A GBP185 million business growth fund was launched in December to help small and medium-sized enterprises across the North West of England.
The North West Fund, formerly known as the Venture Capital and Loan Fund, is the largest public sector fund in the UK and will be used to develop and support growth-oriented enterprise in the region. The Evergreen Fund is expected to generate 14,000 new jobs and an estimated GBP700m Gross Value Added (GVA) for the region.
The North West Fund will provide debt, equity and quasi-equity to local SMEs, making investments of up to GBP2m into fast growth companies with particular emphasis on the emerging biomedical, energy and environmental, and digital and creative sectors. A total of GBP25m, GBP20m and GBP15m, respectively, will be made available to North West–based businesses within these industries.
The new fund comprises six funds that will provide finance in the form of development capital (GBP45m), business loans (GBP35m) as well as venture capital (GBP30m) to help local businesses grow through the downturn. An initial GBP170m is being managed by six fund managers: YFM Private Equity, FW Capital, Enterprise Ventures, Spark Impact, CT Investment Partners and AXM Venture Capital. The final £15m will be made available as follow-on investment through to the closing investment date of 31 December 2015.
North West Business Finance, Northwest Regional Development Agency, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Investment Bank support the fund.
“The launch of the North West Fund is great news for innovative North West SMEs, many of which have been hindered in their growth plans in recent years due to a lack of funding," says Steve Livingston (pictured), Manchester Partner in the Media Team of Crowe Clark Whitehill, a national firm offering audit, tax and business advisory services. "Not only should this GBP185m fund contribute to 14,000 new local jobs, it should also build on the momentum gathered by other exciting local initiatives, such as the arrival of MediaCityUK.
“North West digital, media and creative SMEs now have the local infrastructure and support to compete on a global scale. We are delighted to be a part of this exciting initiative, in helping North West businesses access this funding and accelerate their growth plans in these sectors.”
