BGF invests nearly £70 million in the South West and Thames Valley

By Nicky Godding

28 July 2021

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BGF – the UK & Ireland’s most active growth capital investor – has invested nearly £70 million in the South West of England and the Thames Valley region in the first half of 2021.

With offices in Bristol and Reading, BGF has provided over £35 million of growth capital to five new portfolio companies and more than £34 million of follow-on funding for existing businesses based across both regions.

Key investments in the South West included a £13.5 million investment in property developer Burrington Estates, to support the ambitious growth plans of the Exeter-based business.

BGF also provided Bristol-based XCD, the cloud-based HR and Payroll software provider, with a further £3 million of follow-on funding to support its recent acquisition of Hireserve, a recruitment software company. The strategic acquisition of Hireserve is part of XCD’s goal to expand their capacity and offering, both for new and existing customers. It follows an initial investment of £2 million from BGF at the end of 2020.

In the Thames Valley, BGF continued its strong run of investments in the technology sector. This included a £10.5 million minority investment in e2e-assure, a fast-growth cybersecurity business based in Oxfordshire; and a £10 million investment in Polar Technology, another Oxfordshire-based business which manufactures high-performance carbon and metal components for the automotive, medical and aerospace/defence sectors.

BGF has also provided follow-on funding to a number of existing portfolio businesses in the Thames Valley, including £8 million to AND Digital, the fast growth British tech consultancy based in Maidenhead to fast-track international expansion.

Ned Dorbin – BGF[2] Ned Dorbin, BGF’s head of the South West and Thames Valley, said: “It’s been a really strong start to 2021 on the back of a good Q4 for 2020 in the local market. The combination of new investments in highly scalable businesses, together with follow-on funding to achieve specific goals has created a very successful first half of the year for BGF.

“The South West and Thames Valley regions are both rich with ambitious growth economy companies and we’re delighted to be backing a diverse range of businesses across the local market.”

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.