The South West and Thames Valley investment team of BGF (Business Growth Fund) has expanded with the appointment of Alex Snodgrass.
Alex, pictured, is the latest addition to the 10-strong team, which is responsible for identifying investment opportunities and managing the deal process from origination through to completion. 
Alex has more than 10 years’ experience backing ambitious entrepreneurs and management teams and joins BGF from the investment team at Lloyds Development Capital.
Prior to that he worked in Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance’s investment and portfolio management teams.
Alex will join the BGF team in its new office in Reading to cover the Thames Valley, Hampshire, Dorset and Oxfordshire, and will work alongside its Bristol base.
BGF is expanding its South West team following a busy 2015 in which it invested more than £40m into entrepreneurial businesses. It backs firms that are privately owned or listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market typically with revenues of between £5m and £100m. BGF makes initial investments, usually between £2m and £10m, and can provide additional funding to support further growth. The investment provided is typically in the form of equity in return for a minority equity stake.
Since 2011, it has invested more than £100m into 16 companies across the South West and Thames Valley including Corsham and Farnborough-based Skyscape Cloud Services, a leading provider of cloud infrastructure services to the public sector; Devizes-based luxury kitchens designer and manufacturer Canburg (which includes Smallbone of Devizes and Mark Wilkinson); and Trunki, the Bristol-based maker of ride-on suitcases and children’s travel products.
Across the UK, BGF has a team of 70 investors who, in addition to identifying investment opportunities, provide support either as board members or observers in the companies they back.
BGF South West director Paul Oldham said Alex’s arrival followed great success in the Thames Valley, where it was keen to support more businesses. BGF is now seeking to hire a junior investor in its Reading team.
Alex Snodgrass added: “The growing portfolio of high-quality businesses across the UK as well as the Thames Valley speaks to the attractiveness of BGF’s non-controlling, long-term equity offer to entrepreneurs. I am pleased to be joining such a strong team and look forward to working with a large number of ambitious companies across the region.”
