Keith Morgan to stand down as head of British Business Bank
Keith Morgan, head of the state-owned British Business Bank (BBB) will stand down at the end of next year after eight years at the helm.
Morgan, who has been chief executive of the UK’s development bank since its formation in 2013, will stand down at the end of 2020 to ensure an orderly transition to his replacement, the bank said.
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“Keith has been an outstanding leader of the BBB, building the business from scratch to create an organisation with considerable scale, reach and impact on smaller businesses across the country,” said chair Lord Smith of Kelvin.
The bank was founded by business secretary Vince Cable, then business secretary, to support firms by providing capital through lenders and fund managers to smaller companies that can struggle to secure financing.
Under Morgan’s leadership, BBB has given support to 90,000 smaller businesses with over £7bn of investments or loans.
Its venture capital (VC) arm, British Patient Capital, has become one of the country’s largest investors in VC funds.
“The financial capability he has created in the bank is supporting start-ups and growing companies in every region and nation of the UK and is helping the most innovative UK companies to become the world-class companies of tomorrow,” Smith said.
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Morgan said it had been a “great privilege” to lead BBB. “I am proud of the team of professionals we have recruited and the impressive capability we have built in the Bank that provides a solid foundation for the future,” he said.
“I am also enormously grateful to ministers and colleagues in the business department and the Treasury as well as the range of industry representative bodies who have supported BBB throughout its development.”
Main image credit: British Business Bank