Marble Hill Partners is delighted to sponsor the BVCA National Dinner Series 2015. Held in Bath, Belfast, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Guernsey, Leeds and Manchester these events are designed to bring together regional Private Equity (PE) Investors, Advisors and Management Teams. As part of Marble Hill’s involvement our aim is to help investors build closer links with businesses invested in by PE and highlight the positive impact of PE on local businesses.

“The future prosperity of the UK economy is dependent upon its ability to attract and encourage investment. In order to compete on the world stage, the country needs companies to grow, entrepreneurship to be stimulated and innovation funded” (Tim Hames BVCA Director General, 2015).

Marble Hill Partners is committed to providing PE backed companies with the right people to deliver these results.

In an effort to support the BVCA on its mission, we will be hosting a Chairman/CEO table at this year’s North East Dinner in Leeds on the 23rd of April. This dinner will bring together industry practitioners, specialist advisers and service providers, entrepreneurs and business owners to network and stimulate discussion about the industry in the region. 

The North East region is key to the UK’s PE and venture capital (VC) industry, representing over 14% of the UK’s private investment (BVCA 2012 Report). The North East has the highest proportion of companies backed by PE or venture VC outside of London and the South East. Furthermore, the BVCA revealed that 2,200 companies in Britain are currently financed by PE or VC, representing in excess of £30bn invested. This is in line with Marble Hill Partners’ independent tracking of PE activity which has indicated a 16% increase since 2013 and overall activity up by 88% since 2010. For industry specific data please see The Overview.

Venture Capital and Private Equity investments in the North East have assisted the development of the region with 328 businesses being backed, employing over 68,000 residents and a total of £1.4bn invested. Recent research by Ernst & Young, on private equity-owned businesses in Europe, indicated that these businesses achieve faster profit growth versus comparable public companies and PE outperformance has proved to be consistent and significant. A key indicator of which, has been driving local employment. It is therefore no surprise that investment is emerging as one of the key battlegrounds on which the upcoming general election is being fought.

Private equity investment is reaching fast growing companies, which are in turn creating jobs, but this is not without challenges. According to Marble Hill Partners’ research on post-investment challenges faced by CEO’s, getting the people aspect right is crucial. In the lean and resource light environment that Private Equity backed businesses tend to operate in, any additional resource that can inject pace into change is often welcomed. Only 40% of respondents to our survey felt that by the end of their first year they had the right team in place to lead the business to exit. Identifying senior candidates with the right ‘mindset’ for PE combined with the right technical capabilities and sector experience is what Marble Hill Partners focuses on.

The Leeds dinner will include a speech by keynote speaker Justin Webb, former BBC North America Editor, who will be uncovering the truth about America and Americans as in his books “Have A Nice Day” and “Notes on Them and Us”. We are looking forward to some interesting insight.

All proceeds from the fundraising elements at this event will be donated to local charity, the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund.

We will also be hosting Chairman/CEO tables at the BVCA Dinner Series in:

  • Wales and South West Dinner 4 June 2015, Bath
  • Scotland Dinner 11 June 2015, Edinburgh
  • North West Dinner 10 September 2015, Manchester

If you are a CEO/Chairman of a local business and would like to join us on our table in any of the above events, please don’t hesitate to contact us on events@marblehillpartners.com