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Back to Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund News – Issue 10

Foreword

As part of my new role as CEO of British Business Bank, I am delighted to be joining the NPIF Strategic Oversight Board alongside the LEP Members. In the coming months and years, the Bank will continue to back the Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda, with a relentless focus on addressing the regional imbalances in access to finance, and NPIF is an important part of that strategy.

 The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has demonstrated the power of working closely with the Northern LEPs, Combined Authorities and other important regional stakeholders to support economic growth and productivity. Over the course of 2020, I have been particularly proud of the NPIF response to the pandemic and record investment supporting small businesses in the North.

In November’s Spending Review, the Chancellor committed an additional £100m to NPIF, bringing the total for investment to over £500m. This is a real boost for businesses in the North and the partners working hard to support them. It also underlines the Bank’s commitment to the Levelling Up agenda, with government making it a strategic priority to ensure investment is going into businesses across the whole of the UK.

The news came as NPIF surpassed the £200m investment mark, backing more than 700 businesses across 957 transactions while crowding in an additional £237m from the private sector. Furthermore, this quarter the Fund has hit the £30m milestone in Liverpool City Region and £30m in Lancashire.

We have seen a valuable lifeline in the form the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), with NPIF Debt and Microfinance fund managers becoming accredited to offer these CBILS-backed loans. Meanwhile, the NPIF Equity Fund Managers have been actively putting forward existing portfolio companies for co-investment alongside the Future Fund, to support growing innovative smaller businesses in the region.

I have been impressed with the resilience and ability to adapt to new economic restrictions demonstrated by smaller businesses across the North. Whether it has been capital to meet the demand for new products and services, moving into new markets, upskilling existing staff or taking on new staff, businesses have used NPIF to support investment and continued to come together to respond in a positive manner to one of the most challenging years in our lifetime.

As we continue to navigate through the economic turbulence of 2020 and the challenges that has brought, we will continue to work closely with our partners and stakeholders to support smaller businesses across the North and champion those innovating within our communities, both large and small. Our fund managers make that possible, working hard to ensure that NPIF is highly visible to businesses and management teams in all sectors and areas, not just in major conurbations.

I would like to say a personal thank you to all of our Fund Managers, Local Enterprise Partnerships and Growth Hubs, as well as our stakeholders and partners, for their continued support, outstanding work and dedication to the future of Northern business the UK’s economic recovery.

On behalf of British Business Bank and NPIF, I’d like to wish all of our businesses, fund managers, partners and stakeholders a safe and happy holiday this year.

Catherine Lewis La Torre, CEO, British Business Bank

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…

Editors Notes