Nearly 300 North East businesses are queuing up for a new £660million fund.

More than 1,250 businesses across the North have expressed their interest in accessing the new The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), according to its appointed regional fund managers. This includes expressions of interest from 290 businesses across the North East.

Unveiled by the British Business Bank in March this year, the Fund aims to increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for small businesses looking to start up and scale up across the region.

Delivered in the North East by NEL Fund Managers and Maven Capital Partners, the Fund will now operate across the whole of the region. This includes Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees, South Teesside, Darlington, Durham, Northumberland, Tyneside and Sunderland.

Since its official launch, intermediaries and potential investees recently attended a series of regional Roadshow events which kicked off in Newcastle, at St. James’s Park. 

NEL Fund Managers will provide businesses in the North East both smaller loans from £25,000 to £100,000, and debt finance options from £100,000 to £2 million. Maven Capital Partners will provide equity investments up to £5 million.

The British Business Bank, along with all fund managers, will continue to host roadshow events in Liverpool, Tees Valley, Lancashire and Hull until June, with further dates soon to be announced for York, Northumberland, Chester, Durham and Cumbria.

  • If you want more business content and insight - backed by our commitment to help the North East grow, sign up for £3 for 3 months or £30% off an annual subscription - just CLICK HERE

Sarah Newbould, Senior Manager, British Business Bank, said: “The Newcastle roadshow had an excellent turnout, and it’s promising to see such a vast number of enquiries. This reflects the appetite that people have to grow their business here in the North East, and it’s great that NPIF II is now able to cover the entire region.”

Shona Duncan, Head of Business Solutions at Tees Valley Combined Authority, said: "Businesses in our region have accessed a huge amount of business support in recent years, but there is a gap in funding. NPIF II gives us an opportunity to support our local businesses to grow even more, to develop their workforce even further, and to create sustainable solutions.

"This means that they can be absolutely first and foremost in a position to benefit from the opportunities from the new inward investment that has taken place, particularly around clean energy in Tees Valley.”

Rick McCordall, Head of Company Creation at Newcastle University, said: "Newcastle University, and all of the universities across the North East, have a significant responsibility to contribute to entrepreneurialism here in the region.

"Working with the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and other funders, we can really start to see a difference in terms of the ecosystem. At the university, we’ve created 38 spin outs with close to 350 employees as a result of these, and we want to see that continue to grow – NPIF II will act as a catalyst for achieving that."

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II is part of a series of six new Nations and Regions Investment Funds being launched by the British Business Bank, the government-owned business development bank. A total of £1.6 billion has been committed to the new funds to drive sustainable economic growth, which was first announced by the government in the 2021 Spending Review.

NPIF is managed by a team of eight fund managers that have been appointed by the British Business Bank including Mercia, FW Capital, Praetura, Maven Equity Partners, NEL Fund Managers, GC Business Finance & River Capital, Business Enterprise Fund (BEF).

  • The relevant fund managers can be contacted via the  British Business Bank website HERE