Open Position: Non-Executive Director (NED)

Role Description

Role Title:  Non-Executive Director, SME Wholesale Finance (London) Limited, trading as Funding London

This position is not remunerated though reasonable expenses will be reimbursed. Time commitment: 3-4 hours average per quarter.

Background

Funding London was established in 2004 under the name SME Wholesale Finance (London) Limited, with the specific long-term mandate to support the Economic Development Strategy for London through its SME funding activities. Funding London is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Greater London Authority (GLA).

Funding London’s past, current and future SME financing activities are designed to support growth and job creation in London.  This is ingrained in its articles of association and is central to every project it takes on.  Its knowledge and experience are applied towards the design, implementation and delivery of new funds to continue to support the Mayor’s priorities for London. 

Since its founding, Funding London has continued to channel funding through its appointed fund managers to sustainable and ambitious London SMEs caught in the funding gap, where it is believed there is a role for public sector funds to stimulate activity and enable growth through investment.  This is often done by becoming the main or the sole limited partner or member in a managed fund.

The company has developed a strategy to use returns from existing funding initiatives to seed new funds and initiatives. The company is striving to become self-sustaining in the long term, in its operations as well in new capital deployment. 

Our Current Funds

The London Co-Investment Fund was founded and is currently managed in house by Funding London.  The fund was seeded in 2014 with £25m from the Mayor of London’s Growing Places Fund to co-invest in seed rounds of between £250,000 to £2.5m, led by our 15 co-investment partners. The fund invests in high growth tech, science and digital start-ups in London.  Proceeds from exited investments are reinvested to support the next generation of early-stage businesses in London.

Greater London Investment Fund (invested through GLIF Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Funding London) a £110m fund of funds, providing loan and equity finance for London's SMEs, through three sub-funds; MMC Ventures, manage the Equity Fund and FSE Fund Managers manage the Loan Funds. The funds began investing in 2019 and reached the end of their investment period in 2026. The initial investment returns have been used to create successor funds, including a commitment of £3m to MMC Ventures LP.

Our Impact

Since inception, we have invested £150m via five equity and seven loan funds as part of £1.16bn of total investment received by 800+ SMEs. Over 13,000 jobs have been created or safeguarded by our investees.

Our funds are much more representative of the diversity in London’s population than the industry.

Our funds strive to enhance innovation in sustainability and climate change, having invested £15m and leveraged at least 3x additional capital in the sector.

2023 Restructuring

In September 2023, as part of the consolidation of the GLA’s investment management subsidiaries, the executive team of Funding London was transferred under TUPE regulations to London Treasury Limited (LTL), another GLA subsidiary involved in investment management and treasury activities.  The transfer offers synergies to both organisations enabling resilience and knowledge sharing across the investment management teams of each entity.  The integrated LTL-Funding London team continues to provide dedicated resources to the Funding London group to manage the investment activities.  In addition, it provides support across all necessary corporate functions. 

As part of the 2023 consolidation, the SME Wholesale Finance articles of association were amended to allow Funding London to become a GLA-managed company.  This enabled the Funding London entities, which had historically operated at an arm’s length basis, to become more closely integrated within the GLA group thereby facilitating more efficient monitoring by the GLA of the substantial assets managed by Funding London and importantly to enable Funding London to operate more efficiently within the GLA governance and Mayoral Decision frameworks.   As part of the process, the size of the board was substantially reduced, and all external NED’s retired from the board in October 2024. 

Future Strategy

Since its inception until the full implementation of Brexit, Funding London’s activities were underpinned by its management of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grants under the Financial Instruments programme.  The Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF)launched in early 2019 benefitted from the last allocation of ERDF funding available before Brexit came fully into effect.  GLIF’s funding incorporates £35m of ERDF grants alongside re-invested returns from previous funds and other sources of funding.  Building on Funding London’s strong track record, the performance of the GLIF sub-funds has been excellent, and there are good prospects for the reinvestment of returns from exits in the medium term. 

