Business Growth Fund (BGF), the UK’s most active investor of growth capital, has appointed Diana Noble to the board of the company.
Noble has extensive background in private equity, venture capital and international development and is currently chief executive of CDC, the UK’s development finance institution managing net assets of GBP3.4 billion.
Established in 1948, CDC provides investment capital to fund growth in ambitious and promising businesses throughout Africa and South Asia.
Noble was a partner at Schroder Ventures (now Permira) for 12 years, founder CEO of e-Ventures and founder managing director of Reed Elsevier Ventures.
She joined CDC after five years with the Clinton Foundation's Health Access Initiative, where she took a number of roles, including Executive Vice President Operations. In this role, she was responsible for 43 countries and five global teams and oversaw the scale-up of a global programme to improve children's access to HIV/AIDS treatment.
Noble says: “BGF supports a growing portfolio of highly ambitious companies. I am passionate about providing these types of companies and entrepreneurs with the support they require and deserve in order to contribute to the economic prosperity of the UK. I am very much looking forward to working alongside BGF’s board members and the wider team.”
Stephen Welton, chief executive, BGF, says: “We are delighted to welcome Diana to the board of BGF. Diana not only shares the same ambition and energy as many of the entrepreneurs we back, but also has extensive experience in running a large scale investment organisation with some interesting parallels to BGF: we have a common goal to help small companies grow to fulfil their potential.”
