News
LDC announces promotions in the South and London
14 Dec 2023
LDC, the private equity investor which is part of Lloyds Banking Group, has announced a series of promotions across its team in the South and London to strengthen its support for businesses.
Aylesh Patel, an Investment Director in LDC’s London team, has been promoted to Partner and Head of South, based out of the Reading office.
Aylesh has led a number of successful investments since joining LDC in 2015, including managed service provider Acora, data fulfilment provider RDi, cloud and digital transformation services provider Kerv and Onecom, the UK’s largest independent business telecommunications provider. He replaces Lawrence Dean, who is leaving LDC to pursue other opportunities, after six years with the firm.
Chris Baker, an Investment Director also in LDC’s South team, has been promoted to Partner with an ongoing focus on the technology sector. Since joining LDC in 2015 he has led a series of technology investments including Oracle Cloud specialist DSP, data transformation platform Aker Systems, e-commerce fulfilment platform James & James, recruitment technology provider Amberjack and HR software provider CIPHR.
James Garland, an Investment Manager in LDC’s South West & Wales team, has been promoted to Investment Director and will relocate from LDC’s Bristol office to Reading for family reasons. James has supported several successful investments since he joined LDC in 2017 including DSP and tech-enabled marine services business Idwal.
Francesca Speke, an Investment Executive in LDC’s London team, has been promoted to Investment Manager. She joined LDC in 2021 and has since played a significant role in the investments into Sedex and Etrading Software.
Investment Director Jacob Leone will also relocate to Southampton for family reasons and join LDC’s team in Reading.
LDC Chief Executive Toby Rougier said LDC’s unique combination of regional presence and multi-sector experience placed it at the heart of the UK economy and, with the support of Lloyds Banking Group, in the best position to help medium-sized businesses to grow.
By recognising the ambition and strength of our people, we’re better able to provide the kind of support that businesses are looking for from a private equity partner. Our teams bring a unique combination of local knowledge, alongside deep sector experience in key areas of the economy.
He continued: “We’re also pleased to be able to support relocations across our network of offices that allow people to be closer to their family and personal networks – another advantage of our UK-wide presence.”
LDC, which operates from 10 regional locations, is a trusted investment partner for ambitious management teams. Over the last 40 years its experience, scale and relationship-based approach have helped hundreds of businesses across the UK to grow.
