Stephen Welton CBE

Stephen Welton is responsible for the management and strategic direction of the company. Stephen founded BGF in 2011 and under his leadership BGF has grown to become the most active provider of growth capital for small and mid-sized companies in the UK & Ireland.

Prior to BGF, Stephen was one of the founding partners of the global private equity firm CCMP (formerly JP Morgan Partners), and Managing Director of Barclays Private Equity and Henderson Ventures, which he co-founded.

In 2018, Stephen was appointed as a member of the first Council of Innovate UK which forms an integral part of UK Research and Innovation. In 2017, he was a member of the Industry Panel for the Government’s Patient Capital Review and in 2013 served as an Advisor to the Government regarding the establishment of the British Business Bank. He has served as an independent director on a broad range of companies both in the UK and internationally during the past 25 years, and is currently a non-executive director at ICG plc, the FTSE 150 alternative asset manager.

Stephen started his career in banking, has a law degree from Durham University and is a qualified Barrister-at-Law.