Ned Dorbin of BGF - Growth, Investment and Ambition
As a search firm that is experienced in working investor backed businesses across the UK, the team at Moon Executive Search were delighted to be joined by Ned Dorbin from BGF to find out more about him, BGF’s investments and their unique approach to helping businesses grow. BGF is the UK and Ireland’s most active investor in growing businesses.
Ned took us through their journey - set up in 2011, he said BGF are a non-controlling equity partner with a patient outlook on investments, based on shared long-term goals. Working alongside ambitious management teams that want to grow, BGF are always looking for exciting businesses to partner with, using capital to scale-up their own company and collectively drive growth and create value for all shareholders. BGF work across every region and sector of the economy. Initial investments range between £1m and £15m and BGF can provide significant further funding as companies continue to grow.
Their mission is to help ambitious smaller and medium sized businesses grow. Backed by five of the UK’s main banking groups – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered – BGF is an independent company with up to £2.5bn with which to make long-term equity investments. BGF also works closely with other key business organisations.
Ned leads the investment teams across the South West and Wales and is responsible for finding and completing new investment opportunities as well as continuing to work with the boards of BGF’s investee companies.
Ned explained what sets BGF apart. BGF provides support for businesses with capital investment, bringing their network, expertise and logistics in exchange for a 10-40% stake in the business.
BGF offer long-term, minority equity investments, with follow-on funding capability if the business requires. BGF possess a well-capitalised and evergreen balance sheet so funds are not raised for the investments and the capital that BGF realises on exits is reinvested in other opportunities.
They look for companies that have established trading operations and generate revenues of £2m+ with a clear strategy and detailed plan to grow profits. Crucially, the business needs a high-calibre management team with a track record of delivering growth with good historical performance.
When a company agrees for BGF to become a minority shareholder, they have access to a global network of business leaders, sector specialists, other investors and portfolio companies. The business gains the expertise of over 100 investment professionals across 16 offices in the UK and Ireland, allowing localised input with national and international reach. Crucially, BGF provides patient capital, which means it does not force the timing of exiting its investments – instead the management teams decide when to seek an exit.
BGF’s South West and Wales team has invested in 65 companies, with 19 successful exits and 35 acquisitions. Overall, 14 investors have made investments totalling £389m, and below is an example of one of the businesses that BGF have invested in and the impact that the relationship had:
DOS Ltd - An eCommerce-led retailer of kitchen products, headquartered in Gloucester.
BGF invested £3m from Oct 2016 – May 2020 to support the group's expansion across the UK and Europe.
Appointed a CEO with BGF's input and support, as part of longer-term succession planning.
Invested in sales & marketing and capex, expanded its product line and grew profitability by 150% in 2019.
Raised business profile with input from BGF's professionalised board-level processes and delivery of management and financial information, helping to demonstrate performance, value and culture.
DOS Ltd was then bought by a Dutch investment company.
We thanked Ned for spending his time with Moon Executive Search and sharing his insights into a how they can facilitate growth, and enhance and reward excellent businesses with a remarkable network of expertise. Moon Exec search has been privileged to work with many similarly high growth business and have been instrumental in putting together high performance boards within investor backed portfolio businesses – see here for our work.
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