At the same time, she was personally engaged across a range of clients across automotive, legal, government, banking, energy & life sciences where she was instrumental in some of the most significant client relationships and client transformation activities.
During her 22 years, Zahra gained transformation experience across a number of clients and industries including grocery retail, oil and gas, retail banking, healthcare & telecoms. She believes that success comes not only from deep technology expertise, but also an understanding of the value it can bring to customers, employees, partners and anyone involved in its use. Zahra has worked with clients to help define value and achieve it by connecting them to vast ecosystem of technologies, from cloud and ERP platforms to artificial intelligence engines or extended reality.
Zahra has pioneered a number of ‘firsts’ – from convening the UK technology ecosystem at the award-winning Kaleidoscope to patented uses of cloud technology for energy industry divestments.
Zahra is strong advocate for diversity and inclusion and has held a number of D&I leadership roles globally and within the UK/I. She has written on diversity for publications, including Management Today, Forbes and The Telegraph.
She currently sits on the boards of TechUK, Cancer Research UK and Movement to Work.
Zahra has been widely recognised throughout her career as an industry leader, including being named as number thirteen in Computer Weekly’s ‘Most Influential 50 People in UK Tech 2022;’ also in Computer Weekly’s “50 Most Influential People in UK Tech 2021,” and Women in IT’s “Woman of the Year – 2019” finalist.
Zahra lives between London and Northamptonshire with her husband Stephen and enjoys spinning & running.
Working for everyone: how scaleups can build inclusive workforces
3:30 pm - 4:30 pmCEO, ScaleUp Institute
Irene is the founding CEO and a board director of the ScaleUp Institute, a private sector, not-for-profit company focused on making the UK the best place in the world to scale up a business.
She is a former senior banker at Standard Chartered where she held both European and global managing director roles. She set up, ran and scaled several of the bank’s key client and product businesses across its corporate and institutional bank and led several global M&A activities.
During that time at the height of the financial crisis was seconded to work across the banking industry where she lead the Business Finance Taskforce and Better Business Finance which was responsible for, amongst other initiatives, the founding of the Business Growth Fund, SME Finance Monitor, and leading on developments in Open Banking, and the Small Business Act.
She is a Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at Strathclyde University and holds a variety of non executive director and advisory roles across the creative, business and finance communities.
Globalisation on pause? How scaleups can navigate today's uncertainty
9:30 am - 10:30 am
