Social and Sustainable Capital has appointed Mark Bickford as Director of Investments.

Mark was formerly Head of Social Investment at The FSE Group, where he ran the company’s Social Impact Accelerator Fund, providing expansion loans to social enterprises and charities. Prior to that Mark spent 20 years lending to UK SMEs, latterly as a Managing Director at Lloyds Banking Group. He is also a Director and trustee at Delta Education Trust, a multi-academy trust running schools for SEN and excluded pupils.

At SASC Mark will lead a team of five looking after investments and managing the portfolio. He will work closely with Ben Rick, Co-Founder and Managing Director of SASC to continue the company’s rapid expansion and provide flexible capital to social sector organisations.

Discussing his new role Mark said,

“I joined SASC because it has an excellent team who are 100% focused on finding new and better ways to support and fund social enterprises. I’m looking forward to working with the team and helping to grow the number of investees and build on the success to date.”

Mark takes over from Sara Redford, who has made a significant contribution to SASC’s growth over the past three years and who will continue to support some investees as a board observer.

Sara Redford said,

“Deciding to step back from leading the investment team at SASC was not a decision I took lightly, so I am absolutely delighted to be handing over to Mark Bickford, who shares SASC’s passion and commitment to simple innovative finance to support those who are most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our society. I am incredibly proud of the team and all that has been achieved by SASC and our inspiring investees in the last three years and look forward to staying involved in my role as board observer.”

Ben Rick, Co-Founder and Managing Director of SASC said,

“We are delighted to welcome Mark to the team. He is a very experienced lender and social investor who will be an asset to the team and a key player in our future growth.”