Traditum Private Equity has appointed long-standing career banker Richard Topliss as its inaugural Chair. Richard, who was NatWest’s Regional Managing Director for the North of England and North Wales, retired at the end of December after more than 40 years with the bank. Prior to moving to the North West in 2000 Richard worked for NatWest in Bristol, London, Birmingham and Scotland.
He is also a member of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership and the North West Business Leadership Team, and Chair of The Growth Company.
Traditum which launched in Leeds in 2019 and has a strategic focus on long-term investment in UK-based businesses, in particular in the technology, sustainability, property, healthtech and agricultural sectors.
David Mitchell, Traditum CEO says appointing a Chair with the necessary strategic leadership and governance skills was a non-negotiable, however he says; “Richard obviously excels with these skills, but having someone of his calibre and depth of banking and private equity knowledge will be a real asset to Traditum. He will guide our client services and be a pivotal part of our investment committee.
“We are delighted to welcome Richard as our Chair. He displays immense passion, energy and enthusiasm and we know he will relish the ambassadorial aspects to the role in promoting our aims, value and work.”
Richard adds: “Traditum’s unique approach is a key attraction for me. I have a long-held belief in the need for patient capital to support growing businesses. Traditum takes a Iong-term view with its investments, it doesn’t impose a fixed end date or overload businesses with debt. It offers investors opportunities they would not otherwise be able to access and enables them to select the ones they want to pursue and invest in a tax-efficient manner.
“I hope the experience I bring, together with the energy, creativeness and vision of David and the team will be a winning combination.”
Last month Traditum completed its third healthtech deal within six months with an investment into Hilltop Leaf, one of the UK’s first medicinal cannabis cultivation and production facilities. This follows on from investing in Added Health, a new health coaching platform and Arquella which has developed a cutting edge nurse call system.
