North West Fund to replace CEO
NORTH West Business Finance (NWBF), the company set up to deliver the £185m North West Fund, has announced the departure of chief executive Andy Leach.
Mr Leach will be replaced on an interim basis by NWBF chairman John McGuire – a former managing director at Royal Bank of Scotland and chairman of its corporate banking division.
In a statement, the board thanked Mr Leach for “his professional, his technical 
expertise and the commitment he has always demonstrated” during his time in charge of the fund, which has invested £29m of the cash at its resources to date in over 100 businesses.
However, the fund has come under scrutiny – particularly from Greater Manchester’s Local Enterprise Partnership – for not spending the capital allocated to it quickly enough.
A GM LEP policy paper last month said that “a number of recommendations for change and an in-depth session to explore issues” with the North West Fund had taken place.
The North West Fund provides debt and equity packages ranging from £50,000-£2m. Some £170m of the fund is allocated into six pots, each of which has their own fund manager.
The six funds are:
- £45m Development Capital Fund, to be managed by Leeds-headquartered YFM Private Equity
- £35m Business Loan Fund, managed by Newcastle-based FW Capital
- £30m Venture Capital Fund, managed by Preston-based Enterprise Ventures
- £25m Biomedical Fund, to be managed by London-based Spark Impact
- £20m Energy and Environmental Fund, managed by CT Investment Partners, part of the Carbon Trust Group
- £15m Digital and Creative Fund, to be run by AXM Venture Capital, based in London.
A further £15m has been held back by Northwest Business Finance to be allocated to or split between the existing funds at a later date. The funds need to be allocated by the end of 2015.
Prior to joining North West Business Finance, Mr Leach had a long career in private equity working for LDC, Montagu Private Equity and 3i.