In the absence of further European funding and given very restricted UK public sector funding, Funding London’s future support of growth in London is predicated on its ability to successfully design and implement future fund strategies combining future returns from investments alongside attracting new capital, most likely from private investors.  The reorganisation of LGPS pools and the government’s local investment mandates also present opportunities.

To that end, the board of Funding London has identified the need to expand the membership of its board to guide and support this crucial next stage in Funding London’s mission.   

Funding London Board

The current members of the board are:

• Alex Coway, GLA Representative. Joined July 2022
• Maggie Rodriguez-Piza, CEO London Treasury Limited.  Previously CEO of Funding London. Joined September 2009
• Puneet Bhatia, MD Funding London and LTL Deputy Director, SME Funds.  Responsible for oversight of all Funding London group activities. Joined June 2025

Key Responsibilities of the New NED

• Providing strategic leadership and helping to facilitate the development of strategies, policies and plans to deliver Funding London’s objectives
• Monitoring and scrutinising the performance of the Funding London team, to ensure that it meets its strategic objectives and targets
• Promoting the highest standards of propriety, best practice and the efficient and effective use of staff and resources
• Being called upon when required to be a member of a Board sub-committee (e.g. Audit & Finance) and/or director of a subsidiary company
• Attending and representing Funding London at appropriate events
• Acting as an Ambassador for Funding London
• Mentoring, advising and supporting the MD and other members of the team
• Making introductions to relevant networks and contacts that will assist Funding London activities
• Participating in the full range of non-executive duties, including financial and risk management, succession planning of the board and Executive team, and effective corporate governance.

Role Specific Requirements

Background and experience

The successful candidate(s) will bring one or a combination of the following areas of expertise to the Board:

• Venture Capital: Knowledge and experience of venture funds, venture investing and fund raising
• Loan Funds: Knowledge and experience of delivering SME loan funds
• Senior level experience and demonstrable success in implementing solutions in SME/ early-stage funding via fund management, investment or advisory activities.
• Knowledge of or understanding of the British Business Bank (BBB)
• Keen interest in financing SMEs, both, established and at early stage, and recognise that SMEs are an important source of growth and jobs for London. You will have outstanding communication and advocacy skills.

Skills and attributes

• Financial accounting qualification or demonstrable experience in the review and interpretation of financial statements and management information packs
• Strong interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills to influence key stakeholders such as the GLA, the British Business Bank, other sources of public sector funding or private investors.
• Strategic perspective and vision as well as an ability to take a proactive approach and show initiative in developing new ideas and manage change
• Understanding of the finance sector and SMEs in London
• Commitment to championing diversity and equality and a commitment to public sector values
• Ability to work in a complex political environment

Additional Information

• Under the articles of association, the GLA is responsible for the appointment of directors; therefore, proposed appointments will be subject to GLA approval.
• Non-executive directors are generally appointed for a fixed term of three years and can generally not serve more than two consecutive full terms, after which they must stand down.
• Board meetings will typically be held in person at Funding London’s office or in a central London location.

How to Apply

Please submit a CV and covering letter (max 4 sides in total) giving details of the relevant experience that equips you to serve as NED on the Board of Funding London, addressing the criteria listed in the person specification. Your CV should include details of employment, public appointments, qualifications history, and any directorships you hold. 

Applications are submitted via email to recruitment@londontreasury.org and you will be asked to provide recruitment monitoring information and the name and contact details of two referees.

If you would like to discuss the position informally, please contact Puneet Raj Bhatia at puneet@fundinglondon.co.uk  The closing date for submission of applications is Sunday 31 August 2026 at 23:59 GMT.

Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed by a selection panel comprising Funding London Board members and key stakeholders. 

Interviews are currently expected to take place either during the week commencing 14 September 2026 or week commencing 21 September. Please try and ensure your availability on this date. If this is not possible, please notify us in your application.

Appointees are expected to be available to take up their role in October 2026 with the inaugural meeting of the newly appointed members expected to take place soon afterwards.