Piers Linney

Piers Linney is an entrepreneur and investor with experience across a range of sectors, including technology, media and converged communications.

Starting at just 13 years old when he cut out his local newsagent by going direct to the wholesaler to start his own paper round, which was his first business sale at 16, Piers’ career has spanned a range of businesses in the technology, media and communications sectors.

A former Dragon on BBC 2’s Dragons’ Den and Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire, Piers is well known as a champion of entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized businesses and as a media commentator on relevant issues. Piers firmly believes that business can be be a force for good. His personal #ScaleUp initiative is developing a content platform to provide entrepreneurs with ambitions to grow access to practical advice and support.

Piers attended his local comprehensive school in Lancashire and went on to study accounting and law at the University of Manchester. He has a professional background in the City in both law, as a qualified solicitor specialized in venture capital, and investment banking in M&A at Credit Suisse.

Piers has been recognized as one of the UK’s top 100 most influential Black Britons and won the inaugural Entrepreneur of the Year award at the EY sponsored Black British Business Awards. In 2018 he was recognized as one of the UK’s top 20 Ethnic Minority Executives. Piers is a non-executive director of British Business Bank, the UK government-owned development bank that has facilitated over £12bn of funding to unlock capital for small and medium-sized businesses.