Aaron Baker

Aaron Baker is an Investor in the Growth team at BGF, one of the largest and most active growth capital investors in the UK and Ireland. He joined BGF in June 2013 as an Investment Associate in the Birmingham office and has since built more than a decade of experience deploying growth capital across the Midlands region. Over his tenure, he has supported over 35 new and follow-on investments totalling more than GBP 175 million in invested capital. He is involved in the full spectrum of BGF's investment lifecycle, with a principal focus on the identification and execution of new investment opportunities, from origination through to transaction execution.

Before joining BGF, Aaron spent approximately two and a half years with RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) as an Associate Director in Structured Finance. He began his career at Deloitte in London, where he spent three years as an Assistant Manager in the Private Equity Transaction Services team, gaining deep experience in deal evaluation and due diligence. He holds a First-Class BSc (Hons) degree in Engineering and Business Studies from the University of Warwick (2007) and is a qualified ICAEW Chartered Accountant.

Beyond his investment role, Aaron serves as a Trustee on the BGF Foundation's Board, which supports organisations aligned with sustainable growth and long-term value creation. He sits on the boards of several portfolio companies including Alliance Transport Technologies, UK Flooring Direct, and Woodall Group (as Board Director), and Red Industries (as Board Observer). He is a keen sportsman who regularly plays cricket and golf.

Aaron Baker and BGF take a long-term, patient capital approach, acquiring minority, non-controlling equity stakes in growing small and mid-sized businesses. Key elements of his investment philosophy include:

• Problem-solving businesses: He looks for companies that clearly understand and can articulate the problem they solve, offering differentiation through better user experience, greater efficiency, or competitive pricing.
• Realistic and disciplined planning: He values ambitious but commercially grounded business plans, emphasising that improbable growth projections are counterproductive; strong commercial sense and financial planning must underpin ambition.
• Long-term scale-up potential: BGF consistently looks for businesses with durable, long-term scale-up potential and alignment between investors and entrepreneurs on risk appetite and growth vision.
• Sector-agnostic but tech-curious: While open-minded about sectors and business lifecycle stages, Aaron has highlighted the emerging strength of technology and life sciences in the Midlands as areas of increasing focus for 2025 and beyond.
• Flexible co-investment: BGF structures allow co-investment alongside other investors, with flexibility on investment hold periods and business lifecycle stages.