Member Article

Businesses invited to pitch for £2bn backing

Manufacturing, engineering and technology firms from across the North have been invited to pitch for their share of a £2 billion investment fund.

The ‘Investor Pitch’ Expo is open to firms with a turnover in excess of £5 million, and 50 firms looking for a minimum of £500,000 investment have been invited to exhibit.

The first ‘Investor Pitch’ expo will be held at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on Friday, 21 September this year, and organisers are holding meetings with firms and advisers in Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough to ensure the region’s thriving manufacturing companies get a chance to pitch for expansion funding.

Even before organisers started taking bookings from companies looking to secure business funding, dozens of venture capital and investment firms, with a combined war chest of over £2bn funds to invest, have committed to attend the unique event to unearth new and exciting investment opportunities.

The event is being organised by Chris Silverwood of Ethos Corporate Finance, who commented: “We are doing something very different, accelerating the funding process for established businesses because the wall of investment capital that is out there, often based in London, just isn’t finding its way to the right companies. As a result firms aren’t able to grow and create jobs.”

Mauro Biagioni of NVM Private Equity in Newcastle, who will be attending the event to source new investment opportunities, said: “The region has a huge heritage in manufacturing and technology businesses that are leading the economy at a difficult time, and any initiative that enables us to connect with suitable investment candidates is one that deserves our support.

“The individual companies will put their management teams, concepts, products and credentials on display, enabling potential investors to meet them face to face and have initial conversations regarding their businesses and plans.”

If companies and investors agree that there could be potential for a funding match, they will be able to arrange terms of confidentiality and immediately move to more discreet and specific conversations in private breakout rooms. Within the increasingly difficult and slow moving corporate fund raising process, such meetings often take weeks to arrange.

Silverwood added: “As experienced corporate financiers, we know that this type of investment is a sensitive and confidential matter.

“We have provided safeguards in the format of the event to ensure that confidentiality can be maintained, whilst also accelerating the usually very slow process of initial meetings, credentials and outline pitches.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .