Rob Lucas takes over as BVCA Chair 2015/16

The British PrivateEquity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) is pleased to announce that Rob Lucas has taken over as Chair of the organisation as of April 2015.
Mr Lucas is Managing Partner and Head of UK Investments at CVC Capital Partners, and succeeds Tim Farazmand, who was Chair of the BVCA for 2014/15. Mr Lucas said:
“Having worked across our industry nearly 30 years,initially at 3i and latterly at CVC, it is a privilege to take on this role at what is an important time for private equity and venture capital, and business generally, throughout the UK.
Not only does 2015 promise to be a transformational year both politically and economically with the General Election exactly a month away, as a sector private equity and venture capital has seldom been in abetter place to demonstrate its contribution to the UK economy – the availability of long term entrepreneurial equity capital is a crucial ingredient in feeding the recovery, together with the expertise and experience to deploy it wisely to create long-term sustainable growth.
It is our industry's place at the heart of the UK business community that I would like to be a central theme of my year as Chairman: building links with the businesses we support, with the entrepreneurs and management teams we back and with the public company sector. We have a lot to gain from working more closely and a lot to give -- for example in the areas of growth and innovation, which are crucial to the whole economy and where we as an industry have particular experience.”
Mr Lucas succeeds Tim Farazmand, Managing Director at LDC,who was Chairman of the BVCA for 2014/15. Mr Lucas said:
“I would particularly like to thank Tim Farazmand for his fantastic work as Chairman over the past 12 months. Tim has provided considered leadership and passionate advocacy for private equity in all its forms, and social impact investment in particular. I am immensely grateful for his contribution and support. I would also like to say how pleased I am to be working alongside Tim Hames and his team – a top class group well positioned to meet the opportunities and challenges of the year ahead.”
Welcoming Rob Lucas’ appointment, the BVCA’s Director General Tim Hames said:
“Rob joins us at what is an extremely important time for our industry and the country as a whole. With a General Election now less than a month away, this is the perfect time for private equity and venture capital to state its case as a source of smart capital and business expertise to support enterprise and unlock entrepreneurial talent, as seen by our recent campaign, The Investment Agenda. Rob’s vast experience of backing UK companies will be crucial and I look forward to continuing our work together to place our industry at the heart of the mainstream business community.
“I would also like to thank Tim Farazmand for all his hard work over the last year. Social impact investment is now a core focus of the BVCA and this is in no small part due to Tim’s passionate commitment to this rapidly growing, and increasingly important, sector.”
Notes to editor
Rob Lucas is Managing Partner and Head of UK Investments at CVC Capital Partners. Rob joined CVC in 1996 and he oversees private equity activities in the UK, Central and Eastern Europe and the Telecommunications, Media and Technology Group. He is on the board of the CVC Group and is a member of the Europe/North America Private Equity Board, the Europe/North America Investment Committee and the Human Resources Committee.Prior to joining CVC, Rob spent nearly a decade with 3i Plc. An engineer by profession, Rob graduated from Imperial College, London.
The British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) is the industry body for the UK private equity and venture capital industry. The BVCA has over500 member firms, representing the vast majority of UK-based private equity and venture capital firms and advisers.