Chairman’s Dinner

On Tuesday 15th March, together with BGF, FWB Park Brown hosted a Chairman’s Dinner for 30 experienced non-executives from the Aberdeen business community at the iconic The Society of Advocates in the heart of Aberdeen. The main focus of the evening was to discuss what an investor wants from a chairman, and conversely what a chairman wants from an investor. The evening was hosted by Stuart Cochrane , Director at FWB Park Brown, who led a discussion with Stephen Welton, CEO of BGF, and Bill McCall, Chairman of FWB Park Brown on the importance of a chairman to high growth companies.

The group discussed the importance of mutual trust between the chairman, investor and management team; the value that a chairman can bring in both positive and more challenged scenarios; and some of the skills that make a good chairman in a smaller company environment. The group also discussed some of the current market challenges affecting companies in the Oil and Gas sector. This highlighted that while the market has contracted since 2015, many smaller companies are able to find opportunities, particularly overseas, and that Oil and Gas is a cyclical market.

The dinner was jointly hosted by FWB Park Brown & BGF, an established company who provide help to Britain’s growing businesses by providing growth capital in the form of long-term equity investment.

The 30 guests represented over 100 current non-executive appointments, including a range of owner managed, investor backed and public companies. A number of the guests commented that this is now established as the principal forum for non-executive directors in Aberdeen, and highlights the desire of both BGF and FWB Park Brown to work in partnership with the non-executive director community.