Envestors merges offices and takes on Northern director
ENVESTORS, the private investor network, has merged its North West and Yorkshire offices and appointed Julie Brook as regional director for the North.
Envestors, which announced in April that it was taking over operations for the Yorkshire Association of Business Angels (YABA), said the move to one central location and the expansion of its services will enable it to match an extended geographical network of private investor members to growth companies across the country.
The reorganisation, which will see a team of five locate in the North West, will be led by Ms Brook, who will be responsible for the North West, Yorkshire, North East and Isle of Man.
With a commercial background in the retail and food and beverage sectors, Ms Brook also has links into corporate funding in the North. Ms Brook held senior positions at Yates Wine Lodges and HPJ Jewellers. She was head of brands at Greenalls Pubs and Restaurants and senior brand manager at RHM Foods.
Most recently she was head of marketing for the North West Fund, a £185m European investment fund for SMEs. She is also a coach for the government’s Growth Accelerator Programme for small businesses.
Scott Haughton, director of Envestors, said: “We are extending our well established offering in the North of England which includes presenting the best growth companies to investors in the south. Julie is the ideal person to lead this important initiative. We shall provide more information as we progress.”
Ms Brook added: “The North is home to some of the most promising SMEs in the UK, many of them below the radar, but there is also a clear need for equity finance. We shall use Envestors’ experience in helping such businesses realise their aims, not least by matching them to new sources of funding.”
Envestors is a subsidiary of Braveheart Investment Group, the AIM-listed investment management group specialising in venture capital investments and investment services.
