Section Menu

The Capital for Enterprise Board

Small Business Service (SBS) Chief Executive Martin Wyn Griffith announced the final composition of the Capital for Enterprise Board on 21 July 2005. The Board has been created to advise the Small Business Service on the implementation of the Graham Review of the Small Firms Loan Guarantee and on running Enterprise Capital Funds.

The three new members, who join the Chairman David Quysner, are John Spence, currently a senior Director at Lloyds TSB, Alison Loudon, a successful entrepreneur and business angel, and John McCrory, a senior figure in the private equity funds industry.

The Capital for Enterprise Board members were recruited following an open competition with advertisements placed in the national press and additional targeted marketing of under represented groups. The appointments were based on applicants track record and credibility within the UK finance industry and their knowledge and experience of small business finance issues.

Biographical details

David Quysner (Chairman)

David has spent more than 30 years in the Venture Capital industry. He worked for 3i Group from 1969 until 1982. He then joined Abingworth, a venture capital fund management company, becoming its Managing Director in 1993 and Chairman in 2002. He has been involved in a wide range of investment activities in the UK, continental Europe and the USA and is a past Chairman of the British Venture Capital Association. He is currently Chairman of Comino Group plc (a software solutions provider) and Finsbury Technology Trust plc (a technology Investment Trust) and a Director of several other companies.

Alison Loudon

After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Grant Thornton, Alison helped found Aldus Europe Limited and as Finance and Commercial Director helped grow the company from start-up to a Group employing 300 people with turnover of £67 million. She has since held more than a dozen board appointments in various market sectors. She is currently Chairman of Simul8 Limited (a simulation software company) and Microstencil Limited (making stencils and interconnecting solutions for the microelectronics industry) and a Director of other companies. She is on the Board of Entrepreneurial Exchange and the National Trust of Scotland, a Governor of Merchiston Castle School and a judge for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

John McCrory

John's early career was spent at West Midlands County Council, as Principal Economist and subsequently as Joint Head of Investment at West Midlands CC Pension Fund. He then founded and was Managing Director of Westport Private Equity, one of the first European Fund of Funds managers. He launched the first ever European Private Equity Fund of Funds in 1991 and was subsequently involved in some 17 other such funds, including the DTI backed UK High Technology Fund in 2001. He has been a core/ founder investor and member of advisory boards for several significant UK venture firms. As a member of the relevant BVCA Committee, he designed and implemented the annual BVCA Performance Measurement Study, which is now a cornerstone of the industry.

John Spence MBE

Has spent his career in retail banking. Senior appointments have included Head of Business Banking at Lloyds Bank, Managing Director of Business Banking at Lloyds TSB, Chief Executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland and most recently Director of Policy Co-ordination and Risk. He is currently Chair of the British Bankers Association Retail Committee and the only Financial services Representative on the OFT Consumer Education Strategy Panel. He has also been leading the Deputy Prime Minister's Advisory Panel on Neighbourhood Renewal. Amongst other interests, he is Chairman, Blind in Business and in April 2005 was appointed a Commissioner of the Church of England. He was awarded the MBE in 1999 for services to the community in Chelmsford.