BGF has appointed Grant Paul-Florence to lead its London investment team.
Paul-Florence joins from Octopus Investments, where he was Head of Intermediate Capital for five years, responsible for a GBP150 million fund focused on investing in smaller businesses. He brings extensive investment and multi-sector portfolio management experience to the role, as well as experience in building a successful team of investors and developing internal talent.
Prior to Octopus Investments, Paul-Florence held investment roles at Levine Leichtman Capital Partners and AAC Capital Partners.
Paul-Florence will lead a team of 18 investors in BGF’s growing London team, reporting to Gavin Petken, Head of Investments – South. His appointment follows a record year of funding for BGF, which invested almost half a billion pounds (GBP443 million) across new businesses and through follow-on funding for existing portfolio companies to support further growth.
Paul-Florence said: “I’m thrilled to be joining the team at BGF in London, which in a relatively short period has built significant scale and established a solid reputation. With investment frequency at an all-time high last year, as well as a growing and increasingly dynamic portfolio, the team is on sound footing to identify and progress new opportunities despite the continued economic uncertainty.”
Gavin Petken, Head of Investments – South at BGF, says: “We’re delighted to welcome Grant to the team at BGF in London. Well-respected in the industry, he brings an excellent track record of investments and critical experience in cross-sector portfolio management and building high-quality teams. 2018 was a record year of investments for BGF and Grant will help to ensure that we have a team on the ground in London who are able to continue taking advantage of new opportunities in the market, across early stage, growth capital and quoted businesses.”
A quarter of BGF’s investments are in London and the South East. Recent investments in the region include talent acquisition agency Elements Talent Solutions, filtration equipment manufacturer Amazon Filters, and airspace property developer Apex Housing Group.
