YFM Equity Partners (YFM) has appointed former BGF investor Neil Inskip as head of new investments for the North across its Manchester and Leeds offices.
Inskip will also oversee YFM’s Birmingham office, alongside its new investment activities across the North and Midlands, supporting the firm’s regional teams and sitting on its investment committee.
With nearly 20 years of private equity experience, Inskip was previously at UK small- and mid-sized business investor BGF, where he headed up teams covering the North West and Midlands regions and led over a dozen of its investments, including several significant exits.
“YFM has a great platform, a strong reputation in the regions and an exciting market opportunity,” said Inskip. “I’m looking forward to working with the partners, growing our team, driving new investment activity and building on the fantastic portfolio of entrepreneurial businesses the firm already backs.
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“The North is home to a significant number of entrepreneurial businesses and it’s where our roots lie. There’s huge potential to back talented founders and management teams and create a supportive environment to enable their growth.”
This year, YFM has led investment rounds in UK businesses including employee engagement startup WorkBuzz and Audiological Science, which provides hearing health tech to the NHS and private partners.
At the beginning of 2025, YFM successfully raised £75m for its British Smaller Companies Venture Capital Trust in just 11 weeks. This surpassed its initial target of £50 million, which YFM managing partner Eamon Nolan claimed highlighted “the appetite for growth equity from investors to match the demand from Northern businesses.”
Regional investments on YFM’s books include consumer insights platform Vypr, now defunct Liverpool musical instrument retailer and etailer Play Music Today, and global advertising production consultancy MurphyCobb & Associates (MCA), which works with brands including Reckitt, Mars, Coty, and Toyota.
