Welcome
The new £125m Finance for Business North East programme is a groundbreaking suite of investment funds designed to drive future economic growth in North East England.
As the first of its kind in the England, the ‘super-fund’ will blaze a trail over the next five years by providing vital investment to hundreds of fast growing SMEs and increase the momentum of business enterprise and SME development.
The aim is to support 850 businesses across all sectors through loans and equity investments before 2014 from Tyneside to Teesside.
Ambitious companies based here can access finance from six different funds giving genuine choice and opportunity. These six funds are managed by five different fund managers and target funding at companies from different sectors and stages of growth.
Finance for Business has been made possible by a unique collaboration between the European Investment Bank (EIB), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and regional development agency One North East (ONE). The EIB has provided funding of £62.5m with ERDF and ONE supplying the remaining £62m.
The overall programme is now managed and co-ordinated by North East Finance, which acted as a strategic advisor in the creation of the funds.
Andrew Mitchell, Chief Executive, explains: “The significance of this portfolio of funds should not be underestimated. It is an important ‘win’ for the region and will help to drive fresh business growth and the next generation of entrepreneurs.
“We’re delighted to be the first of the English region’s to establish investment funds of this nature. We look forward to supporting SMEs and being a beacon for other areas to follow.”