Lee Donaldson

Lee Donaldson is an Investment Director in LDC's North East & Scotland team, based in Scotland. LDC is the mid-market private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group and has backed more than 650 management teams over its 40-year history. Donaldson joined LDC in November 2018 alongside Mark Kerr (Director and Head of Scotland) and fellow Investment Director Colin Bennett, as the firm built out its Scottish presence following deals such as its £15 million investment in optical group Duncan & Todd earlier that year. He is responsible for sourcing and completing transactions across LDC's equity range of approximately £2 million to £100 million, and is well-connected in the Scottish business community.

His career began at global architecture and design network RMJM, before he moved to the Miller Group in 2000 and qualified as a chartered accountant in its commercial real estate team. In 2005 he joined RBS, where he held a range of roles — including Finance Director for the bank's employment law and health & safety consultancy, and a secondment to a specialist asset finance division in Stockholm — before heading up the structured finance team in Aberdeen. In that structured finance role he specialised in providing debt packages for M&A and private equity activity, and it was at RBS that he first worked with LDC, on their investment in Duncan & Todd Group.

Donaldson brings more than 20 years of experience working directly with Scottish businesses across sectors as diverse as healthcare, professional services, energy and the built environment. At LDC he sits within the firm's ICT sector team, helping management teams capitalise on digital transformation, demand for connectivity, and AI. He takes board seats at the companies he backs, currently serving on the boards of Kick ICT, scarlettabbott and Nu-Style Products. Outside work he is a marathon runner and father of two sons.

• Backs established, ambitious mid-market companies — not seed-stage startups — typically via management buyouts, development capital, and buy-and-build strategies.
• Writes equity cheques of roughly £2m–£100m, partnering with management teams and usually joining the board as a non-executive director.
• Core focus on ICT/technology, supporting digital transformation, connectivity and AI growth opportunities, with broad additional experience in healthcare, professional/business services, energy and the built environment.
• Strong Scotland-first orientation: in his own words, "There are hundreds of high-growth mid-market businesses based in Scotland and we're keen to partner with those management teams looking to take the next step in their journey."
• Favours acquisition-led ("buy-and-build") and international expansion plays — e.g. backing Kick ICT for further acquisitions and Nu-Style for expansion into England and overseas.