Gordon Merrylees

In his 36 years at RBS, Mr Merrylees worked with and supported entrepreneurs, early-stage startups and high-growth SMEs as he led the bank’s support programme for UK businesses, culminating in the launch of the bank’s first in-house entrepreneur accelerator programme and the subsequent creation of 12 UK-wide accelerator hubs.

During Mr Merrylees’ leadership, the UK’s largest free business accelerator network supported over 60,000 entrepreneurs which benefited from over £400 million of investment. Despite his departure from RBS last year, the programme continues to form a core part of the Bank’s proposition to SMEs today.

N4 has continued to expand both its investment team and advisory offering with the recruitment of key senior hires, including last year’s appointment of the former CEO of Tesco Bank, Benny Higgins, as chair.

On his appointment as director at N4, Mr Merrylees commented: “Throughout my career I’ve always been incredibly passionate about supporting the growth of talented entrepreneurs and startup businesses across the UK.

“From establishing a leading startup and scaleup accelerator programme at RBS, to my current role with Know-it as Chief Commercial Officer, playing my part to ensure the innovative credit management software firm fulfils its potential as one of the UK’s most innovative fintech startups, I have now experienced first-hand the level of support required for startups and entrepreneurs to be successful and achieve their growth ambitions.

“Having known the team at N4 for some time and sharing the same desire and urgency to help early-stage businesses grow and thrive, I’m thrilled to join the firm and look forward to helping the team identify and execute exciting investment opportunities within the talented UK startup community.”

N4 chair, Mr Higgins, added: “I had the pleasure of working with Gordon for a number of years at RBS and his passion for supporting entrepreneurs and startups throughout the UK is unparalleled. We’re delighted to welcome Gordon on board as we look to launch a venture fund exclusively targeting the UK startup community.”