Patrick Graham, regional partner, who has grown and led the Scotland team by overseeing £400m of investment across 60 companies, will extend his regional investment partner responsibilities beyond Scotland and Ireland to include South West England and Wales.

With over 10 years of experience in BGF’s investment and portfolio teams across Scotland and Ireland, working directly with over 20 company boards, Graham Clarke will step up to regional portfolio partner and oversee BGF’s portfolio across Scotland, Ireland, South West England and Wales. He will also join BGF’s investment committee and leadership team.

Gemma Hamilton, who joined BGF as an investor in 2013 and latterly as head of origination, has been promoted to partner – origination. Ms Hamilton will lead a team of ten investors across the UK and Ireland, who are focused on identifying, sourcing and converting new opportunities by building strong relationships with management teams and working with the respective regional advisory community.

In addition to these promotions, Finn Marsden will join the Edinburgh team from Carlyle Associates as an origination analyst supporting all regional BGF offices – adding further team capacity.

Mr Graham said: “Graham and Gemma have played pivotal roles in the growth and long-term success of BGF in Scotland for more than a decade. Their promotions are thoroughly deserved and reflect the central role they’ve played in helping to build such a strong team here in Scotland.

“These new positions provide both Graham and Gemma with a larger platform to continue to shape the development of BGF in Scotland, while also increasing their impact and positive influence across the broader BGF UK and Ireland business.”

In 2025, BGF completed a £15 million investment in housebuilder Cruden. Successful exits last year included Entier – Scotland’s largest independent catering company, delivering a 2.6x money multiple (MM) return, and Optima Partners, securing a 4.6x MM return. As part of the Optima transaction, BGF reinvested in the business and will continue to support as a minority investor.

The team are now working on several pipeline deals to build on its pledge of £200m to Scottish businesses over the next five years, as part of its £3 billion UK-wide commitment to support high-potential companies over the next five years.