British Business Bank appoints new interim chief executive
The British Business Bank has announced the appointment of Catherine Lewis La Torre as its interim chief executive.
Lewis La Torre will take over from current boss Keith Morgan on 1 September, the lender said. She is currently chief executive of the bank’s two commercial subsidiaries, British Patient Capital and British Business Investments, which she has led since 2016.
The lender said the appointment of Lewis La Torre as its interim head would give the government time “to map out the next phase of the bank’s development before commencing the search for a permanent successor”.
Her appointment comes at a crucial time for the state-owned bank, which is responsible for accrediting lenders for the government’s coronavirus business loan schemes, which have so far lent out almost £35bn to over 830,000 businesses.
The British Business Bank (BBB) also runs the government’s Future Fund, designed as an alternative to the business loan schemes for startups unable to demonstrate a turnover.
Despite receiving applications worth £515m on the day it was launched, it emerged yesterday that the fund has so far only approved £55.9m of convertible loans.
Lord Smith, chairman of the BBB, praised the appointment of Lewis La Torre. “Catherine is a highly respected industry leader, with more than 30 years’ investment management experience and a strong track record of success.”
“I am delighted that she has agreed to take on the role of Interim CEO and look forward to working with her as we support the UK’s economic recovery.”
Smith also praised Morgan’s leadership of BBB, calling him an “outstanding leader” who had built “the business from scratch to create an organisation with considerable scale, reach and impact on businesses across the country”.
“Under his leadership, the Bank has supported start-ups and growing companies in every region and nation of the UK and has responded at speed to build a series of large scale loan programmes to help UK businesses get through the Coronavirus emergency.”