![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/magazine.dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp_mag14\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Andrew-Noble.png?resize=1024%2C733&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\nAndrew Noble: opportunities need more capital<\/p>\n
The venture capitalist tells TERRY MURDEN that the north\u2019s early stage companies face a funding battle with the Golden Triangle <\/h4>\n
\n
As a former Olympian, Andrew Noble knows what it takes to hit the heights of success. But he\u2019s concerned that Team spin-off in the north of Britain is not operating at peak performance. It\u2019s not because of a lack of talent. He feels there is a missing link in the much-vaunted eco-system for early stage companies.<\/p>\n
Noble was Great Britain\u2019s number one skier, competing in World Cups, the 2009 World Championships and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Since retiring from professional sport he\u2019s been a high flyer in PXN Group, formed by last year\u2019s merger of Edinburgh-based Par Equity and Praetura Ventures in Manchester.<\/p>\n
It created one of the top venture capital companies in Scotland, the north of England and Northern Ireland. Yet there is an issue gnawing away at Noble\u2019s competitive ambitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see huge opportunities to support high growth companies, but there is a lack of capital to support them,\u201d he says. \u201cThousands of companies at an early stage have difficulty with visibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Capital available for these fledgling companies is too heavily-weighted to the south of England and to the Golden Triangle around Oxford, Cambridge and London, he says. It is sucking in almost all the funding support, leaving good ideas elsewhere starved of cash and other support. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not for any shortage of skills and ideas. \u201cWe have world class science and research in the north of the UK, \u201d says Noble, \u201cmore research than the Golden Triangle, but it is often missed by policymakers and VCs in London.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompanies in the Golden Triangle raise four times more capital than those in the north where it takes two to four times longer for spin-outs to reach their first capital round. The further you leave the deep pool of capital the harder it is to raise it.\u201d<\/p>\n
His comments are backed by data from UK Private Capital (formerly the\u00a0BVCA) which said 84% of venture capital funding is invested within two hours of the VC companies\u2019 offices. And most of them are in the south.<\/p>\n
He says policymakers in the north \u2013 governments and their various enterprise vehicles \u2013 need to do more to create the conditions that attract capital. No prizes for listing tax and constitutional uncertainty among the factors that investors consider before committing their cash.<\/p>\n
Noble joined Par Equity, based in modest offices in Edinburgh\u2019s New Town, as an intern. He was 26 and had been thinking of a career in corporate finance during his days on the slopes when his ski partners included Chemmy Alcott, the curren,t and now last, presenter of the BBC\u2019s Ski Sunday after news that it is being axed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved ski-ing though it\u2019s not a sport that pays very well,\u201d he says. He studied at Insead and spent some time with McKinsey\u2019s before returning to Par Equity and forming a close leadership bond with Paul Atkinson and Paul Munn who remain in senior positions with the enlarged business.<\/p>\n
PXN Ventures has enjoyed some significant successes in its first year and is benefiting, as forecast, from the two partners\u2019 access to greater firepower and ability to do bigger deals. The firm has \u00a3760 million in assets.<\/p>\n
Noble is a big fan of Wordsmith, the Edinburgh-based legal AI startup, which last month raised $14 million following $70m raised in June. It could become one of the next unicorns \u2013 a company valued at $1 billion. Scotland, says Noble, needs more Wordsmiths.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not seeing Wordsmiths or Skycanners [the travel search company] being created fast enough,\u201d he says. \u201cBetter co-ordination would help.\u201d<\/p>\n
By that he means that, despite good intentions, those operating in the eco-system are still not working effectively together. \u201cFounders in Scotland have access to 440 programmes. We are guilty of producing too much information that is un-coordinated.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says ministers still don\u2019t get it right, even when they think they are doing good. The latest talk about from the Westminster government of an \u201cexit tax\u201d on spin-outs that sell to overseas buyers is aimed at ensuring taxpayers are not being left empty-handed and the country is not robbed of talent when foreign companies buy British innovation.<\/p>\n
Noble says he understands the motive behind the exit tax but worries about unintended consequences. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf the government narrows the potential acquirers of a company it deters investors when it is seeking funding.\u201d<\/p>\n
PERSONAL CHECKLIST<\/strong><\/p>\n Occupation<\/strong>: Chief operating officer, PXN Group<\/p>\n Birthplace<\/strong>: Edinburgh<\/p>\n Age:<\/strong> 42<\/p>\n Education<\/strong>: Birkbeck, University of London (International leadership); Insead (Master of Business Administration)<\/p>\n Career highlights<\/strong>: Olympic skier; Par Equity, McKinsey, Transition Capital, Par Equity, PXN Group<\/p>\n Fantasy dinner party guests<\/strong>: Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon)<\/p>\nLike this:<\/h3>\n