Member Article

New funding streams created in North West

Two new funds have been created in the North West after the reorganisation of the North West Development Capital Fund.

SMEs in the region will benefit from two bespoke funds, made specifically for the needs of the area; The North West Fund for Loans Plus, managed by FW Capital and the North West Fund for Mezzanine, managed by Enterprise Ventures.

£45m will be available through the Loans Plus scheme, building on FW Capital’s previous experience in the SME loan market, and will offer funding of between £50,000 to £750,000.

In addition to this, the newly created Mezzanine Fund will manage a £15m pot which will be offered to established businesses with growth potential in lump sums of between £750,000 and £2m.

Both fund managers for the schemes urged businesses with growth investment needs to make themselves known to the fund.

Cliff Maylor, chief executive of the North West Business Fund, said: “The North West is home to a broad range of highly successful, established businesses, with ambitious plans for growth.

“It is essential that we ensure our Fund is accessible to these businesses. We believe that this restructure of our former Development Capital Fund will provide a transparent and flexible option which allows businesses to grow rapidly, whilst benefiting from the experience and guidance of our supportive fund managers.

“Adopting what amounts to a joint venture relationship is a commercially astute approach, providing a funding solution for many North West businesses.

“We are pleased that both fund managers are part of our existing fund management team and we look forward to hearing about their continued success, supporting businesses with the new funds.”

Gary Guest, FW Capital’s fund manager in the North West, added: “The North West Fund for Business Loans has been a great success since launch, so we are delighted to extend its reach with larger loans up to £750,000.

“This is excellent news for established SMEs who may be having difficulty raising growth funding from traditional sources.

“It increases our flexibility and FW Capital now has the potential to lend to many more established SMEs.”

Enterprise Venture’s manager for the North West Fund for Venture Capital, Jonathan Diggines, also said: “We have worked with NWBF and FW Capital to broaden the scope of The North West Fund - in offering mezzanine funding to qualifying North West businesses in the range from £750,000 to £2 million.

“We will now be offering mezzanine business loans alongside our well-established venture and growth fund offerings - the aim being to improve access to capital for small and medium sized companies in the North West.”

The North West Fund is an evergreen fund supported by the European Investment Bank and European Regional Development Fund to provide funding to North West companies, or businesses hoping to move into the region.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .