BGF

The 2026 programme runs across two streams:

• Investments Intern, embedded in the Growth origination team across sourcing, deal screening and team meetings
• Value Creation Intern, working on portfolio-support and post-investment projects with the Value Creation team

The firm states no prior work experience or grade requirements and accepts applicants from any degree discipline or university. A separate graduate scheme launched in September 2023 with seven hires across Growth, Early Stage, Finance, IT, and Research & Intelligence, but BGF has completed recruitment for its 2024 and 2025 cohorts and is not opening further graduate intakes at this time. For a UK or Ireland-based candidate aiming at growth capital, the summer internship is effectively the structured entry route; full-time openings appear as ad-hoc roles on the careers board rather than a recurring intake.

Several features distinguish it from a typical mid-market private-equity house:

• Capital is provided as minority equity, without taking board control, and with no fixed exit timetable
• The firm is dispersed across 15 offices in the UK and Ireland, with roughly three-quarters of investments in companies outside London and the South East
• Originally capitalised in 2011 by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS to address the SME funding gap after the 2008 crisis (Wikipedia)
• Certified UK B Corp, with no prior-experience or grade requirement on the summer internship

For a candidate prioritising one of a limited number of growth-equity applications, the meaningful trade-off is geographic and structural: BGF clusters roles outside the London hub, and the minority-without-control model produces a deal cycle closer to long-hold growth than leveraged buyouts.