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Catherine Lewis La Torre appointed CEO of British Business Bank’s commercial patient capital activities

Press release 01 October 2018

British Business Bank plc has appointed Catherine Lewis La Torre as CEO of the Bank’s patient capital activities delivered through its commercial arm.

These activities include:

  • British Patient Capital Ltd which is responsible for investing an additional £2.5bn of funding provided by the Government at last year’s Autumn Budget for UK venture and growth capital.
  • A £500m Managed Funds programme designed to invest in large-scale funds of funds, run by experienced managers, to boost the amount of patient capital available to the UK’s high-growth businesses.
  • A Regional Angels programme, to invest alongside angel investors across the UK.

Ms Lewis La Torre will also retain responsibility for the lending-based programmes in the commercial arm of the British Business Bank that support the provision of patient capital to growing British companies.

Patient capital is critical to build long-term investment in innovative companies across the UK led by ambitious entrepreneurs who want to create successful, world-class businesses. The UK Government consulted on potential barriers to accessing finance and the means to overcome them as part of the Patient Capital Review. The Patient Capital Review concluded in Autumn 2017 and, in November’s Budget, the Chancellor announced an action plan to unlock over £20bn to finance growth in innovative firms over 10 years. This plan allocated additional resources to the British Business Bank in response to the Patient Capital Review.

The British Business Bank is already the largest UK-based LP investor in venture capital with over £1bn committed across a range of different initiatives.

I am thrilled to be taking on this important role to lead the patient capital activities within the Bank’s commercial arm and being a visible leader for these initiatives. I am looking forward to working alongside an experienced and dynamic team to increase the volume, diversity and accessibility of longer term finance so that more businesses can raise the capital they need to achieve their growth ambitions.

Catherine Lewis La Torre

Catherine is a highly respected industry figure, with more than 30 years’ investment management experience and a strong track record of success. I am delighted that she has agreed to take on responsibility for all the British Business Bank’s commercial patient capital activities. I look forward to working with Catherine and her team to provide increased funding that will help growing businesses fulfil their potential, ensuring that the UK remains a key place in the world to raise funds and scale businesses.

Keith Morgan CEO British Business Bank Group

Catherine Lewis La Torre has built a career in venture capital and private equity fund management. She joined British Business Bank Group in 2016 from Cardano Risk Management, where she was Head of Private Equity, responsible for managing a global portfolio of private capital fund investments with over £1bn of commitments. Prior to this she was a Partner with secondaries specialist, Fondinvest Capital, in Paris having previously been one of the Founding Partners of fund-of-funds manager, Proventure which focused on venture and growth capital investing in Europe.

Further Information

Notes to editors

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s 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. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government. The British Business Bank is currently supporting almost £5.2bn of finance to nearly 75,000 smaller businesses (as at end of March 2018).  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 available to smaller businesses:

The Business Finance Guide (published in partnership with the ICAEW and a further 21 business and finance organisations) impartially sets out the range of finance options available to businesses at all stages – from start-ups to SMEs and growing mid-sized companies. 

The new British Business Bank Finance Hub provides everything high-growth businesses need to know about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success. The new site also features case studies and learnings from real businesses to guide businesses through the process of applying for growth finance.
As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, British Business Bank plc is wholly owned by HM Government and 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.

British Business Bank’s commercial patient capital activities are delivered by British Patient Capital Ltd and British Business Investments Ltd, which are commercial subsidiaries of the British Business Bank Group under the name of BBB Patient Capital Holdings Ltd. Further information and a complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.

About British Patient Capital

British Patient Capital is the trading name of British Patient Capital Limited, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank. It forms part of the British Business Bank’s commercial arm.  Its mission is to enable long-term investment in innovative firms led by ambitious entrepreneurs who want to build large scale businesses. British Patient Capital has been given new resources of £2.5bn and will deliver a programme designed to support high growth potential innovative UK businesses in accessing the long-term financing they require to scale up. Find out more at britishpatientcapital.co.uk.

About British Business Investments

British Business Investments is the trading name of British Business Investments Ltd, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank. It forms part of the British Business Bank’s commercial arm. British Business Investments aims to earn a commercial return by investing – through finance providers – in smaller businesses and small mid-caps, pursuing investments on a fully commercial basis without receiving any economic advantage from the government. Find out more at bbinv.co.uk.