Member Article

Additional £3.75m for The North East Growth Plus Fund

The North East Growth Plus Fund has secured another £3.75m for 2016.

Set up in 2010 to help established SMEs operating in the region, the fund has invested £20.5m and helped create or safeguard 1,016 job

Provided by North East Finance and managed by FW Capital, the fund has also leveraged an additional £30m of private investment, injecting over £50m into the local economy.

Joanne Whitfield, FW Capital’s Fund Manager in the North East, said: “We’re delighted at FW Capital to have successfully delivered over £20m to the North East economy through the North East Growth Plus Fund.

“The fund has had a noticeable impact across the region with great success stories including exciting North East brands like It’s All Good, large multi-service organisations such as the Pacifica Group and specialist manufacturers like TDX.

“We now have an additional £3.75m to invest in 2016 and urge North East businesses who are looking to purchase premises or capital equipment, or who need additional working capital, to speak to us about the funding options we can offer.”

The additional £3.75m which will take the total fund to over £24m is part of the £17m top up North East Finance has secured for 2016 to assist over 100 ambitious North East businesses this year .

The North East Growth Plus Fund invests between £350k and £1.25m in established businesses based in the North East.

Andrew Mitchell, Chief Executive at North East Finance commented, “FW Capital, led by Joanne Whitfield, has played a major role in the success of the current investment fund. We are delighted that they will also be helping us to invest the £17m extension that we recently announced.”