David Best

David Best is a Chartered Accountant who qualified with Arthur Andersen in 1985. Early in his career he spent roughly ten years with private-equity house Bridgepoint Capital, before moving into industry as group finance director at two Yorkshire-based PLCs. This combination of transactional private-equity experience and hands-on plc finance leadership underpins his later work backing and governing growth companies.

He subsequently became managing director of the Yorkshire Funds at YFM Group in Leeds — one of the North's best-known regional private-equity and venture managers — putting him at the centre of Yorkshire's regional investment ecosystem. His own professional summary describes him as a Chartered professional of 27+ years working across non-executive director, board adviser, venture capitalist and finance director roles.

David later appeared on the team of Mercia Technologies PLC (now Mercia Asset Management) — the group that in 2016 acquired Enterprise Ventures, the fund manager awarded the NPIF equity and debt contracts for Yorkshire, the Humber and Tees Valley. His NPIF-domain email ([hidden]) and South Yorkshire phone code place him with that Sheffield-based NPIF investment team, which deployed institutional, British Business Bank/ERDF-backed capital into regional SMEs.

Because Mercia has since restructured and rebranded (Mercia Ventures / Mercia Asset Management), his individual profile page is no longer live on the current site, and he does not appear on Mercia's present-day team roster — suggesting his most active NPIF-era involvement predates the current fund vintage.

• Invests as part of an institutional, publicly-backed regional fund (NPIF via Enterprise Ventures/Mercia), not as a private angel — deals must fit the fund's SME mandate and regional remit.
• Geography is a hard filter: businesses based in or relocating to Yorkshire, the Humber and Tees Valley (North of England).
• Stage & instrument flexibility: the NPIF Yorkshire mandates offer both equity (seed/early growth) and debt/loans, so he can back companies through the tool that fits, rather than equity-only.
• Leans toward technology, IP-rich and scalable growth SMEs, consistent with the Mercia/Enterprise Ventures house style.
• Values strong financial governance and board discipline — reflecting his background as a plc group finance director and non-executive director; expect diligence on numbers, unit economics and governance.