The North West Fund exceeds £100 million investment milestone

The North West Fund has passed another important milestone, having now invested over £100 million in more than 300 businesses.

The investments have been made across Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria.

Through the portfolio of over 300 businesses, The Fund has also created or safeguarded more than 2,500 jobs.

Private sector co-funding has contributed a further £50 million, bringing the total value of investments into North West businesses to £150 million.

This figure is expected to continue growing, as more than 20% of the investments made have been into new startups.

The £155 million investment fund, which is supported by the European Investment Bank and European Regional Development Fund, provides debt and equity funding of between £25,000 - £2 million to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the North West of England.

Earlier this month The Fund announced the launch of its Micro Fund, a new sub-fund specifically tailored to smaller investments.

Cliff Maylor, chief executive of North West Business Finance, which manages The North West Fund, said: “We are extremely pleased to have reached this significant milestone. £100 million is an impressive figure but we are equally proud of the fact that this has been invested into more than 300 growing businesses in the region.

“For us, this shows that the appetite for growth in the North West is strong. We know there is still a lot of work to do over the final year of this investment cycle and our fund managers are working hard to meet all of our output targets. We would encourage all business owners in the region to think about their growth plans and speak to their advisers or contact our fund managers directly.

“The final year of investing for this programme is hugely important. We must invest the remaining capital before 31st December 2015.

“Our funding is already having a positive impact on the region, in terms of economic growth, jobs and prosperity. We look forward to making investments into new and existing businesses into next year, as we approach the end of this programme and look ahead to future programmes.”