Being the chief executive of the British Venture Capital Association these days must be about as frustrating as a job doing PR for the freemasons or advocacy for Opus Dei.

A lobbyist can only ever be as open and forthcoming as the community he represents and the private equity industry, which is represented by the BVCA, is chronically shy of publicity. For two decades, the association enjoyed a quiet life, representing the venture capitalists who make investments in start-up businesses. In the past two years, though, it has been plunged into a much rougher debate: it has become the mouthpiece for buyout firms, which have bought household names such as the AA and Boots, become the bugbear of the unions and the focus of two parliamentary inquiries into the industry’s tax breaks.

Peter Linthwaite, the chief executive of the BVCA, may be defensive, uninformative and politically tone-deaf, but, in that, he is not that different from the industry he represents. The fact that the strategic review launched by Wol Kolade, the chairman, is expected to lead to his being replaced at the end of the summer is a chance for both the BVCA and private equity to make a fresh start.

Britain prospers thanks to a diversity of ownership. It is in everyone’s interest that private equity gains the trust of the public, the confidence of its employees and the support of politicians.

The BVCA should start by changing its name. It should call itself The Private Equity Forum. It should be a marketplace for ideas in the business, but also look to speak with a single voice. The association has so far struggled, because its membership has bickered. It has seemed unable to stand up to the heavyweights in the industry, because it seems that they don’t take the association seriously either. If the Private Equity Forum is going to work, it needs to have leading figures from the industry on the board. Currently, the BVCA council is shy of big hitters from the buyout funds. There is no one from Permira or Carlyle, no one from KKR or Blackstone.

The lobby group should then assess what it needs from a chief executive. The organisation needs to realise that it has three constituencies: the Government, the labour unions and the media. The prerequisite for the next chief executive is not that he or she is a successful practitioner in a private equity firm. The Private Equity Forum’s next chief executive would probably be better off if he or she was not. The next chief executive needs to be able to do what the private equity industry cannot: communicate.

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