Mission
BGF is the most active growth investor in the UK & Ireland, with over £3bn invested in 400+ small to mid-sized businesses across the country. With 16 offices in the UK and Ireland, it invests across all regions and industry sectors, backing founders and management teams who are powering the future of the economy.
The firm was set up in 2011 to address the longstanding shortage of growth funding available to the UK’s small and mid-sized firms, and to inspire a generation of entrepreneurs often overlooked or insufficiently supported by the investment community. BGF supports its portfolio companies on a local basis as a minority and long-term partner, helping to drive growth and returns, building scale in a sustainable way.
Campaign
Seven Hills has worked closely with BGF as its lead national agency, delivering a high-impact media relations campaign and events support. We’ve been focused on raising the profile of BGF investments, developing campaigns to champion the contribution of growth businesses to the UK economy, and advocating for the environment businesses need to thrive.
Seven Hills took over the press office management for BGF in 2018, leading on the media strategy for all national and south-east deal announcements. With BGF averaging one investment per week, this is a busy press office function regularly resulting in national coverage.
In addition to regular dealflow announcements, Seven Hills has focused press office activity on thought leadership around key issues related to the growth economy, such as reform of the UK pension fund system, and corporate profiling of BGF’s senior leadership team to set out the company’s mission and objectives.
In 2019, Seven Hills launched a major campaign with BGF – Ready for Business – which affirmed BGF’s commitment to providing investment and support to ambitious growth businesses, across all regions and sectors in the UK and Ireland. Seven Hills developed a bespoke brand identity for the Ready for Business campaign, and coordinated an event and press launch for the campaign.
More recently, Seven Hills has led on the campaign delivery of BGF’s Scaleup Week – a week-long series of events bringing together over 5000 scaleup founders and the organisations that support them to discuss how scaleups can harness the vast opportunities of good growth. This includes in person events, digital debates, research, and content, all focused on the ideas that will drive the next decade of scaleup leadership, growth and innovation.
Seven Hills has also supported BGF in the delivery and execution of the company’s Portfolio Day, which brings together founders and CEOs from across the BGF nation-wide portfolio. The 2021 edition was held at the Southbank Centre in London, and event offered an opportunity to network and hear insights from experts in business and investment
“BGF has established itself as a significant investor in the UK regions and it’s had notable successes. Having initially invested £3 million in meal delivery company Gousto, with follow on rounds taking the total to £26 million, it has seen the company attain the coveted $1 billion unicorn status.” Forbes, January 2022
Momentum
BGF’s investments in growing companies are widely reported across the UK’s investment, national and enterprise press. Its thought leadership campaigns showcase BGF’s growth, ambition and commitment to supporting business and economic growth throughout the UK.
