Richard Young to spearhead BVCA Manchester

WELL-KNOWN Manchester private equity investor Richard Young is to spearhead a new branch of the industry’s trade body, the first outside London.

He is leaving his position as a fund manager at Enterprise Ventures to become a director for the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) in Manchester.

Mr Young has been working in the sector for around 30 years spending time with 3i before founding university spin-out specialist The Manchester Technology Fund which was merged with the UMIP Premier Fund in 2009.

He will start the new job on November 1 with a remit to promote the role of private equity and venture capital in the North, and develop relationships with BVCA members.

Mr Young said: “As a longstanding investor in the private equity and venture community I am obviously very familiar with the work of the BVCA having been a member numerous times so I am thrilled at the opportunity to be involved in a new phase in the organisation’s development.

“The North is richly endowed with private equity and venture capital activity yet this is often under-reported. What I want to do is champion our industry and draw attention to just what an important and crucial role we are playing in funding innovation and building businesses.”

Jonathan Diggines, chief executive of Enterprise Ventures, said “Whilst we are sorry that Richard is leaving us, as a long-term high volume investor in the regions, we have for some time been vocal advocates of BVCA strengthening its regional presence. We are particularly delighted that the BVCA has chosen Manchester and wish Richard success in the role. We, and other venture capitalists in the region, will be looking forward to working closely with Richard and the BVCA in Manchester.”

Tim Hames, the BVCA’s director general, said: “We are delighted to have Richard join us for what is a very important and exciting time for the BVCA. As a national trade association we have always been active throughout the country and whilst much of our membership is based in London, a significant minority of our membership, a substantial slice of actual and potential UK investors and the clear majority of UK investee companies are located beyond the capital.

“By recruiting someone with Richard’s credentials the BVCA is able to better reflect the breadth of our industry and also add an experienced voice as we make the case for private equity and venture capital as a driver of economic and business growth.”

Mr Young began his private equity career at 3i in 1985 and became an investment director six years later. During his time at 3i he worked on a wide-range of deals including the management buyout of Country Holidays in 1989 and the start-up of Telecity in 1997. In 2000 he founded The Manchester Technology Fund. In 2009 he spent 12 months with the University of Liverpool’s Technology Transfer Company before joining Enterprise Ventures in 2010 as fund manager for the North West Fund for Venture Capital. 

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