Rcapital appoints COO

London-based investment firm RCapital has added Phil Emmerson in the newly created positon of chief operating officer. Emmerson will be primarily responsible for running Rcapital’s portfolio of investments starting March 2015. 

Emmerson joins from professional service firm BDO where he served as a partner in business restructuring services. In that position, he also worked closely with other services at BDO to provide debt advisory, exit or sale options.

“[Emmerson] is a welcome addition to the team. For some time now we have realized additional senior resources is essential for us to respond to the growing number of opportunities we are seeing in the marketplace, alongside the managing of our existing portfolio of investments,” said Rcapital partner Peter Ward in a statement.

Prior to joining BDO, Emmerson served for 18 years at KPMG, 15 years of which were spent on formal insolvency assignments, with an increasing focus on advisory work.

Rcapital provides turnaround and growth funding to UK companies. Started 10 years ago by Ward and Jamie Constable, Rcapital uses its own capital to rescue, invest and grow stressed and distressed businesses. Since inception, Rcapital has revived more than 40 businesses, focusing on SME businesses with turnover of between £5 million and £200 million.