Jonathan Diggines - Enterprise Ventures

Jonathan Diggines has been investing in companies for two decades. He does not like to be reminded of it, as it reminds him of just how long he’s been around the finance business, but he’s one of the UK’s most experienced private equity bosses.

As chief executive of Enterprise Ventures, the ever-expanding PE firm from Manchester, Diggines ditched a career as a lawyer because he wanted to be at the heart of the deals, not merely administering them.

“I like doing the deals,” says Diggines, “not just writing them down. I didn’t want to be simply dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s so when I got an opportunity to get right into the mix I jumped at it.”

That opportunity came in the late 1980s when Glasgow-based Murray Johnstone Private Equity approached him to join its management.

“I figured it was a great opportunity to get my hands dirty. I didn’t think I’d be much good at first but always knew I’d have the law to fall back on if it didn’t work out.

“Twenty years later I still think I might get found out, but it’s been going well so far.”

Diggines is being modest. He was instrumental in building Murray Johnstone into a firm so attractive that Aberdeen Asset Management snapped it up for £150m in 2000. However, Diggines felt Aberdeen were not entirely in tune with the business of private equity and held the firm back under its ownership. So, in 2004, he formed part of the management team to buy the company back.

“We agreed in September 2004 to buy the company from Aberdeen, but on the Monday the deal was due to be signed they pulled out,” says Diggines. “It meant I had to move on.”

It was not long before Diggines was snapped up himself when Richard Bamford, executive chairman of Enterprise Ventures, was on the phone.

“It was a great team and a great opportunity to come in at the beginning of a really exciting company.”

Enterprise Ventures is a leading provider of private equity to high growth unquoted companies throughout the North of England and the Midlands. But its ambitions stretch far beyond its current geographical spread.

Diggines now manages a range of funds valued at more than £70m and seeks to invest in deal sizes of £5,000 to £2m using a combination of liquidity and syndication with other private equity and debt providers.

“We seek to invest at all stages of investment; particularly MBOs, development capital and high growth early stage technology opportunities. We will even consider high quality start-ups with genuine commercial prospects,” says Diggines.

“Our team is the reason why we are a successful business in our own right. We have a very experienced management and an executive board of the highest calibre which enables us to attract and execute high quality investment proposals, add value to investee performance and optimise returns for all concerned.”

Diggines’ working life has been almost entirely based in Scotland or the North of England. He truly believes the regions are two of the best to find entrepreneurs in the UK.

He says: “I was brought up in the north west and a lot of the business we invest in is based in the region. I really do believe the Scots and those from the North of England are naturally entrepreneurial.

“So when the opportunity came up to come to Enterprise Ventures it was an obvious choice for me. I’d known the firm for five or so years and it was growing fast. Back in 2002 it had just £10m under management and now we’re up to £70m and still growing fast.”

Diggines views Enterprise Ventures as unique in its sector.

“I guess we’re filling the gap left behind by 3i,” he says. “3i used to be about investing in young companies and building them into big ones. It’s not any longer and we’re here to take its place. I guess you could say we’re the new 3i.

“We’ll invest anywhere in the UK, up to £2m in anything from a tech start-up to a larger buyout. The smaller investments are in the area where the banks have simply vacated. It’s all stopped for banks in that area. We’re here to fill that gap.”

Business is going well for Enterprise Ventures. Diggines is currently interviewing to recruit a team based in a new Birmingham office.

“It’s great when things go well and they very often do,” he says. “But I’ve had the odd rotten investment too. But you learn from the bad experiences. You learn what to look for and what the signs of success really are. But, to be fair, I couldn’t think of a better way to have spent the last 20 years.

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