The British Business Bank has appointed Elizabeth O’Neill as General Counsel and Company Secretary of the British Business Bank plc, effective from 15 February 2021.

Elizabeth O’Neill comes to British Business Bank from her previous role as Head Legal Adviser for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) where she led a large in-house legal team advising the MHRA Board and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Elizabeth is an experienced General Counsel with more than 20 years’ experience in the public and private sectors advising on EU competition law, international law, and corporate governance. She has undertaken a variety of legal leadership roles for Her Majesty’s Government throughout her career.

Prior to that role, she served as General Counsel and Member of Executive Committee for UK Government Investments Ltd, and Head of State Aid and Commercial Law for the Department of Business, Innovation, and Skills, where she worked on the set up for both the Green Investment Bank and the British Business Bank. During the past year the British Business Bank was responsible for delivering government economic measures to support business and delivered £1.5bn of funding to SMEs through the CBILS, CLBILs, Bounce Back Loans, and Future Fund schemes.

Elizabeth takes up her role from Shanika Amarasekara MBE, who has been appointed as the British Business Bank’s Executive Committee member responsible for ESG, Economics, Policy, and Strategy.