Today (September 7), the British Business Bank revealed plans to commit up to £150m capital to support a fund aimed at high-growth businesses across the North of England.
The proposed Northern scale-up fund will provide larger scale investment to innovative scale-up businesses seeking capital to accelerate their growth and expansion.
The fund is expected to back university spin-outs and other innovative, high-growth companies from Liverpool to Manchester, Bradford and Leeds to Sheffield, and York to Hull and Newcastle.
It is expected to make investments of between £5m and £15m, complementing the bank’s existing programmes in the region, including the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II and Regional Angels Programme.
The fund’s investment approach will reflect the sector strengths, including creative industries, clean energy and space and technology within the geography it covers, supporting ambitious businesses with the potential to scale and contribute to regional growth.
The announcement comes in the same week the bank brings together regional stakeholders in Brighton to launch the £210m South East Investment Fund, underlining its wider commitment to increasing access to finance for businesses across the UK.
In his speech today, Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey is expected to say: “Today I can announce a new £150m allocation from the British Business Bank to lever in more capital behind the most innovative and fast-growing firms in the North of England.”
Leandros Kalisperas, chief investment officer, British Business Bank, said: “This new Northern scale-up fund reflects the bank’s commitment to addressing regional equity gaps and helping ambitious, innovative businesses in the North of England to have the same opportunity to access the capital they need to grow and thrive as other parts of the UK.
“The proposed fund would provide an important new source of scale-up capital building on the success of our Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, which continues to deliver support to smaller businesses of up to £5m of capital.”
Henri Murison, chief executive of Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: “The British Business Bank £150m scale up fund for the North is welcome and reflects the importance of supporting more fast-growing businesses which is only possible by leveraging more private capital also prepared to take risk.
“A northern 500 of mid-market companies has potential as an idea and we look forward to seeing more detail on how it will work.
“The National Wealth Fund is a critical part of the Greater Manchester Good Growth Fund which has unlocked significant development projects that otherwise would not have happened, whether it be housing or across the full range of commercial real estate. The need for the same in in South Yorkshire with the opportunities in the Don Valley Growth Corridor, Liverpool City Region and the North East cannot be understated.”
