IT would be fair to say summer 2009 was not the easiest time to launch a business. But such timing does not appear to have been any kind of barrier to Glasgow-based private equity house Maven Capital Partners.

Maven, which ran about £130 million when it launched following a buy-out of private equity operations from Aberdeen Asset Management, expects funds under management or committed by investors will by the year-end be close to £600m.

Bill Nixon and his team have built a well-diversified business. While Maven’s growth has been remarkable, it has also been steady.

Maven has built up its pool of co-investors, who can participate in equity or property transactions on a deal-by-deal basis, to about 300. It has also done well in winning mandates to run funds set up with the support of the Scottish and UK governments, launched to help the economy.

Crucial to its success has been its opening of offices throughout the UK. In private equity, as with many things in life, there is no substitute for local knowledge.

Maven’s success has also been achieved with a stable team, with all of the six partners who own the business having been there since 2009. The importance of such stability of the senior team cannot be underestimated, especially when it comes to winning the likes of big mandates to run taxpayer-backed funds.