Investor BGF drives North West expansion with Manchester move

BGF, the investor in growing businesses, has moved to new offices in Manchester, which it says reflects its commitment to the region following a string of investments across the area.

The move to One Marsden Street follows the completion of recent investments into Cheshire-based A Pearson Group, the UK’s largest grower of tomatoes, and European Breaking Systems, a manufacturer and seller of air brake and vehicle control systems headquartered in Trafford.

These recent deals bring the total BGF investment by North West team to more than £170m. This includes £30m provided to companies already in its portfolio to support new opportunities for growth, including acquisitions and store rollouts.

Recent follow-on investments were made into Hale-headquartered High Access Maintenance to support the acquisition of AA Access, and Hobs Reprographics, which has 3D printing studios in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

BGF’s new 3,545 sq ft office space is home to a team of investors and support staff.

BGF has also recently expanded its team with the appointment of Harry Jones. Jones joined BGF from the Varkey Group, a large corporate headquartered in Dubai with a focus on education investments around the world

Before that, Jones worked at NorthEdge Capital and began his career at Deloitte, spending over four years in corporate finance M&A advisory.

Andy Gregory of BGF says: “BGF has firmly established a presence in Manchester, and our network continues to grow in and around the city. The new office and the continued growth of BGF’s team and portfolio reflects our commitment to the region, and the strength of the opportunity here.

“We look forward to welcoming the management teams and non-executives we work with, as well as our wider network, to our new offices. We encourage them to use space as a modern and convenient location to conduct their own meetings and events.”

BGF’s Manchester team was established in 2011 to provide investment into growing small and mid-sized businesses.

The team backs more than 20 businesses in the North West including nursery group Kids Planet and leisure company TD4 Brands, which recently announced plans to accelerate the rollout of The Shake Lab.

Gregory added: “Across the UK, we are continuing to scale-up BGF’s operations – we have now invested in over 200 companies and provided total funding of more than £1.3bn. Our long-term, minority investment model has disrupted the funding market. As we continue to grow, there is even greater potential to support even more business in the North West.”

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