The Department for Business and Trade has announced the appointment of Stephen Welton as the new non-executive chair of the British Business Bank.

He takes over from Lord Smith of Kelvin, who has held the position at the UK government’s economic development bank for six years since 2017.

Welton was previously appointed in 2013 as an advisor to the UK government about the establishment of the British Business Bank, which was founded in 2014.

He was also founder and chief executive of the Business Growth Fund (BGF) from 2011 to 2020 and has experience as an investor in private capital markets around the world.

Commenting on the news small business minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “I am delighted to welcome Stephen to his new role. With his wealth of experience in investment and passion for driving entrepreneurship, I know he’ll deliver leadership at the British Business Bank on their mission to boost and scale up the UK’s SMEs.”

Last month the British Business Bank announced a loss of £135.3 million. The bank’s chief executive Louis Taylor said that an expected drop in valuations across its portfolio had driven the loss.

Share Story: