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Research shows early positive impact of British Business Bank’s Nations and Regions Investment Funds for smaller businesses across the UK

Press release 13 October 2026

  • Independent evaluation finds the programme is performing well and operating broadly as intended.
  • Strong evidence the programme is addressing regional finance gaps and improving access to finance for smaller businesses.
  • Total of £294m invested through the Nations and Regions Investment Funds programme by September 2025 with £233m of private sector investment ‘crowded in’ alongside.  
  • Six Nations and Regions funds evaluated: Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, South West Investment Fund, Investment Fund for Scotland, Investment Fund for Wales, and Investment Fund for Northern Ireland.

An ‘Early Assessment Report’ undertaken by independent research company SQW Ltd has found that the British Business Bank's Nations and Regions Investment Funds (NRIF) programme is successfully addressing longstanding regional finance gaps, helping smaller businesses across the UK access the funding they need to grow, innovate and scale. 

Covering activity up to September 2025, the evaluation found that the NRIF programme had delivered 951 investments to 877 businesses, investing £294m to support firms that may otherwise have struggled to secure finance, leveraging £233m of private sector investment alongside. 

The report found that the NRIF programme is performing well, with evidence that investments are already strengthening the drivers of business growth and productivity. Businesses receiving investment reported increased productive capacity, improved efficiency, enhanced workforce skills and the development of new products and services. 

The programme is supporting businesses across a broad range of sectors: Manufacturing accounted for 15% of firms supported, followed by Information and Communication (14%) and Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities (13%).

By September 2025, the Nations and Regions Investment Funds had leveraged £233m of private sector investment, with £0.79 of private sector leveraged for every £1 invested through the programme. The evaluation concludes that the funds are successfully crowding in private investment, one of the core objectives of the programme, with fund managers often acting as cornerstone investors in funding rounds. 

The evaluation found strong evidence of finance additionality, with 81% of surveyed businesses reporting they would either have been unable to secure finance without the Nations and Regions Investment Funds or would have secured funding on a smaller scale or over a longer timeframe.

Businesses backed by the programme are already reporting tangible benefits. Two-thirds (66%) have increased workforce skills, 77% have grown productive capacity and 71% have improved efficiency. The programme has also supported approximately £45.5m of additional research and development investment, with half of all businesses increasing their R&D activity. Among equity recipients, more than half (57%) were securing institutional finance for the first time.

Adam Kelly, Managing Director of Debt & Regional Funds at the British Business Bank, said:

This evaluation demonstrates the important role the Nations and Regions Investment Funds are playing in improving access to finance for ambitious smaller businesses across the UK.

While it remains early in the programme's lifetime, it is encouraging to see strong evidence that the fund is supporting businesses that may otherwise have struggled to secure finance and helping to create the conditions for long-term economic growth.

Positive Outcomes for supported businesses

The evaluation found that businesses supported by the programme are already reporting positive outcomes, including improvements in productivity, innovation, workforce skills and growth up and down the country.

ScrubMarine a Cumbria-based deep-tech maritime robotics company developing autonomous systems for the inspection and maintenance of marine infrastructure recently received investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. In 2025, the business secured more than £740,000 in pre-seed funding led by NPIF II – PXN  Equity Finance. The funding is being used to complete ScrubMarine’s prototype, expand its engineering team across Whitehaven and Edinburgh, and move towards the first commercial pilot deployments with fleet operators.

Rohith Devanathan, Co-Founder at ScrubMarine, said:

Marine maintenance is an area where there is a real opportunity to rethink how things are done. Much of the industry still relies on processes that are labour-intensive, disruptive and difficult to scale, at a time when operators are under increasing pressure to improve efficiency and reduce their environmental impact.

The support we received from PXN and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II gave us the confidence and capacity to challenge that status quo and demonstrate what autonomous robotics can bring to the sector.

Another business benefiting from this support is Exeter-based RoleMapper an AI-powered job levelling, architecture and job management platform, designed to be the evidence layer for pay transparency and the changing world of AI-enabled work. It secured a £1m equity investment from the South West Investment Fund, and used the investment to further strengthen its product, unique AI models and to build its new job levelling solution, RoleEvaluate, one of the only solutions built specifically for the EU Pay Transparency Directive, which aims to strengthen pay equality.

Sarah Hill, RoleMapper founder and CEO said:

The South West Investment Fund funding has enabled us to build a complete portfolio of solutions designed to help accelerate the shift from traditional job frameworks to future-fit, AI-ready organisations. Our new solution, RoleEvaluate, is now one of the most robust, cutting-edge job levelling solutions on the market and we’re really excited about RoleMapper’s next stage of growth as we expand our presence in the HR tech space.

The six funds evaluated as part of the £1.6bn NRIF programme, were the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, South West Investment Fund, Investment Fund for Scotland, Investment Fund for Wales and Investment Fund for Northern Ireland.  Each of these funds have a five-year investment period, followed by a five-year realisation and repayment period.

The most up to date Nations and Regions Investment Fund programme data, shows that, as at July 2026, these Funds have now invested over £465m into 1,254 ambitious businesses, attracting an additional £417m of private sector investment.  

With the recent launches of the South East Investment Fund and the East of England Investment Fund the British Business Bank is now delivering targeted finance across every UK nation and region outside London.

Further Information

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Notes to editors

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank’s core programmes support £23bn 1  of finance to almost 64,000 2  smaller businesses.

British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. With the exception of BBB Investment Services Limited they are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. BBB Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at british-business-bank.co.uk. 

The Nations and Regions Investment Funds are supported by Nations and Regions Investments Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank plc. They are not authorised or regulated by the PRA or FCA. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiary entities are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.

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