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Christopher Lythgo

Forty Under 40 Winner 2016: Senior Partner, consulting, Business Development Bank of Canada, Age 36
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Christopher Lythgo is right at home serving small and medium-sized businesses in the province.


The senior partner, consulting, for the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), knows the value of service, having followed in the “family business.” His father, retired colonel Chris A.R. Lythgo, served for more than 30 years in the Canadian Forces. Christopher served as an officer in the army reserve for four years.


“Seeing how committed [my father] was to serving and being a true professional soldier and conducting himself with such high integrity, he’s a true role model.”


Lythgo joined BDC in 2010 as the first employee hired to start a professional consulting group in Vancouver. By 2014, he was promoted as the practice’s youngest senior partner in Canada. Over his tenure, Lythgo has helped build the B.C. business into a regional powerhouse. As top performer in the B.C. region, he has served more than 250 small and medium-sized businesses. His management style culminated in significant improvements to client satisfaction: to 91% in 2015 from 72% in 2010.


The fundamental value defining his drive comes from the sage wisdom of his mother, who often said: “To say you know everything goes to show how little you really do know.”


“That’s kind of the way I approached life. That’s why I’m curious,” said Lythgo. “For me, this job perfectly fits my temperament in the sense that I’m relentlessly curious. I want to know how things work. I want to understand the ‘why’ behind things. I want to be prepared. I want to add value. I want to keep learning.”


From the beginning, Lythgo has strategically focused investing his time in initiatives that have personal meaning to him. For his undergrad at the University of British Columbia, he co-founded the Student Leadership Conference, now Canada’s largest student-run conference empowering future difference-makers. Today, as chairman of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade’s Company of Young Professionals, he’s increased membership 100% to 600 members active in professional development and community involvement.


Join us to celebrate the 2016 Forty under under 40 Awards January 25, 2017 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. For tickets and event info visit www.biv.com/events/40under40