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Back to Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund News – Issue 7

Foreword

It has been another significant 3 months for the £400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund with a number of milestones achieved. We are pleased to have supported over 425 businesses across the North, with over £110m of investment made since the launch of the Fund, but we recognise that there is more to be done.

Businesses across the Northern Powerhouse region are taking advantage of the funding to invest in products, premises and recruit and upskill staff.  We have also worked with our Fund Managers, LEPs and Growth Hub partners to ensure that all parts of the NPIF geography  have access to funding where appropriate.

In both Liverpool City and Sheffield City Regions the Fund has invested over £11m in each LEP area. In Cheshire and Warrington over £8m of NPIF funding has been invested in 27 growing businesses, and over £10m was invested in 30 companies across the York, North York and East Riding region.

Two years into the Fund, we are seeing the impact that NPIF is having on businesses across the North. Recently, Buffalo 7, which specialises in building and designing presentations for major international clients, increased its turnover by 50 per cent following £230,000 worth of funding. The investment also enabled the company to grow staff numbers from 21 to 35 staff members, as well as supporting the company to increase office space and service major global clients including Epson and AstraZeneca. This is just one of the many success stories to come out of the Fund, and we know that there are many more.

Initial findings from analysis undertaken for the Bank shows that portfolio businesses are now achieving growth as a result of receiving NPIF investment, and this newsletter highlights on a range of business from different sectors.

While we are delighted by the early successes of NPIF we recognise that, more needs to be done to increase awareness of the funding available to small businesses across the NPIF area. We are also focussed on ensuring that all parts of the northern business community are aware of the support available from the Fund including female entrepreneurs and black and ethnic minority communities. It is important that we work with our partners and Fund Managers to ensure that we are helping all businesses reach their full potential.

I hope you enjoy this issue of our newsletter.

Grant Peggie
Director at 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