Bridges Ventures, the sustainable growth investor, has expanded its investment team for the second time this year with the appointment of Alistair Tillen.

In his role as Investment Director, Alistair will work across the major investment themes of the Bridges Venture Funds: underserved areas, environment, education & skills and health & well-being. He will focus on identifying new investments in B2B and consumer companies based in the UK that have high growth potential.

Before joining the Bridges Ventures team, Alistair was co-founder and CEO of Simply Switch, an online and call centre based price comparison and switching service designed to help people save money on household bills. The firm compared energy prices initially, but grew latterly to include telecoms and financial services. Over the course of four years, Simply Switch, one of Bridges Ventures’ earliest investments, grew strongly and was successfully sold, with investors receiving a 22 times return on their original investment when the business was sold in 2008.

Philip Newborough, Chief Executive of Bridges Ventures commented: “Alistair’s extensive experience as a social entrepreneur and in growing early stage consumer and business services’ companies, both on- and offline, will further strengthen Bridges Ventures’ successful strategy of investing in ambitious businesses to deliver social and environmental impact as well as superior returns for investors.”

Alistair serves as Chairman of two of Bridges Ventures’ portfolio companies: School Stickers and Halo Insurance Services. School Stickers is a manufacturer and distributor of customised motivational stickers and postcards for primary and secondary schools used by 8,752 schools. Halo Insurance Services is an online insurance broker providing a cheaper alternative to insurance excess waivers offered at car rental desks worldwide.

Alistair Tillen, Investment Director, said of his appointment: “Having worked with Bridges Ventures as an entrepreneur at Simply Switch, I know first-hand how the firm can help entrepreneurs to grow world-class UK-based businesses. I’m excited about being part of a team that helps more companies reach their full potential.”

ENDS

For further information please contact: Claire Aslett / Hannah Randall Capital MSL 0207 307 5307 firstname.lastname@capitalmsl.com

About Bridges Ventures Bridges Ventures is a sustainable growth investor established in 2002 with a mission to use its commercial expertise to achieve focused social or environmental benefit, as well as attractive returns for investors. Bridges Ventures has raised three types of funds to date which total over £150m: Venture Funds I & II, the Bridges Sustainable Property Fund and the Bridges Social Entrepreneurs Fund.

The Bridges Venture Funds have a two-pronged approach to invest in growth businesses based in UK underserved areas as well as those delivering social and environmental impact in education & skills, environment and health & well-being. The Bridges Venture Funds typically invest up to £10m at a time in ambitious, entrepreneurial businesses including early stage, growth capital and buyouts/buy ins.

For more information please go to www.bridgesventures.com