LDC expands North West team with new appointment

LDC, the leading private equity investor, has appointed Jade Kelsall as an Investment Manager to increase its commitment to businesses across the North West.

Jade joins LDC from Growth Partner, where she was a Senior Investment Manager working nationally across origination, transactions, portfolio management and value creation. During her three years at the firm, she supported investments in high-growth consumer businesses and held board and observer roles across its portfolio.

Before joining Growth Partner in 2023, Jade spent almost four years at Seneca Property, where she worked across investment appraisals, transactions, fundraising, capital projects and portfolio management. She began her career at Grant Thornton in Manchester where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant, working in audit before completing a secondment with the firm’s corporate finance team. Jade has a first class honours degree in Economics from the University of Liverpool. Based in Manchester as part of LDC’s North West team, Jade will focus on originating new investment opportunities, backing ambitious management teams and supporting the continued growth of businesses across LDC’s existing portfolio.

Her appointment follows a busy period of investment activity for LDC in the North West. In the last year, the now 11-strong team has completed investments in Cheshire-based myHappymind, a provider of digital mental health and wellbeing programmes for schools, and Preston-based Panthera Biopartners, the UK’s largest Site Management Organisation (SMO) for commercial clinical trials. The team also exited Rochdale-headquartered WCCTV, a provider of re-deployable video surveillance systems, delivering a 3.3x money multiple, and Warrington-based PAM Healthcare, following a partnership that saw revenues grow from £29m to £67m.

Dale Alderson, Partner and Head of LDC in the North West, said: “We’re excited to welcome Jade to the team. She has a strong combination of investment and portfolio experience, alongside a deep understanding of the North West business community. The region remains one of the UK’s most dynamic markets for business growth and her experience and insight will help us build new relationships with management teams and support our portfolio companies as they continue to grow.”