A new investment business has been rolled out by UK-based Harwood Capital Group.

London-headquartered Harwood Capital Group has launched a new investment business to add to its range of public and private funds, spotting what it sees as opportunities among small and medium-sized companies. 

The new investment business will be chaired by ex-HgCapital chief executive Ian Armitage and will bring on board fund manager Stuart Widdowson, Harwood Capital Group said in a statement yesterday. 

Armitage has three decades of industry experience in private equity and is non-executive director of Tenzing Private Equity. Widdowson joins from GVQ Investment Management, where he was fund manager for seven years, looking after the shareholder value of Strategic Equity Capital. He has a history of investing in public and private UK small and mid-size corporates, and has also worked at HgCapital.

“We worked closely together during this time [at HgCapital] and I admired his willingness to get stuck in with all aspects of the business as well as his focus on long-term rewards,” Armitage said of Widdowson.

Harwood Capital Group is an independently-owned group of investment companies set up in 2011. It has a real estate investment business and manages a number of private client portfolios. The Harwood Capital Group incorporates the investment activities of Christopher Mills.