Meet the Investors: Newcastle

Kim McGuiness

Mayor of North East, North East Combined Authority

Kim McGuinness is the first North East mayor. She was elected on a manifesto dedicated to creating the infrastructure of opportunity, with a plan to end child poverty and create local, well-paid jobs across the region.

As Mayor, Kim has committed to creating a North East that goes beyond net zero with climate change policies that change lives, where there is a good home for everyone, whether you rent or own and a well-paid job enjoyed by a skilled workforce backed by strong trade unions.

Kim’s economic plan for the North East will be based on three key strands; 

• improving the foundational economy
• delivering on the green jobs revolution
• making regional pride a key economic driver with investment in arts and music, culture and sport.

The Mayor is working to introduce the greenest public transport network in the UK, built around her commitment to a better bus network. In her manifesto she set out a vision for public transport that is safe, reliable, affordable – and publicly owned. 

Prior to becoming mayor, Kim was Police and Crime Commissioner for the Northumbria force area. She made crime prevention and neighbourhood support a key feature of her strategic policing plan Fighting Poverty, Fighting Crime and has invested in youth services as a way of improving life chances for all.

As PCC, Kim oversaw the creation of the region’s first Violence Reduction Unit which saw investment in local Sure Start-style services as a way of supporting families and young people away from desperation and crime.

Kim has led locally on efforts to tackle Violence against Women and Girls, including her flagship domestic abuse policy of putting DA specialist into police call centres.

She is married to David, a serving RAF officer, and lives in Northumberland with their two dogs.

Rebecca Minchella

Maven Capital Partners

Rebecca joined Maven as an Investment Manager, as part of the North East regional investment team based in our Newcastle, Durham and Middlesborough offices. Her main responsibilities include deal origination and execution across the North East of England.

Prior to joining Maven, Rebecca worked in EY’s Private Capital Tax team, advising both individuals and businesses, working on a range of projects including residence and domicile planning, business structuring, succession planning and implementing family investment and trust structures. She also worked with clients in the wealth and asset management space, including hedge funds and private equity funds on a range of projects. Rebecca is a charted tax advisor (ATT/CTA qualified).

Louis Taylor

CEO, British Business Bank

Louis Taylor is CEO of the British Business Bank. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive of UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, for seven years. He also held roles as a Director General in the Department for International Trade, and a member of its Executive Committee and Management Board.

Before joining UKEF, Louis held a range of senior roles at Standard Chartered Bank, including from 2013 to 2015 as Chief Operating Officer of Group Treasury, based in London. Before that, he spent three years as the bank’s CEO for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, based in Ho Chi Minh City. During this time he was also Vice Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Eurocham). He joined Standard Chartered in London in 2004, working in Group Corporate Development, which undertakes the bank’s acquisitions, divestments and other inorganic growth initiatives.

His earlier career included eight years working for JP Morgan in debt capital markets and mergers and acquisitions, and five years in corporate development and strategy with two industrial companies, Cookson Group plc and BTR plc.

Louis is a trustee of the charity Sightsavers, which prevents sight loss and avoidable blindness, and promotes equal rights for the disabled. He is also a former chair of trustees of the charity Music in Prisons, which runs music education projects to help rehabilitate offenders, and a former chair of governors of the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne. He has an MA in Law from the University of Cambridge. 

In the King's New Year Honours List 2025, Louis has been awarded a CBE for services to Business and Trade.