Ms Dornan will support ongoing business growth in both regions.

A qualified chartered accountant, Ms Dornan has extensive and diverse experience working for both a FTSE 50 company and within professional services across a variety of financial sector specialisms, including business development and mergers and acquisitions.

Previous positions have included corporate finance manager for PwC, where Ms Dornan was nominated to join the company’s emerging leaders programme in 2018, and senior analyst at 1825, Standard Life’s financial planning business. Most recently, Fiona was commercial business partner at Edinburgh Airport.

Paddy Graham, who leads BGF’s investment team for Central Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: “While 2020 has proved to be a challenging year for many SMEs, we have very much remained open for business and concluded a number of investments across Central Scotland and Northern Ireland. We anticipate more investments and are growing our team to support this. With her extensive knowledge and know-how, Fiona brings an exciting new dimension to the team and will be integral to both supporting our clients and building on our portfolio.”

Among businesses that the Central Scotland and Northern Ireland BGF team has invested in over the past nine months are: MRM Global (£2.6m), a provider of marketing technology to the global drinks and hospitality sector; family business, The Paint Shed (£2.7m); and window coverings’ manufacturer Decora (£10m).

Fiona Dornan commented: “Due to COVID-19, businesses are looking for support more than ever before. I’m looking forward to working closely with the regions’ brightest and most ambitious entrepreneurs to identify opportunities for funding and help them with their growth. Through its business model, BGF offers long-term, minority equity capital and the UK’s largest network of non-executive talent. It’s an exciting proposition and I’m delighted to be part of the team.”