More than 900 jobs have been created or safeguarded in the last year on the back of a £134m investment boost aided by North business investor FW Capital.
Latest figures show the finance organisation has served up the multimillion-pound boost to the North’s economy as a result of 138 investments in the past financial year.
The investments, valued at £43m, have helped SMEs in the area leverage private sector finance totalling over £91m, creating or safeguarding 935 jobs.
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Two of the sectors most invested in by FW Capital are manufacturing and construction, both of which are key to the Government’s levelling up agenda.
The figures come as the British Business Bank has accredited FW Capital under the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), that will be used in conjunction with the deployment of loans from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).
The RLS supports lenders providing access to finance for UK businesses as they recover and grow following the Covid-19 pandemic.
FW Capital, which has bases in Newcastle, Billingham, Penrith, Liverpool, Preston and Manchester, previously delivered almost £50m to businesses from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), which closed for applications at the end of March.
Businesses who have taken out a CBILS, CLBILS or BBLS facility are able to access the new scheme.
Joanne Whitfield, FW Capital’s fund director in the North East, said: “We are dedicated to providing Northern businesses with the funding they need to reach their full potential.
“As these outstanding figures show, FW Capital has played a central part in the levelling up agenda over what has been a very uncertain period, with our investments injecting £134m of much-needed growth capital into the Northern economy.
“Our accreditation under the Recovery Loan Scheme for NPIF loans will allow us to continue our work to support even more SMEs in our region to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and continue to grow in the future. We are delighted to be working with the British Business Bank as an RLS lender.”
Operating from the British Business Bank’s Sheffield head office, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund provides a mix of debt and equity funding.
It works alongside ten Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the combined authorities and growth hubs, as well as local accountants, fund managers and banks, to support Northern-based SMEs at all stages of their development.
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund.
