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North’s Manufacturing and High-Tech Sectors dominate as NPIF reaches £100m

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) is marking another milestone as it celebrates backing £100 million of investment across the Northern Powerhouse region.

The Fund has directly invested £60 million in small and medium sized companies since its launch, in deals that have attracted an additional £40 million of investment from the private sector.

Investments from the fund cover a broad range of business types with a strong appetite evidenced from manufacturing and high-tech businesses with a total of £11 million and £15 million invested in these sectors respectively.

To date, NPIF has made over 300 investments in small growing businesses across the 10 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas it operates in. Examples of recent deals include Lancashire-based Extreme Low Energy, which received £750,000 to double its head count and expand its range of products and a £500,000 investment into technology company PureClarity allowing the business to improve its software product offering and create eight new jobs at its premises in York.

Northern Powerhouse Minister, Jake Berry MP, said: The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has achieved truly remarkable things in a very short space of time. As we reach the £100m milestone, we’re hearing from Northern innovators, creators and entrepreneurs who have used these investments to create jobs, up-skill their workforces and rapidly expand their businesses. It’s testament to what can be achieved when the Government works hand-in-hand with the private and public sectors to make the Northern Powerhouse one of the most business-friendly regions in the UK.”

Ken Cooper, Managing Director at British Business Bank, said: “This is a great milestone for the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund which builds upon a strong first year of operation.  This progress reflects our belief that the North, with its strong manufacturing heritage and innovative high-tech sectors, offers great opportunities for investment.  There is a wealth of small business talent in the region that is leading the way in generating the Northern Powerhouse.

“The British Business Bank is committed to increasing the scope and availability of investment across the UK regions and we’re pleased to see entrepreneurs willing to take advantage of the opportunities that this type of funding brings.”

Jake Berry and Grant Peggie

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

For more information about Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, please visit www.npif.co.uk.

 

 ENDS

 

Press contact:

Callum Brookes, MC2

callumb@thisismc2.com

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About the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund

  • The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund will invest in Microfinance, Business Loans and Equity Finance sub-funds which will offer financing ranging from £25,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses secure the funding they need for growth and development.
  • The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is operated by British Business Financial Services Limited, wholly owned by British Business Bank, the UK’s national economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity.
  • The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, the European Investment Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and British Business Finance Limited, a British Business Bank group company.
  • NPIF covers the following LEP areas: Tees Valley Combined Authority, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Liverpool City Region, Lancashire, Humber, Leeds City Region, Sheffield City Region, York, North Yorkshire and East Riding.
  • The project is receiving up to £140,359,192 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
  • The funds in which Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund invests are open to businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in, Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West and Tees Valley.
  • The British Business Bank has published the Business Finance Guide (in partnership with the ICAEW, and a further 21 business and finance organisations). The guide, which impartially sets out the range finance options available to businesses and provides links to support available at a regional level, is available at thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk/bbb

British Business Bank plc is a limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Foundry House, 3 Millsands, Sheffield, S3 8NH. As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, it is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government which is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of subsidiaries, one of which is authorised and regulated by the FCA.

British Business Financial Services Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, registered in England and Wales, registration number 09174621, registered office at Foundry House, 3 Millsands, Sheffield, S3 8NH.  It is not authorised or regulated by the PRA or FCA.

More information, including a legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries, can be found on the British Business Bank website