Stephen Frank Welton CBE (born February 1961)^[1] is the Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Business Growth Fund (BGF).^{[2][3] [4]}

Early life and education

Welton was born South Africa. He and his family moved back to the UK when he was 11 years old.^[5]

Welton attended Esher College. He graduated with a law degree from Durham University in 1983.^[6] He initially trained as a barrister, before becoming a loan officer at the Bank of Boston.^[7][5]

Career

Welton was one of the founding partners of private equity firm CCMP Capital Advisors, JP Morgan's private equity arm.^[7][8][9]

He was prior to that managing director of Barclays Private Equity and co-founded Henderson Ventures.^[8][9]

Welton is the founder and first chief executive of BGF; a major new investment company set up in 2011 by five UK banks – HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, RBS and Standard Chartered – in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.^[7][10][11]

By 2023, BGF had invested over £4 billion in more than 400 growth companies across the UK and Ireland. Welton became the investor's Executive Chairman in 2020 before stepping down in June 2023.^[12]

In 2021, Welton joined the Build Back Better Council, a Government business council launched by Boris Johnson to address the UK’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[13] [14] [15]}

Welton was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to small businesses and entrepreneurship.^[16]

References