Investbx-Factor improves LEP growth potential

HIGH growth businesses in the Birmingham-led Local Enterprise Partnership have received a massive boost with the takeover of the funding stream run by the city’s online stock exchange Investbx, it was claimed today.

Sue Summers, chief executive of the body, said the move heralded an exciting period for business development within the city and the wider LEP area.

“It is great news for high growth small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) within the LEP area and means that we can continue to support emerging businesses in the same way we have been.

“Businesses across all areas of the LEP will be eligible for funding,” she said.

Birmingham City Council confirmed yesterday that it was taking over Investbx Managed Services , which administered the Birmingham Business Loan Fund, and rebranding it Finance Birmingham.

The separate Investbx online stock exchange, which has helped with the flotations of three firms in the West Midlands, will continue to trade.

The move means the new body will be able to offer businesses in Birmingham, Solihull, Southern Staffordshire and Bromsgrove loans ranging anywhere between £50,000 to potentially £1m for the real high flyers.

There is speculation that one of the reasons why the Birmingham-led LEP was viewed so positively by the Government and why it was accepted in the first round of bidding could be the Investbx-Factor.

With a funding stream already identified, the partnership is thought to have been viewed by Ministers as a far more viable operation.

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Sixteen loans have already been awarded through Investbx Managed Services and underwritten by the City Council so far this year.

These include:
 
•    Install Automation – where £250,000 was awarded to the Jewellery Quarter based business which has developed a process whereby all household appliances, energy and heating systems can be operated through a single interface, thereby reducing energy use.

•    CCBT Ltd – where £250,000 was given to the city centre based business to help with expansion into European markets. The firm helps treat people with neuroses including phobias, depression and obsessive compulsive disorders.

•    Big Button Media – £200,000 was awarded to the Digbeth-based animation and video specialists to help bring a new streaming product to market.

•    Imaginative Minds – £100,000 was given to the Digbeth firm to expand its subscription service for a range of magazines and books based in the educational sector.

So far all of the firms awarded money have prospered and have met their repayment obligations.