Bridges is an engaged investor and we support our management teams to achieve exceptional results. .
- We work with our teams to develop and agree a clear value creation strategy and then support them to drive growth at pace. This includes working with businesses early on to develop the foundations required for the next phase of growth - including developing key functions, team building, IT and systems or other areas as required.
- We provide hands-on support to accelerate this process where needed. We recommend implementing a ‘Chief of Staff’ to accelerate growth and business building in the 6 months post-deal and have a network of specialists in a variety of areas from strategic planning and brand development through to IT and systems upgrades.
- We have an outstanding reputation for building purpose-led, socially responsible businesses that use the positive impact they generate to enhance commercial performance. Key resources we deploy to measure and manage social and environmental impact include our internal Impact management team and the B Corp impact assessment framework.
Prior to making an investment, our investment team works with the management team of the prospective portfolio company to identify ESG risks and opportunities for value creation. To guide this discussion, we have developed an in-house risk assessment screen based on global best practices but adapted to fit the needs of investees operating in our areas of thematic focus. Our emphasis is on making this ESG risk screen as practical as possible - on making it a conversation about operational excellence. We use a materiality lens to grade each risk as a high, medium or low priority and record the results on a risk register. For each material risk, we propose a mitigation plan in the Investment Committee paper, so that our investment decision is made with a holistic view of projected impact and a 100-day plan can be developed. Thereafter, ESG issues are reviewed regularly at Board meetings with investee companies, as well as at our own firm-level portfolio review meetings. Once a year, each investee provides a snapshot of any new or outstanding ESG issues, as well as progress against targets, through our Impact Scorecard.