Duncan Thorburn: Private Equity and People

Investment Manager, Duncan Thorburn, discusses his career journey from banking to corporate finance and most recently into private equity, working for Foresight Group which invests up to £15m in companies across all sectors, stages and transaction types.

We cover a lot in this discussion such as the importance of mutual transparency between a company and an investor, the importance of backing people, how Foresight support growing companies and the accessibility to capital in Scotland.

TIMINGS OF EPISODE

00:00-11:22: Introduction, background and career journey discussion

11:23-14:01: Skills learned in corporate finance that helped when making the move into private equity

14:02-15:26: What is different about working in private equity than corporate finance?

15:27-21:44: How do you practically back senior leadership in a business as a private equity investor?

21:45-27:52: What information do companies typically seek from Foresight when it comes to understanding the investor? How crucial is mutual transparency in this process?

27:53-34:20: What different ways do Foresight support growing companies in the UK?

34:21-39:05: What is the private equity market like in Scotland in regards to access to capital? Duncan provides two recently completed deals as examples.

39:06-40:47: How do you see the market for Private Equity in 2025?

40:48-42:35: What professional and personal goals do you have for the next 12 months?

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