NPIF will be catalyst to private sector funding says chief
“There is huge potential and record of success in the North, we just need help to realise this,” said Keith Morgan, chief executive of the British Business Bank, the driver of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
The Fund, which launched earlier this month, will make £400m available for businesses in the North. It has predicted that thousands of jobs will be created with the fund.
Fund managers in the form of Business Finance Solutions & MSIF, Finance for Enterprise & Business Enterprise Fund for microfinance, FW Capital and Enterprise Ventures for debt finance and Maven Capital Partners and Enterprise Ventures for equity finance have been appointed.
The Fund has the security of knowing that should European funding not be forthcoming during or following the Brexit process, the Treasury has stepped in to secure its long term future, and, according the the British Business Bank, more than 530 businesses have already inquired about funding just weeks after its launch.
Cumbrian-born Morgan is based in the London and Sheffield offices of the British Business Bank. He spoke to TheBusinessDesk.com earlier this month at the launch of the fund in Leeds.
He said: “We have been focusing on regional issues, the importance of startups and scaling up, the choice of finance and having a range of finance offerings.”
“71% of a total of £3.5bn equity investment in UK businesses goes to London and South East firms. The Northern Powerhouse region just does not get the same equity as the South East,” he said.
In terms of the unbalance between South East and the North for investment, Morgan said there were clear infrastructures in London and the surrounding areas.
“There are well established networks in London and a large density of businesses, and we want to reproduce and build a similar network for the North.”
“If we can demonstrate and grow this, then we can grow private sector investment as well.”
The Northern Powerhouse concept, coined by former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, implies a unified North, which is why the omission of the North East from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund catchment area is an interesting one.
Keith said that all LEPs were given a choice, to work alone or collaborate, and 10 Northern LEPs joined together.
“It’s quite a statement,” he said. “The 10 LEPs believe they will benefit from collaborations, and the North East do themselves have a fairly large fund. The overall statement is that the LEPs have decided the benefits of the fund are worth it.”
“Access to finance is one of the pillars of the Northern Powerhouse, but so is transport, international trade and skills – the bringing together of the LEPs is a good example of how we can work together on this to develop the idea of the Northern Powerhouse.”
