Lyceum Capital-backed Synexus has won the prestigious ‘CEO of the Year’ category at the national finals of the British Venture Capital Association’s (BVCA) Portfolio Company Management Awards.

The awards celebrate the achievements of private equity-backed management teams and are judged by a panel of industry experts and BVCA representatives.

The business was up against other high performing private equity-backed businesses from across the UK and secured the award for driving growth and innovation during the economic downturn.

Synexus provides outsourced trials management and patient recruitment services for late-stage drugs trials and was the subject of a Lyceum Capital-backed take private in 2007.

Since then, Lyceum Capital and Synexus have progressed an accelerated organic and acquisition-led growth plan which has seen the business build a 26-strong portfolio of research centres, increase patient population reach to 30 million and add additional therapy area expertise.

Simon Walker, Chief Executive of the BVCA, said: “What these awards demonstrate is the important role private equity and venture capital plays in the UK economy. It helps businesses expand, it enables them to flourish, it creates jobs, and it fosters innovation.
“As we enter a period of economic growth, private equity and venture capital will continue to push the economy forward by empowering UK businesses with the capital and skills they need to succeed.”