Luke Johnson, Chairman of Risk Capital Partners, has joined the Advisory Board for the Growth Investor Awards – which celebrate impact beyond investment in SME fund management.

Luke co-founded private equity firm Risk Capital Partners in 2001 and he is Chairman/part owner of Patisserie Holdings PLC – which was taken public for £170m in 2014. He is chairman of StartUp Britain, and created think tank The Centre for Entrepreneurs in 2013.

Commenting on Luke’s addition to the Advisory Board, Guy Tolhurst, Managing Director of Intelligent Partnership said: “Luke Johnson is equally well-known and highly respected in both the venture capital industry and the entrepreneur community – so perfectly complements our Advisory Board. As a champion of growth capital and growth champions, Luke is a great asset to our campaign to recognise all those putting investment to work in UK SMEs.”

Alongside fellow Advisory Board members Sherry Coutu and Tim Hames, head of the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, Luke co-signed an open letter to the main political parties back in March 2015 to preserve incentives including EIS and Entrepreneur Relief.

Luke Johnson commented: “Incentives like the Enterprise Investment Scheme have supported Britain’s economic recovery by enabling high growth businesses to scale – creating jobs and wealth while generating tax revenue for infrastructure that we all benefit from. The SME investment management community plays a vital role in ensuring that investment is best deployed – in talent, technology and R&D. The Growth Investor Awards provide an important national platform to demonstrate the value of this impact.”

Any company or individual meeting the criteria can enter the Growth Investor Awards by filling in an entry form for each relevant award category. All information about the Growth Investor Awards, including award categories, criteria and how to enter, can be found at www.growthinvestorawards.com.