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18th March 2020

Sheffield City Region gets over £30m growth boost from NPIF

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Northern Powerhouse Investment FundSouth Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund  delivered by British Business Bank, has invested £16m in ambitious, high-growth businesses in the Sheffield City Region with an additional £15.1m invested from the private sector.

Since its launch in February 2017, NPIF has delivered equity finance, debt finance, and microfinance solutions, ranging in size from £25,000 to £2m to businesses across the 10 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) that make up the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ region.

To date, NPIF has completed 98 investments in Sheffield City Region-based businesses across a range of sectors including manufacturing, digital technologies and life sciences. The Fund has invested a total £6m in 16 technology businesses in the area, whilst 23 manufacturing companies have benefitted from a total £3.2m worth of investment.

Notable investments include Sheffield based IN-PART, a company that helps universities to commercialise academic research by initiating new collaborations with industry. The business secured a £750,000 investment from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia and is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

This latest funding round will allow In Part to expand its 28-strong team including the appointment of Thomas Jørgensen, co-founder of university software platform Pure, to the board as Charmain.

Another recent investment includes Sheffield based CPP FM & Projects a specialist in the facilities management, fit-out, refurbishment and conversion of all types of commercial property. The company received £375,000 from NPIF – Mercia Debt Finance, which has helped the business to take on new staff and taking on a number of new large projects across a number of sectors.

NPIF also invested a £100,000 funding package to Dinnington based Labfacility – a leading manufacturer of temperature sensors. The funds provided by NPIF – BEF & FFE Microfinance has allowed the business to expand its operations by acquiring new premises.

James Muir, Chair of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership said: “NPIF’s funding and support goes a long way in helping to boost our regional economy, attract inward investment and drive innovation. The investments have helped to increase job prospects and opportunities, and fund growing businesses from every sector, helping them to thrive within the Sheffield City Region and beyond.

“As a City Region we are committed to strengthening our productivity, securing further government funding, and now, with a devolution deal, be in the driving seat of rebalancing the UK economy.”

Grant Peggie, Director at British Business Bank, said: “NPIF’s activity in the Sheffield City Region shows that the regional economy is thriving. Technology and manufacturing businesses have led growth in recent years, so it is important that NPIF provides the capital they need to harness innovation within the Sheffield City region, to create new jobs and enter new markets. We have done just that increasing the availability of funding for small growing businesses across all sectors.

“Whilst we have made great progress in the past three years, there is still work to be done to address the regional disparities between the North and the South of the UK. We will continue our support through NPIF levelling up the Sheffield City Region economy  and ultimately boosting economic prosperity across the North of England.”

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.