Regional finance group appoint first ever chief executive
The South West Investment Group has appointed its first ever group chief executive.
The community development finance institution has appointed Chris Butters into the role.
Chris has been a non-executive director of SWIG for over two years. As chief executive he will be the leading on the growth aspirations of SWIG.
He will be looking to raise more lending capital and to grow SWIG’s presence throughout the South West region.
Together with the board and senior executives, Chris will be part of the outward face of SWIG, looking to build and strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders and regional organisations.
Previous roles include a corporate finance partner at PWC , Chris has extensive experience in strategic management, finance and market development both locally and internationally.
In more recent times he has held a number of high-profile non-executive directorships across a diverse range of sectors including for-profit and socially orientated enterprises.
Throughout his career Chris has worked with businesses at every lifecycle stage, and, as a rapidly expanding organisation, this experience will be invaluable to the development of SWIG.
He said “I am delighted to be stepping-up from a non-exec role into the newly created role of group CEO.
“I look forward to working more closely with the existing teams in both SWIG-Finance and SWIG-Capital to build on the exceptional platform they have created over many years.
“The strong demand for business finance in the South West is driven by a diverse economy that ranges from maritime engineering to regional specialisms including food, agriculture, education and tourism. We are structured to support those businesses that would struggle to raise bank finance, and I am excited to support the critical SME and start-ups that form the backbone of our regional economy.”
Christine Allison, the chair of SWIG said: “I am delighted that Chris has accepted our offer to be the group’s first CEO.
“Having sat on the boards of both SWIG Finance and SWIG, Chris is very familiar with our business, its recent successes and the challenges we face. I look forward to working closely with Chris in his new role.”
