GM Loan Fund invests £4m in first year
THE £20m fund which supports small and medium-sized business in Greater Manchester allocated 20% in its first year, fuelling growth at seven companies.
Founded a year ago, the Greater Manchester Loan Fund, which is managed by Maven Capital Partners, was launched by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities and is open to new investments until 2018.
Maven, which manages similar funds for the UK and Scottish Governments, has committed around £4m into seven new investments on behalf of the Fund in businesses across a range of sectors and at various stages of development. The GMLF has surpassed 250 job outputs and is well on its way to achieving its target of 800 jobs safeguarded or created over the life of the Fund.
The Fund has few sector restrictions and has supported companies which needed additional working capital or growth capital. The first business to benefit from finance from the GMLF was Salford-basd ethernet connectivity and Cloud Services business Vaioni. The £500,000 investment has been put towards helping support Vaioni’s growth strategy, whilst allowing it to double its workforce.
The GMLF, which can provide loans ranging from £100,000 to £750,000, most recently backed the Manchester-based automotive website Motoring.co.uk, with £500,000 enabling the business to both improve its existing website and complete the development of a new online platform.
The Fund also has the flexibility to work in partnership with other banks and other funders. The joint £500,000 investment in outsource contact provider Intelling Limited, alongside the North West Fund for Loans Plus, is allowing the business to recruit and train additional telemarketing staff with the aim of expanding its workforce to over 200 operators.
Andy Thomas, investment director at Maven Capital Partners, said: “We’ve been hugely encouraged by the interest in the new fund since its launch last year. We’ve seen a wide cross-section of businesses in terms of sector and funding requirement, with applications from relatively mature businesses recovering after the recession, to younger companies operating in expanding markets.
“There has been a consistent theme of strong, passionate management teams that need funding to help them deliver their plans. The non-bank funding market is complex, so our challenge for the second year is to continue to spread awareness of the GMLF to ensure that businesses know the fund is available to support their growth.
“We work closely with businesses, sharing our industrial, commercial and financial expertise. This collaborative approach has helped them tackle common growing pains, and utilise our extensive network to help them connect to the right advisors for their situation.
“However, we also understand that not every management team requires the same level of support so getting the ‘fit’ right is something we dedicate a lot of time to.”
