News

British Business Bank appoints Piers Linney and Amanda Rendle as Non-Executive Directors

The British Business Bank is pleased to announce the appointments of Piers Linney and Amanda Rendle as non-executive directors (NEDs) to the Board of British Business Bank plc, effective from 7 December.

Piers Linney is Chairman and an investor in Soulmatefood and sits on the Boards of Nesta and the Aleto (formerly Powerlist) Foundation. He was an investor on Dragons’ Den and was recognised as Black Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014/15. He has extensive experience in founding, growing and selling SMEs and raising capital for venture, credit and hedge funds. Piers also has a professional background as a private equity lawyer and in investment banking with Credit Suisse.

Mr Linney said: “I’m very excited to be joining the British Business Bank, an organisation that brings a huge amount of value and expertise to smaller business finance markets. I look forward to adding my experience to an already highly accomplished Board and playing my role in supporting SMEs for which access to external finance is key to growth.”

Amanda Rendle is currently Director of Jaren Consulting. She has extensive Board experience, including serving as a NED on the Government Communications Services Ministerial Board, The Royal Mint, Tesco Bank and Keep Britain Tidy.

Ms Rendle has over 30 years of marketing experience, including 16 years at HSBC in its global commercial banking arm, where she was Global Head of Marketing. She is a member of WACL (Women in Advertising and Communications London) and a fellow of the Marketing Society.

Ms Rendle said: “The British Business Bank is entering an exciting new phase of its development, including an extension of its information offering to smaller UK businesses and an enhancement of its marketing support for its growing product portfolio. I am delighted to be able to offer my experience and expertise in these and other areas as a NED on its Board.”

Lord Smith, Chair of the British Business Bank said: “We are delighted to welcome Piers and Amanda to the board of the British Business Bank. Piers’ entrepreneurial and small business finance expertise, together with Amanda’s impressive marketing credentials, bring valuable experience to our Board.

“These appointments will be very important as the bank grows and we extend our operations, especially in the areas of patient capital and in the provision of information for scale-up companies.”

ENDS

 

Contacts

Andy Johnson-Creek, MHP Communications, +44 20 3128 8589, bbb@mhpc.com

Scott Shearer, British Business Bank, Scott.Shearer@british-business-bank.co.uk

 

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK’s national economic development bank.  Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Our remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

British Business Bank programmes are supporting £3.4bn of finance to over 59,000 smaller businesses, and participating in a further £5.8bn of finance to 86 mid-cap businesses (as at March 2017).

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options, including early stage VC, available to smaller businesses. It has published the Business Finance Guide (in partnership with the ICAEW, and a further 21 business and finance organisations). This guide impartially sets out the range finance options available to businesses – from start-ups to SMEs and growing mid-sized companies.  Take the interactive journey at www.thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk or download/print a copy.

British Business Bank plc is a limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield S1 2GQ.

As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, it is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government which is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of subsidiaries, one of which is authorised and regulated by the FCA.

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.