Black Country property maintenance firm is first beneficiary of £56m Mezzanine Fund

FUND manager Finance Birmingham has announced its first successful deal as part of its recently-launched £56m Mezzanine Fund.

The fund, launched in June, is aimed at helping SMEs in Greater Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country to grow. Finance Birmingham – the funding arm of Birmingham City Council – has said the fund could be a catalyst that will aid more than 40 companies to expand and will support 5,000 local jobs.

The first beneficiary is a new property maintenance business, launched in the Black Country.

Nationwide Property Assistance, which has also been supported by Birmingham-based corporate finance firm Blue Sky, has undergone a management buy-out that will enable the business to further expand.

The cash from the Mezzanine Fund will help the company create an additional 30 new jobs, while safeguarding a further five.

NPA provides a nationwide 24/7 property maintenance service to some of the UK’s leading property builders and housing associations from its call centre at Trigate House in Oldbury.  

The Mezzanine Fund, supported by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, is the largest individual growth capital fund for SMEs in the West Midlands. Businesses can apply for loans of between £250,000 and £2m to fund development and growth plans.

Graham Mold, Investment Director, Finance Birmingham, said: “Housebuilding grew at its strongest rate for more than a decade in July, and demand for NPA’s services will grow with this expanding market. Given the experience of the team and their commitment to outstanding customer service, we are confident that the business will go from strength to strength.
 
“As the first to draw on the Mezzanine Fund, this deal demonstrates how we can help businesses realise their ambitions and we are keen to hear from more.”
 
Paul Heaven, Managing Director, Blue Sky Corporate Finance, added: “Through our close working relationship with Finance Birmingham we were able to secure the funding required by NPA. We are delighted to have supported NPA through the entire funding process and to have worked with their dedicated management team to enable them to continue with their business investment in the region. On an ongoing basis we will provide non-executive, accountancy, bookkeeping and payroll services.”
 
Nick Haycock, Managing Director, NPA, said: “Blue Sky provided invaluable advice and support through the funding process which in turn will allow us to proceed with our endeavours to grow the business, employ more staff and to deliver high service levels to our clients.”

Legal advice was provided to the NPA Management team by The Wilkes Partnership; Finance Birmingham by Freeth Cartwright and the vendors by Pinsent Masons.

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