British Business Bank appoints four new non-executive directors, and confirms reappointment of chair
The British Business Bank has appointed Kerry Baldwin, Ruth Handcock OBE and Robin Murray as non-executive Directors (NEDs) to the board of British Business Bank plc, and Piers Lowson to the board of BBB Investment Services Limited, effective from 1 July 2026. Each term will last for three years from the date of appointment, at the end of which they may be appointed for another three-year term.
In addition, the government has confirmed the reappointment of Stephen Welton CBE as non-executive chair of the Bank for a second three-year term, from 5 October 2026.
Kerry Baldwin is co-founder and managing partner of IQ Capital, a UK deeptech venture capital firm. Over the past 28 years, she has led deeptech investments across defence, dual-use technologies, cybersecurity, neurotechnology, data infrastructure and regulatory technologies, supporting founders from seed stage through to international scale and exit. IQ Capital has $1bn of assets under management and operates both seed and growth stage funds.
Alongside her investment career, Kerry plays a leading role driving transformative policy across the UK’s innovation, defence and economic growth agenda, with particular expertise in mobilising private capital into strategically important sectors. She co-chairs the Defence Investors Advisory Group (DIAG) and is a member of the Defence Industrial Joint Council. She previously served as chair of the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (2021/22) and as chair of the Mansion House Pension & Private Capital Expert Panel (2023/25), focused on unlocking defined contribution pension capital for venture and growth investment.
Kerry is an expert across the deeptech ‘labs to listings’ ecosystem and serves as vice-chair of the University of Plymouth, a member of the Competitiveness Advisory Board at the City of London Corporation, and was a member of the British Patient Capital Direct Investment Committee and External Advisory Panel. She remains actively engaged across multiple government and industry workstreams to enable international competitiveness of the UK and private capital mobilisation. Kerry is an honorary fellow in Entrepreneurship at Cambridge University Judge Business School.
Ms Baldwin said: “I am delighted to join the Board of the British Business Bank and its wider team dedicated to delivering success for smaller, ambitious businesses across the UK. For close to three decades, I have operated at the intersection of private investment and public policy across the ‘labs to listings’ ecosystem, translating breakthrough research into international commercial success and shaping private capital and innovation policy to drive the competitiveness of the UK.
“I recognise the significance of this responsibility and look forward to supporting the British Business Bank as it delivers its expanded mandate, encouraging greater institutional investment while backing the growth of the UK’s exceptional innovation ecosystem.”
Ruth Handcock OBE is a UK financial services leader known for building mission-driven businesses that expand access to investing and financial advice. She most recently served as CEO of Octopus Money, where she built a £5bn assets under management business to deliver the company’s mission to make financial advice simple and accessible to everyone. She is currently a non-executive director at Aldermore Bank and at Seccl, an Octopus-owned investment infrastructure business.
Previously, Ruth was CEO of Octopus Investments, an asset manager within the Octopus Group, where she oversaw significant growth and innovation across its investment platforms. Earlier in her career she was a founding executive at challenger bank Tandem, helping secure one of the first new UK banking licences in more than a century. She has also held senior roles in strategy consulting and worked alongside Tony Blair in the government in Sierra Leone, where she still runs an education charity. Ruth was awarded an OBE for services to financial services and investment in 2025.
Ms Handcocksaid: “I’m delighted to be joining the British Business Bank’s board at a pivotal moment. The Bank’s new five-year plan is genuinely ambitious: deploying more capital, being prepared to take more risk, backing businesses across the Nations and regions of the UK, and making the case that promising UK companies should scale and stay here.
“I’ve spent my career trying to make financial services work better for more people, and I’m looking forward to bringing that perspective to bear at a time when the Bank has both the mandate and the firepower to make a real difference.”
Robin Murray brings more than 30 years’ Silicon Valley experience as an entrepreneur and investor across venture capital, growth equity and global private markets.
Robin is head of Growth Equity at Adams Street Partners, a $75bn global private markets investment firm, where he serves as a senior partner and member of the Executive Committee. Over the course of his venture capital career, his investments include hardware and software technology, healthcare companies across the US, Europe, and Asia, application software, artificial intelligence, financial technology and semi-conductors. Robin has deep expertise in minority growth investments, co-investments, secondary transactions, and fund commitments.
Prior to Adams Street, Robin was head of the Silicon Valley office and a member of the Global Venture Capital Leadership Team at 3i Venture Capital. Prior to this, Robin was a repeat technology entrepreneur. Robin holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BSc in Chemistry from Bristol University.
Mr Murray said: “I’m honoured to support the British Business Bank as a non-executive director. Over the past three decades, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside entrepreneurs, investors, and innovative companies across Silicon Valley and global venture markets.
“I look forward to sharing those perspectives and helping the Bank continue to foster entrepreneurship, innovation, and long-term economic growth throughout the UK.”
Piers Lowson has more than 35 years’ investment experience across asset management, investment banking and consultancy. Until 2025, Piers was a director of Baillie Gifford, one of the UK’s largest and most successful growth equity managers. Here, for 15 years, he led UK institutional business development and capital raising for a range of UK and global strategies.
Prior to Baillie Gifford, Piers managed the Solutions Advisory Group at the fintech start-up Barrie & Hibbert, which was ultimately acquired by Moody’s Analytics. He began his career in investment banking, ultimately serving as a director of Deutsche Bank AG, Bankers Trust International, and NatWest Markets. He is currently an independent advisor to the Local Government Pension Scheme pool LPPI and GLIL Infrastructure LLP, as well as being a member of the Investors for Purpose Advisory Group.
Piers holds a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Essex and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh.
Mr Lowson said: “I am excited to join the BBB Investment Services Board at this pivotal moment. The Bank’s role at the heart of the UK’s innovation economy puts it in the perfect position to help mobilise institutional capital into UK venture, which could be truly transformative for the UK’s most ambitious founders in the long term.
“There is growing momentum behind this mission, and the Bank has already provided a route for institutions to access the UK’s venture capital market via the British Growth Partnership. I look forward to bringing my experience of working with large financial institutions to support the Bank as it enters this next phase
Steven Welton CBE, chair of the British Business Bank, said: “Over the last two years the Bank has significantly stepped up in scale, profile and risk appetite, with an expanded mandate and focus on helping drive growth across the economy through its investment and banking businesses. These appointments strengthen the breadth of experience around the table, given their prior roles, as we continue to scale the Bank and deliver on our ambitions to drive growth across the UK. I am delighted to welcome each of them to our organisation at this exciting time.
“The Bank is focused on delivering on our five-year strategy and ensuring the benefits are felt increasingly by businesses and the finance markets that serve them. The platform we have created is well placed to deliver at scale and with greater impact. I look forward to working with colleagues across the Bank, the private sector and Government, following my reappointment as chair, as we drive economic growth by helping smaller companies and high growth businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK.”