Linney becomes non-exec director of British Business Bank

Manchester businessman and former Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Piers Linney is one of two non-executive directors to be appointed by The British Business Bank today (Wednesday, December 6).

Linney, 46, was the founder of cloud services company Outsourcery whose assets were sold to London-headquartered GCI Network Solutions in 2016.

Now he is chairman and an investor in Soulmatefood and sits on the boards of Nesta and the Aleto (formerly Powerlist) Foundation.

He was an investor on Dragons’ Den and was recognised as Black Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014/15.

He has extensive experience in founding, growing and selling SMEs and raising capital for venture, credit and hedge funds. Piers also has a professional background as a private equity lawyer and in investment banking with Credit Suisse.

Linney said: “I’m very excited to be joining the British Business Bank, an organisation that brings a huge amount of value and expertise to smaller business finance markets.

“I look forward to adding my experience to an already highly accomplished Board and playing my role in supporting SMEs for which access to external finance is key to growth.”

The second non-executive director is Amanda Rendle, currently director of Jaren Consulting. She has extensive board experience, including serving as a NED on the Government Communications Services Ministerial Board, The Royal Mint, Tesco Bank and Keep Britain Tidy.

Lord Robert Smith, chair of the British Business Bank, said: “Piers’ entrepreneurial and small business finance expertise, together with Amanda’s impressive marketing credentials, bring valuable experience to our Board.

“These appointments will be very important as the bank grows and we extend our operations, especially in the areas of patient capital and in the provision of information for scale-up companies.”